The Obama administration’s proposal for food aid reform is evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, but it is still a big step in the right direction. Overall, the administration estimates that the proposal would allow roughly the same level of funds for food aid to reach an additional 4 million people, and do so more quickly in emergencies.
Washington is abuzz with rumors that the White House budget will include a far-reaching reform of US food aid that moves away from in-kind food aid transported on American ships. Even though no details are available, the plan faces considerable resistance from agricultural and maritime interests that profit from the current system. But current practices are inefficient, costly, and slow and most development advocates support the administration’s desire to shake things up.
This post is joint with Casey Friedman
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s flagship hunger report came out Monday, featuring a new and improved methodology for estimating the number of undernourished people in the world, and it has two big, good surprises, though there are still hundreds of millions of consistently underfed people.
President Obama announced $3 billion in new private sector investments in agriculture in three African countries at a packed event in Washington, D.C., last Friday. The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is the cornerstone of the United States' 2012 G-8 commitments to development led by USAID and administrator Rajiv Shah. There's a lot to like about the partnership: presidential leadership, a link between public and private investment, and a focus on policy change. But all eyes are on how the relatively modest investments will be implemented and whether they can reach the ambitious poverty reduction targets.
A new report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs applauds U.S. government agencies for food security leadership but calls on them to up the game in the face of rising global challenges and shrinking aid budgets. While it is a positive assessment, the report highlights some areas of concern that could affect U.S. leadership in future years.
Congress last week released a draft farm bill that includes some promising fixes to the notoriously inefficient U.S. food aid system.
For some time now, the food security movement has been stating that improving the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers improves nutritional status. Last week’s G-8 Foreign Ministers Meeting Chair’s statement (here) reinforces this idea:
This is a joint post with Julie Walz.
Just ahead of the G8 summit on May 19 at Camp David, a new report by the ONE Campaign highlights the opportunity to focus on real and sustained investments in African agriculture that could impact the lives of millions. The report includes very timely recommendations for the heads of the G-8 and other world leaders:
As we approach the May G8 summit in Chicago, the June G20 meeting in Los Cabos, and Rio+20 in June, agriculture and food security promise to be high on the international agenda; and once again, we will be awash in jargon that is rife with acronyms indecipherable to the uninitiated.
The House Budget Committee passed its budget alternative last week that calls for reduced spending for international affairs. The accompanying report gives some details on the cuts the Committee is recommending.