Press Release
2022: 'Year of unprecedented hunger'The following are excerpts of remarks by Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) during debate in the House of Representatives on the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2022 (HR 8446): “I rise to speak in strong support of the bicameral, bipartisan Global Food Security Act (GFSA) of 2022. Today’s vote on Global Food Security will show that we can come together to advance the Good, notwithstanding our differences. For the GFSA is a model of cooperation, from the collaboration between Congresswoman McCollum and I on previous iterations which began back in 2014 when I first introduced and the House passed the legislation. Like PEPFAR—the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief—our food security policy is a remarkably effective, relatively low-cost lifesaving, life-enhancing initiative, championed by both Republican and Democrat administrations. Indeed, we are fortunate that President Bush, beginning in 2002, had the initial foresight to elevate the important role of food security in U.S. foreign policy, especially in Africa, via the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA), which was funded through development assistance and implemented through USAID. The objective was to help meet the nutritional needs of millions and to elevate self-sufficiency over dependency. At the same time, the Millennium Challenge Corporation began making substantial investments in agriculture-led economic growth programs, particularly in Africa. The food price crisis of 2007-2008 accelerated and underscored the need for a robust food security policy. President Obama, in 2009, announced further enhancements to our food security strategy at the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy—this became the Feed the Future initiative. Our emphasis on agriculture-led economic development and food security self-sufficiency continued through the Trump Administration and now into the Biden Administration. Last week, a World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report said the world faces its largest food crisis in modern history. The report sounds the alarm: 2022 is a ‘year of unprecedented hunger.’ ‘As many as 828 million people go to bed hungry every night, the number of those facing acute food insecurity has soared—from 135 million to 345 million—since 2019. A total of 50 million people in 45 countries are teetering on the edge of famine.’ ‘…Conflict is still the biggest driver of hunger, with 60 percent of the world's hungry living in areas afflicted by war and violence. Events unfolding in Ukraine are further proof of how conflict feeds hunger, forcing people out of their homes and wiping out their sources of income.’ The weakest and most vulnerable are dying or at great risk of death while millions more are made more susceptible to opportunistic diseases while many children suffer stunting. Many are rallying to mitigate the suffering. That we are here today for final House passage is testament to the dedication of numerous committed groups outside Congress that have made food security and nutrition their priority, from advocates to implementers—especially and including faith-based organizations who perhaps work the closest to the small-holder farmers and women who benefit in particular from our food security efforts. One of the objectives of the GFSA was to take a whole-of-government approach, led by USAID, in promoting food security. In conducting oversight hearings with regards to its implementation, however, we found that there were several places where a whole-of-agency approach, let alone a whole-of-government approach, was lacking. One area that needed attention was to make sure that our nutrition efforts were firing on all cylinders. While the original GFSA and subsequent reauthorization placed great emphasis on reducing stunting and addressing the critical importance the first 1,000 days of life—from conception to the second birthday—it did not address the deleterious impact intestinal worms have on children. We have all seen pictures of children with distended bellies caused by worms that robbed them of needed nutrients. Children are the future, and we need to feed the future, not feed the worms! At USAID, however, our deworming efforts were siloed in the Global Health bureau, linked with other neglected tropical diseases. Nutrition efforts were split between Global Health and the Bureau of Food Security. Thus, we had a left-hand, right-hand issue, and too often our deworming efforts were one-offs not coordinated with our nutrition programs. With this reauthorization, however, we are seeing the full integration of deworming with nutrition, and, just as importantly, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene or WASH programming. In other words, our integrated programming will kill the parasites that harm the nutritional needs of children, feed the children, and teach methods by which changing behavior can prevent reinfestation by worms. This coordination will help maximize the use of US taxpayer dollars, while greatly improving lives around the world.” ### |