Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696588320630.pdf (United States)
IC 114TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1252 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2016 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs AN ACT To authorize a comprehensive strategic approach for United States foreign assistance to developing countries to re- duce global poverty and hunger, achieve food and nutri- tion security, promote inclusive, sustainable, agricultural- led economic growth, improve nutritional outcomes, espe- cially for women and children, build resilience among vulnerable populations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1.

SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Food Security Act of 2016’’.

SEC.

2.

FINDINGS.
SEC.

2.

FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings: (1) According to the Food and Agriculture Or- ganization of the United Nations (referred to in this section as the ‘‘FAO’’), 805,000,000 people world- wide suffer from chronic hunger.

Hunger and mal- nutrition rob people of health and productive lives and stunt the mental and physical development of future generations.
(2) According to the January 2014 ‘‘Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Commu- nity’’— (A) the ‘‘[l]ack of adequate food will be a destabilizing factor in countries important to US national security that do not have the fi- nancial or technical abilities to solve their inter- nal food security problems’’; and (B) ‘‘[f]ood and nutrition insecurity in weakly governed countries might also provide opportunities for insurgent groups to capitalize S 1252 RFH on poor conditions, exploit international food aid, and discredit governments for their inabil- ity to address basic needs’’.
(3) A comprehensive approach to sustainable food and nutrition security should not only respond to emergency food shortages, but should also ad- dress malnutrition, resilience to food and nutrition insecurity, building the capacity of poor, rural popu- lations to improve their agricultural productivity and incomes, removing institutional impediments to agri- cultural development, value chain access and effi- ciency, including processing and storage, enhancing agribusiness development, access to markets and ac- tivities that address the specific needs and barriers facing women and small-scale producers, education, and collaborative research.
SEC.

3.

STATEMENT OF POLICY OBJECTIVES; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) STATEMENT OF POLICY OBJECTIVES.—It is in the national interest of the United States to promote glob- al food security, resilience, and nutrition, consistent with national food security investment plans, which is rein- forced through programs, activities, and initiatives that— (1) place food insecure countries on a path to- ward self-sufficiency and economic freedom through S 1252 RFH the coordination of United States foreign assistance programs; (2) accelerate inclusive, agricultural-led eco- nomic growth that reduces global poverty, hunger, and malnutrition, particularly among women and children; (3) increase the productivity, incomes, and live- lihoods of small-scale producers, especially women, by working across agricultural value chains, enhanc- ing local capacity to manage agricultural resources effectively and expanding producer access to local and international markets; (4) build resilience to food shocks among vul- nerable populations and households while reducing reliance upon emergency food assistance; (5) create an enabling environment for agricul- tural growth and investment, including through the promotion of secure and transparent property rights; (6) improve the nutritional status of women and children, with a focus on reducing child stunt- ing,
 including through the promotion of highly nutri- tious foods, diet diversification, and nutritional be- haviors that improve maternal and child health; (7) demonstrably meet, align with and leverage broader United States strategies and investments in S 1252 RFH trade, economic growth, national security, science and technology, agriculture research and extension, maternal and child health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene; (8) continue to strengthen partnerships between United States-based universities, including land- grant colleges, and universities and institutions in target countries and communities that build agricul- tural capacity; and (9) ensure the effective use of United States taxpayer dollars to further these objectives.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress that the President, in providing assistance to im- plement the Global Food Security Strategy, should— (1) coordinate, through a whole-of-government approach, the efforts of relevant Federal depart- ments and agencies to implement the Global Food Security Strategy; (2) seek to fully utilize the unique capabilities of each relevant Federal department and agency while collaborating with and leveraging the contribu- tions of other key stakeholders; and (3) utilize open and streamlined solicitations to allow for the participation of a wide range of imple- menting partners through the most appropriate pro- S 1252 RFH curement mechanisms, which may include grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other instru- ments as necessary and appropriate.
SEC.

4.

DEFINITIONS.
In this Act: (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- mittees’’ means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri- tion, and Forestry of the Senate; (C) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; (E) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; and (F) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
(2) FEED THE FUTURE INNOVATION LABS.— The term ‘‘Feed the Future Innovation Labs’’ means research partnerships led by United States universities that advance solutions to reduce global hunger, poverty, and malnutrition.
S 1252 RFH (3) FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY.—The term ‘‘food and nutrition security’’ means access to, and availability, utilization, and stability of, suffi- cient food to meet caloric and nutritional needs for an active and healthy life.
(4) GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Global Food Security Strategy’’ means the strategy developed and implemented pursuant to sec- tion 5(a).
(5) KEY STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘key stakeholders’’ means actors engaged in efforts to ad- vance global food security programs and objectives, including— (A) relevant Federal departments and agencies; (B) national and local governments in tar- get countries; (C) other bilateral donors; (D) international and regional organiza- tions; (E) international, regional, and local finan- cial institutions; (F) international, regional, and local pri- vate voluntary, nongovernmental, faith-based, and civil society organizations; S 1252 RFH (G) the private sector, including agri- businesses and relevant commodities groups; (H) agricultural producers, including farm- er organizations, cooperatives, small-scale pro- ducers, and women; and (I) agricultural research and academic in- stitutions, including land-grant universities and extension services.
(6) MALNUTRITION.—The term ‘‘malnutrition’’ means poor nutritional status caused by nutritional deficiency or excess.
(7) RELEVANT FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘relevant Federal depart- ments and agencies’’ means the United States Agen- cy for International Development, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the De- partment of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Peace Corps, the Office of the United States Trade Representa- tive, the United States African Development Foun- dation, the United States Geological Survey, and any other department or agency specified by the President for purposes of this section.
S 1252 RFH (8) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ means the ability of people, households, communities, coun- tries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses to food security in a man- ner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth.
(9) SMALL-SCALE PRODUCER.—The term ‘‘small-scale producer’’ means farmers, pastoralists, foresters, and fishers that have a low asset base and limited resources, including land, capital, skills and labor, and, in the case of farmers, typically farm on fewer than 5 hectares of land.
(10) STUNTING.—The term ‘‘stunting’’ refers to a condition that— (A) is measured by a height-to-age ratio that is more than 2 standard deviations below the median for the population; (B) manifests in children who are younger than 2 years of age; (C) is a process that can continue in chil- dren after they reach 2 years of age, resulting in an individual being ‘‘stunted’’; (D) is a sign of chronic malnutrition; and 1252 RFH 10 (E) can lead to long-term poor health, de- layed motor development, impaired cognitive function, and decreased immunity.
(11) SUSTAINABLE.—The term ‘‘sustainable’’ means the ability of a target country, community, implementing partner, or intended beneficiary to maintain, over time, the programs authorized and outcomes achieved pursuant to this Act.
(12) TARGET COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘target country’’ means a developing country that is selected to participate in agriculture and nutrition security programs under the Global Food Security Strategy pursuant to the selection criteria described in section 5(a)(2), including criteria such as the potential for agriculture-led economic growth, government com- mitment to agricultural investment and policy re- form, opportunities for partnerships and regional synergies, the level of need, and resource availability.
SEC.

5.

COMPREHENSIVE GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY STRAT- EGY.
(a) STRATEGY.—The President shall coordinate the development and implementation of a United States whole-of-government strategy to accomplish the policy ob- jectives set forth in section 3(a), which shall— S 1252 RFH 11 (1) set specific and measurable goals, bench- marks, timetables, performance metrics, and moni- toring and evaluation plans that reflect international best practices relating to transparency, account- ability, food and nutrition security, and agriculture- led economic growth, consistent with the policy ob- jectives described in section 3(a); (2) establish clear and transparent selection cri- teria for target countries, communities, regions, and intended beneficiaries of assistance; (3) describe the methodology and criteria for the selection of target countries; (4) support and be aligned with country-owned agriculture, nutrition, and food security policy and investment plans developed with input from key stakeholders, as appropriate; (5) support inclusive agricultural value chain development, with small-scale producers, especially women, gaining greater access to the inputs, skills, resource management capacity, networking, bar- gaining power, financing, and market linkages need- ed to sustain their long-term economic prosperity; (6) support improvement of
 the nutritional sta- tus of women and children, particularly during the critical first 1,000-day window until a child reaches S 1252 RFH 12 2 years of age and with a focus on reducing child stunting, through nutrition-specific and nutrition- sensitive programs,
 including related water, sanita- tion, and hygiene programs; (7) facilitate communication and collaboration, as appropriate, among local stakeholders in support of a multi-sectoral approach to food and nutrition security, to include analysis of the multiple under- lying causes of malnutrition, including lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene; (8) support the long-term success of programs by building the capacity of local organizations and institutions in target countries and communities; (9) integrate resilience and nutrition strategies into food security programs, such that chronically vulnerable populations are better able to build safety nets, secure livelihoods, access markets, and access opportunities for longer-term economic growth; (10) develop community and producer resilience to natural disasters, emergencies, and natural occur- rences that adversely impact agricultural yield; (11) harness science, technology, and innova- tion, including the research and extension activities supported by relevant Federal Departments and S 1252 RFH 13 agencies and Feed the Future Innovation Labs, or any successor entities; (12) integrate agricultural development activi- ties among food insecure populations living in prox-
 imity to designated national parks or wildlife areas into wildlife conservation efforts, as necessary and appropriate; (13) leverage resources and expertise through partnerships with the private sector, farm organiza- tions, cooperatives, civil society, faith-based organi- zations, and agricultural research and academic in- stitutions; (14) strengthen and expand collaboration be- tween United States universities, including public, private, and land-grant universities, with higher edu- cation institutions
 in target countries to increase their effectiveness and relevance to promote agricul- tural development and innovation through the cre- ation of human capital, innovation, and cutting edge science in the agricultural sector; (15) seek to ensure that target countries and communities respect and promote land tenure rights of local communities, particularly those of women and small-scale producers; S 1252 RFH 14 (16) include criteria and methodologies for graduating target countries and communities from assistance provided to implement the Global Food Security Strategy as such countries and communities meet the progress benchmarks identified pursuant to section 8(b)(4); and (17) demonstrably support the United States national security and economic interest in the coun- tries where assistance is being provided.
(b) COORDINATION.—The President shall coordinate, through a whole-of-government approach, the efforts of relevant Federal departments and agencies in the imple- mentation of the Global Food Security Strategy by— (1) establishing monitoring and evaluation sys- tems, coherence, and coordination across relevant Federal departments and agencies; (2) establishing linkages with other initiatives and strategies of relevant Federal departments and agencies; and (3) establishing platforms for regular consulta- tion and collaboration with key stakeholders and the appropriate congressional committees.
(c) STRATEGY SUBMISSION.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1, 2016, the President, in consultation with the head of S 1252 RFH 15 each relevant Federal department and agency, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees the Global Food Security Strategy required under this section, including a detailed description of how the United States intends to advance the objectives set forth in section 3(a) and the agency-specific plans described in paragraph (2).
(2) AGENCY-SPECIFIC PLANS.—The Global Food Security Strategy shall include specific imple- mentation plans from each relevant Federal depart- ment and agency that describes— (A) the anticipated contributions of the de- partment or agency, including technical, finan- cial, and in-kind contributions, to implement the Global Food Security Strategy; and (B) the efforts of the department or agen- cy to ensure that the activities and programs carried out pursuant to the strategy are de- signed to achieve maximum impact and long- term sustainability.
SEC.

6.

ASSISTANCE TO IMPLEMENT THE GLOBAL FOOD SE- CURITY STRATEGY.
(a) FOOD SHORTAGES.—The President is authorized to carry out activities pursuant to section 103, section 103A, title XII of chapter 2 of part I, and chapter 4 of S 1252 RFH 16 part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2151a, 2151a–1, 2220a et seq., and 2346 et seq.)

to pre- vent or address food shortages notwithstanding any other provision of law.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development $1,000,600,000 for each of fis- cal years 2017 and 2018 to carry out those portions of the Global Food Security Strategy that relate to the De- partment of State and the United States Agency for Inter- national Development, respectively.
(c) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The President shall seek to ensure that assistance to implement the Glob- al Food Security Strategy is provided under established parameters for a rigorous accountability system to mon- itor and evaluate progress and impact of the strategy, in- cluding by reporting to the appropriate congressional com- mittees and the public on an annual basis.

SEC.

7.

EMERGENCY FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM.
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 22 gress that— 23 24 25 (1) the crisis in Syria, which is characterized by acts of terrorism and atrocities directed against civil- ians, including mass murder, forced displacement, S 1252 RFH 17 aerial bombardment, ethnic and religious persecu- tion, torture, kidnapping, rape and sexual enslave- ment, has triggered one of the most profound hu- manitarian crises of this century and poses a direct threat to regional security and the national security interests of the United States; (2) it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the needs of displaced Syrian persons and the communities hosting such persons, including with food assistance; and (3) after four years of conflict in Syria and the onset of other major humanitarian emergencies where, like Syria, the provision of certain United States humanitarian assistance has been particularly challenging, including the 2013 super-typhoon in the Philippines, the 2014 outbreak of Ebola in west Af- rica, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, ongoing human- itarian disasters in Yemen and South Sudan, and the threat of a major El Nino event in 2016, United States international disaster assistance has become severely stressed.
(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy of the United States, in coordination with other donors, regional governments, international organizations, and international financial institutions, to fully leverage, en- S 1252 RFH 18 hance, and expand the impact and reach of available United States humanitarian resources, including for food assistance, to mitigate the effects of manmade and natural disasters by utilizing innovative new approaches to deliv- ering aid that support affected persons and the commu- nities hosting them, build resilience and early recovery, and reduce opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse.
(c) AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.— (1) Section 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2292) is amended— (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- section (d); and (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection: ‘‘(c) EMERGENCY FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitations in section 492, and notwithstanding any other provi- sion of this or any other Act, the President is au- thorized to make available emergency food assist- ance, including in the form of funds, transfers, vouchers, and agricultural commodities (including products derived from agricultural commodities) ac- quired through local or regional procurement, to S 1252 RFH 19 meet emergency food needs arising from manmade and natural disasters.
‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—Funds made available under this subsection shall be known as the ‘Inter- national Disaster Assistance – Emergency Food Se- curity Program’.’’.

(2) Section 492 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2292a) is amended— (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘$25,000,000 for the fiscal year 1986 and $25,000,000 for the fiscal year 1987.’’ and in- serting ‘‘$2,794,184,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 and 2018, of which up to $1,257,382,000 should be made available to carry out section 491(c).’’; and (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsections: ‘‘(c) AMOUNTS IN ADDITION TO OTHER AMOUNTS.— Amounts authorized to be appropriated pursuant to the authorizations of appropriations under section 491(c) are in addition to funds otherwise available for such purposes.
‘‘(d) FLEXIBILITY.— ‘‘(1) UNITED STATES POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States that the funds made available to carry out section 491 are intended to provide the S 1252 RFH 20 President with the greatest possible flexibility to ad- dress disaster-related needs as they arise and to pre- pare for and reduce the impact of natural and man- made disasters.
‘‘(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that any amendments to applicable legal provisions contained in this Act are not intended to limit such authorities.
‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than March 1 of each fiscal year, the President shall submit to the Committee on For- eign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa- tives a report that describes the activities undertaken by the President over the course of the prior fiscal year pur- suant to section 491(c), including the amounts of assist- ance provided, intended beneficiaries, monitoring and eval- uation strategies, anticipated outcomes, and, as prac- 19 ticable, actual outcomes.’’.
SEC.

8.

REPORTS.
(a) GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY IMPLEMEN- TATION REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year and 2 years after the date of the submission of the strategy required under section 5(c), the President shall submit to the ap- propriate congressional committees reports that describe S 1252 RFH 21 the status of the implementation of the Global Food Secu- rity Strategy for 2017 and 2018, which shall— (1) contain a summary of the Global Food Se- curity Strategy as an appendix; (2) identify any substantial changes made in the Global Food Security Strategy during the pre- ceding calendar year; (3) describe the progress made in implementing the Global Food Security Strategy; (4) identify the indicators used to establish benchmarks and measure results over time, as well as the mechanisms for reporting such results in an open and transparent manner; (5) describe related strategies and benchmarks for graduating target countries and communities from assistance provided under the Global Food Se- curity Strategy over time, including by building re- silience, reducing risk, and enhancing the sustain- ability of outcomes from United States investments in agriculture and nutrition security; (6) indicate how findings from monitoring and evaluation were incorporated into program design and budget decisions; (7) contain a transparent, open, and detailed accounting of
 spending by relevant Federal depart- S 1252 RFH 22 ments and agencies to implement the Global Food Security Strategy, including, for each Federal de- partment and agency, the statutory source of spend- ing, amounts spent, implementing partners and tar- geted
 beneficiaries, and activities supported to the extent practicable and appropriate; (8) describe how the Global Food Security Strategy leverages other United States food security and development assistance programs on the con- tinuum from emergency food aid through sustain- able, agriculture-led economic growth and eventual self-sufficiency; (9) describe the contributions of the Global Food Security Strategy to, and assess the impact of, broader international food and nutrition security as- sistance programs, including progress in the pro- motion of land tenure rights, creating economic op- portunities for women and small-scale producers, and stimulating agriculture-led economic growth in target countries and communities; (10) assess efforts to coordinate United States international food security and nutrition programs, activities, and initiatives with key stakeholders; (11) assess United States Government-facili- tated private investment in related sectors and the S 1252 RFH impact of private sector investment in target coun- tries and communities; (12) identify any United States legal or regu- latory impediments that could obstruct the effective implementation
 of the programming referred to in paragraphs (8) and (9); (13) contain a clear gender analysis of pro- gramming, to inform project-level activities, that in- cludes established disaggregated gender indicators to better analyze outcomes for food productivity, in- come growth, control of assets, equity in access to inputs, jobs and markets, and nutrition; and (14) incorporate a plan for regularly reviewing and updating strategies, partnerships, and programs and sharing lessons learned with a wide range of
 stakeholders in an open, transparent manner.
(b) GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY CROSSCUT REPORT.— Not later than 120 days after the President submits the budget to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, the Director of the Office of Manage- ment and Budget shall submit to the appropriate congres- sional committees a report including— (1) an interagency budget crosscut report that— S 1252 RFH 24 (A) displays the budget proposed, including any planned interagency or intra-agency trans- fer, for each of the principal Federal agencies that carries out global food security activities in the upcoming fiscal year, separately reporting the amount of planned funding to be provided under existing laws pertaining to the global food security strategy to the extent available; and (B) to the extent available, identifies all assistance and research expenditures at the ac- count level in each of the five prior fiscal years by the Federal Government and United States multilateral commitments using Federal funds for global food security strategy activities; (2) to the extent available, a detailed account- ing of all assistance funding received and obligated by the principal Federal agencies identified in the report and United States multilateral commitments using Federal funds, for global food security activi- ties during the current fiscal year; and (3) a breakout of the proposed
 budget for the current and budget years by agency, categorizing ex- penditures by type of funding, including research, S 1252 RFH 25 resiliency, and other food security activities to the extent that such information is available.
(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The information referred to in subsections (a) and (b) shall be made available on the public website of the United States Agency for International Development in an open, machine readable format, in a timely manner.

SEC.

9.

RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) EFFECT ON OTHER PROGRAMS.—Nothing in the Global Food Security Strategy or this Act or the amend- ments made by this Act shall be construed to supersede or otherwise affect the authority of the relevant Federal departments and agencies to carry out programs specified in subsection (b), in the manner provided, and subject to the terms and conditions, of those programs, including, but not limited to, the terms, conditions, and requirements relating to the procurement and transportation of food as- sistance furnished pursuant to such programs.
(b) PROGRAMS DESCRIBED.—The programs referred to in subsection (a) are the following: (1) The Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C.

1691 et seq.).

(2) The Food for Progress Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C.

1736o).

 S 1252 RFH 10 11 26 (3) Section 416(b) of the Agriculture Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.

1431).
1431).

(4) McGovern-Dole Food for Education Pro- gram (7 U.S.C.1736o–1).

(5) Local and Regional Procurement Program (7 U.S.C.

1726c).

(6) Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act (7 U.S.C.

1736f–1).

(7) Any other food and nutrition security and emergency and non-emergency food assistance pro- gram of the Department of Agriculture.

Passed the Senate April 20, 2016.

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, Secretary.
Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, Secretary 1252 RFH