The US agricultural sector is critical to global food security. American farmers account for 25 percent of all corn and wheat exported globally, and the US is the largest foreign aid donor providing assistance to, among other things, improve food production in many developing countries.
Yet, at the same time, many of the US’s agricultural policies can negatively impact people in the rest of the world. In a new book entitled Global Agriculture and the American Farmer: Opportunities for US Leadership, CGD visiting fellow Kim Elliott argues for practical policy reforms in three areas that are particularly damaging to developing countries: food aid, biofuel subsidies, and antibiotic resistance in livestock.
As the US Congress works through a major new farm bill, Elliott joins the CGD Podcast to discuss how the US can reform agricultural policy to achieve better outcomes.
“The Trump budget actually zeroes out the main food aid program,” Elliott tells me in the podcast. “So that seems to me to open up a space for Congress to say, ‘Well, we recognize there are some inefficiencies. But let’s fix it, not end it.”
Click below to hear some of Elliott’s recommendations, and check out the full podcast at the top of this page.
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CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise.
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