United States House Of Representatives (Washington, DC)
29 October 2009
document
The following is testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health by Rick Leach, Senior Advisor for Public Policy with the Friends of the World Food Program, on the subject of food security.
Chairman Payne, distinguished members, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to have been invited to testify at this important hearing on U.S. efforts to promote global food security.
I want to thank Chairman Payne for his continued leadership on issues pertaining to global hunger, from highlighting the impact of hunger while traveling to developing countries, to holding hearings like the one today that draw attention to specific policies critical for improving U.S. efforts in this area.
Further it's important to acknowledge Congressman Jim McGovern and Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson for their tireless efforts over many years, including working to ensure global hunger is a priority of the Obama administration. It's also important to thank Congresswoman DeLauro, Congresswoman Lowey and Congresswoman McCollum for their continued leadership in promoting legislation and increased funding to improve U.S. hunger-alleviation efforts.
The world has long possessed the collective resources and knowledge to end global hunger. What has been lacking is the political will and sustained leadership at the highest levels of government. The Obama administration's new initiative, which couples significant improvements to U.S. policy with efforts to catalyze global action and collaboration, is a promising step in achieving the needed political will.
The administration's commitment is extraordinary and reaches to the highest levels, including the President and the Secretary of State. In his inaugural address, President Obama said, "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds." Subsequent announcements at the G20 meeting, G8 Summit and UN General Assembly have reinforced the administration's commitment to achieving global food security.
As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in announcing the 2009 World Food Prize Laureate, "By working together, I believe we can show the will necessary to end the hunger crisis, to usher in a new era of progress and plenty. That is our goal. That is our challenge."
With this level of commitment, we are hopeful that we will see increases in global food security not seen for decades and the world will achieve the first Millennium Development Goal's target of cutting extreme hunger in half by 2015.
I. Statement of the Problem
We gather here today as both the absolute number and the percentage of people experiencing chronic hunger have increased for the first time in decades. Roughly 870 million people suffered from hunger in 2006 and that number has now exceeded 1 billion. Most of these people live on less than $1 per day.
These increases are due in large part to the global food, fuel and financial crises of the past two years.
Last year, global food and fuel prices skyrocketed, with some people facing market increases as high as 75 percent. While prices have declined in 2009, they are still much higher in many places than levels just a few years ago, and markets remain volatile. In addition, the primary drivers of the crisis are still present, including growing demand for food in developing countries, fluctuating energy prices and poor harvests in important crop-producing regions.
On the heels of the food and fuel crisis, this year's global economic crisis has rippled through the developing world, lowering incomes, reducing remittances, decreasing trade, slowing investment, tightening credit and increasing the number of people at the bottom living with hunger.
The World Food Program was forced to expand its operations from targeting approximately 70 million people at the beginning of 2008 to more than 100 million by the beginning of this year, to help mitigate the worst impacts.
These crises are threatening to reverse the progress made by the global community during the past four decades in reducing the overall proportion of the world's hungry from 37 to 17 percent.
These hard-fought gains were achieved in large part due to U.S. leadership, and I'm confident that in spite of the difficult challenge the world now faces, with bold, significant action – of the kind contemplated by this new U.S. global food security initiative – the target set by the first Millennium Development Goal can still be achieved.
II. Growing Consensus on How to Address Global Hunger
A recent consensus has emerged regarding several key factors that have limited the success of previous U.S. efforts to address global hunger. Reports released by the GAO, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and others have highlighted these factors, which included: insufficient coordination across the many U.S. agencies and programs with a role in addressing global hunger, inadequate efforts to promote agricultural development and the lack of a comprehensive U.S. hunger-alleviation strategy that focuses on addressing both immediate and long-term needs.
Similarly, a consensus has emerged regarding the specific activities needed to address global hunger, as reflected in the administration's strategy. The UN High Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis, GAO reports, the Chicago Council Report and the Roadmap to End Global Hunger – which united more than 40 NGOs for the first time in history around a plan to improve U.S. hunger-alleviation efforts – have all called for the development and implementation of a comprehensive U.S. strategy to address global hunger. Recently introduced legislation – the Roadmap to End Global Hunger and Promote Food Security Act (H.R. 2817) and the Global Food Security Act (H.R. 3077) – draw heavily from these reports and also endorse a comprehensive approach.
III.The Administration's Plan
The administration's initiative incorporates the four cross-cutting pillars of a comprehensive strategy, as set forth within the Roadmap, the Comprehensive Framework for Action and the legislation referenced above. These pillars are emergency response and management programs, safety net programs, nutrition programs and agricultural development programs. All four of these cross-cutting pillars are necessary to target different groups who collectively comprise the 1 billion people suffering from hunger. Moreover, adopting these pillars will enable the U.S. and global community to address both the immediate and long-term impacts of hunger.
These efforts seek to expand and enhance: a) rural infrastructure, such as farm to market roads, storage facilities and irrigation; b) access to and availability of financial services, so that smallholder farmers can afford inputs and investments needed to expand their capacity; c) extension services, research and training so that seed varieties and other technologies are developed and disseminated to meet the needs of poor, rural farmers; and d) post-harvest opportunities and market access to ensure farmers have opportunities to reap the benefits of their harvests.
In summary, a comprehensive strategy that combines emergency assistance, safety nets, nutrition assistance and agricultural development is necessary to address the full spectrum of food insecurity – acute and chronic, urban and rural. Hunger takes many forms, from those devastated by hurricanes and disasters, to urban slum dwellers on the verge of destitution, to poorly nourished mothers and children, to smallholder farmers struggling to produce enough to feed their families and turn a profit. By integrating each of the categories outlined above, we will ensure that the strategy reaches these and other populations with the type of assistance they need.
a. Incorporating Gender and Natural Resource Management Across Elements of a Comprehensive Approach
There is also unprecedented agreement regarding several key features that need to be integrated across various components of the initiative, including gender and natural resource management.
Gender considerations should be fully integrated throughout the strategy. Women often face context-specific, gender-related barriers to accessing resources (education, financial services, land tenure, etc.). These and other aspects of gender inequality are one of the primary challenges to improving food security in many countries. Interventions should be designed, monitored, and evaluated through a gender lens to ensure that gender dynamics at the community and household level are well understood and that interventions are implemented accordingly.
The initiative should support environmentally sustainable agricultural practices to ensure that increased agricultural productivity does not come at the expense of natural resource management.
b. Interagency & Open Planning Process
In addition to embracing a comprehensive approach, the administration has employed an open planning process that has engaged all relevant stakeholders, both inside and outside of the federal government.
To coordinate efforts within the federal government, Secretary Clinton formed an interagency food security task force, chaired by her chief of staff, that has brought together all of the agencies with a role in addressing global hunger. The Consultative Document drafted by this group, as well as the more detailed operational plan from which this public document was culled, incorporates perspectives and expertise that reflect a "whole of government" approach. Further, the administration's announced intent to appoint a "Global Hunger Coordinator" will help institutionalize this collaboration moving forward.
Similarly, the administration has consulted with and incorporated the views of multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and WFP, NGOs, businesses, foundations, education and research institutions, farmers' organizations and many other stakeholders with a role in addressing global hunger. This approach reflects Secretary Clinton's view that our world is no longer just multi-polar, but multi-partner.
c. Multilateral Implementation Process
As planning proceeds to implementation, the administration has made it clear that partnership and coordination with other nations, both developing and developed, will be critical to the initiative's success. The strategy's framework and operational plan will guide the formulation of country-led plans, based on consultative processes at the local level. As noted, the U.S. has used the G20, G8, UNGA and other forums to catalyze global action regarding the coordination and increase of resources from donor nations to promote food security.
IV.Recommended Steps Ahead
While the initiative put forth by the administration is buttressed by sound principles, solid commitments, an open, partnership-driven approach and many other features vital for success, the follow areas are highlighted for further consideration:
Flexibility is critical as sometimes cash-based interventions make the most sense while in other situations commodity-based food assistance might be more effective.
For example, vouchers are appropriate in situations where markets are well-functioning and food is readily available, while LRP can be an effective tool to reduce food aid costs and delivery time while also bolstering local food systems.
In areas such as Sudan, on the other hand, where WFP feeds approximately 6 million people each year, in-kind assistance works best because it provides a reliable stream of commodities in an area where it can be difficult to purchase large quantities on local and regional markets. In addition, WFP is able to pre-position the food ahead of the rainy season, when transport becomes challenging.
Another example is the Purchase for Progress program and other similar local and regional purchase initiatives, which enable small-holder farmers to sell directly to WFP and other international NGOs. These innovative models help address humanitarian, safety net and development food aid needs, while bolstering local agricultural markets, food processing and related industries, by providing a market for the sale of the food.
The road ahead will not be easy as critical implementation challenges remain. But I'm optimistic that if the administration sustains its commitment to the principles it has outlined – such as uniting key stakeholders, fostering whole-of-government collaboration, and spurring global action in support of comprehensive, country-driven approaches – we will make significant, lasting strides in alleviating global hunger.
WFP, Friends of WFP and the entire Roadmap Coalition of more than 40 NGOs stand ready to assist the administration and other global partners in this endeavor – to help translate the initiative's sound framework into an implementation plan that comprehensively addresses global hunger and food insecurity.
I look forward to answering the committee's questions. Thank you.
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