Editor's Note:
Agri-Pulse and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs are teaming up to host a
monthly column to explore how the U.S. agriculture and food sector can maintain
its competitive edge and advance food security in an increasingly integrated
and dynamic world.
Agriculture has been
critical to America’s growth as a nation. For many countries like ours, the
path from poverty to prosperity has run through agriculture, but agriculture’s
promise has not yet been fully realized around the world.
This was no more
apparent than in 2007 and 2008, when food price spikes pushed millions back to
the brink of poverty and led to global instability. After a three-decade
decline in global agricultural investment, in 2009 at the L’Aquila G8 Summit,
the United States rallied world leaders to increase investments in agriculture
that would boost global food security and nutrition. Feed the Future, President
Obama’s multi-agency global hunger and food security initiative, was born
during this pivotal moment. At that time, President Obama pledged an initial
$3.5 billion in investments in global agriculture, which leveraged more than
$18 billion from other donor countries. Since then, Feed the Future and related
U.S. Government efforts have mobilized tremendous public and private support to
unlock the transformative potential of agriculture to connect more people to
the global economy and offer a path out of poverty. Our efforts focus on
supporting the sustainable food security and nutrition priorities outlined by
the host country governments and partners in the countries where we work.
Nearly 800 million
people still suffer from chronic hunger today. By 2050, the world's
population is projected to increase to more than 9 billion; in order to meet
the demands of this growing population, the world must increase agricultural
production by at least 60 percent. Our work globally helps accelerate
agricultural productivity growth trends, ensuring that we are not only helping
meet food security needs for future generations, but also protecting our planet
in the face of challenges like climate change and a growing population.
One of Feed the Future’s
core tenets is bringing the best of American resources and know-how to bear to
help poor farmers abroad. To do this, Feed the Future works with U.S.
companies, universities, farmer organizations and other nonprofits to share
America’s agricultural expertise and entrepreneurial legacy to help developing
countries deliver on agriculture’s promise. We work together to drive
innovation and connect farmers to tools, technologies and information that
increase yields and incomes, even in the face of drought, heat and other
climate changes. This work brings benefits back home, too. Our research
partnerships generate new knowledge that is used here at home to help America’s
farmers stay ahead of new pests and disease. And our efforts foster investment
at all levels, on farm and off, public and private, that boost income growth in
developing countries and increase demand for the products U.S. farmers and
businesses provide. In addition, by helping to ensure that everyone has enough
nutritious food to eat, it helps reduce the risk of instability and turmoil
often driven by a lack of access to food.
Earlier this summer,
President Obama traveled to Africa, where he highlighted the work of some of
his signature development efforts, including Feed the Future. While in Ethiopia,
he toured the Faffa Food Share Company headquarters, a factory supported by
Feed the Future through a partnership with U.S. agribusinesses like General
Mills and Cargill. Faffa Food is one of the leading low-cost suppliers of
nutritious foods for children over the age of six months in Ethiopia, a country
in which more than one third of the population lives in poverty and 40 percent
of all young children are stunted. The President’s visit underscored that
agriculture is essential to Ethiopia’s economic growth, just as it is across
Africa. In fact, the sector employs 65 percent of Africa’s labor force and
accounts for 32 percent of gross domestic product. As one of 19 Feed the Future
focus countries, our work in Ethiopia focuses on supporting the country’s own
priorities for agriculture-based economic growth by strengthening strategic
crops and value chains, promoting private sector engagement, and improving
market access, among other efforts.
Just last year, Feed the
Future helped nearly 7 million smallholder farmers adopt and use improved tools
and technologies, reached more than 12 million children to improve their
nutrition, and helped farmers boost agricultural sales by more than half a
billion dollars to increase their incomes. These numbers are contributing to a
broader impact: Since Feed the Future has been active in Ethiopia, the country
has seen childhood stunting decrease by 9 percent nationally between 2011 and
2014. Parts of Kenya saw a more than a 25 percent reduction in stunting in
recent years, while areas in Uganda have seen a 16 percent drop in poverty. We
may have made tremendous progress, but we have much work ahead of us.
We cannot take U.S.
leadership in boosting global food security for granted. We’ve made an enormous
difference thus far and must continue to make investing in agriculture a
long-term priority as we hone our approach and take it to scale. We’ve seen
what happens when economic growth leaves communities and countries behind, and
as President Obama said in his inaugural address, we can’t afford indifference.
We must promote growth that is inclusive. Increasing global food security and
nutrition is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do.
Progress today makes us safer, more prosperous, and better prepared to meet
tomorrow’s challenges.
#30
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