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S. HRG. 114–268 

AGRICULTURE’S ROLE IN 

COMBATING GLOBAL HUNGER 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

DECEMBER 2, 2015 

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov/ 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas, Chairman 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

DAVID PERDUE, Georgia 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

THOM TILLIS, North Carolina 

BEN SASSE, Nebraska 

CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado 

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York 

JOE DONNELLY, Indiana 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania 

JOEL T. LEFTWICH, MAJORITY STAFF DIRECTOR

ANNE C. HAZLETT, MAJORITY CHIEF COUNSEL

JESSICA L. WILLIAMS, CHIEF CLERK

JOSEPH A. SHULTZ, MINORITY STAFF DIRECTOR

(II) 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

HEARING(S): 

Agriculture’s Role in Combating Global Hunger ................................................... 1 

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS 

Roberts, Hon. Pat, U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry ................................................. 3 

Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan ..................... 1 

Panel I 

Harden, Hon. Krysta, Deputy Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC ..................................................................................... 5 

Panel II 

Ellis, Wade, Vice President and General Manager, Bunge Milling, Bunge 

North America on Behalf of the North America Millers Association, St. 

Louis, MO ............................................................................................................. 25 

Leach, Richard, President and CEO, World Food Program USA, Washington, 

DC .......................................................................................................................... 27

Mitchell, Arlene, Executive Director, Global Child Nutrition Foundation 

(GCNF), Seattle, WA ........................................................................................... 29 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Ellis, Wade ........................................................................................................ 40 

Harden, Hon. Krysta ........................................................................................ 45 

Leach, Richard .................................................................................................. 57 

Mitchell, Arlene ................................................................................................ 64 

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Roberts, Hon. Pat: 

Written testimony to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry from Marshall Matz ............................................................................ 104 

World Vision, written testimony to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry ......................................................................................... 109 

Ellis, Wade: 

Statement of President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Fifth International 

Congress on Nutrition, September 1, 1960 ................................................. 112 

Mitchell, Arlene: 

Addendum to written testimony of Arlene Mitchell ...................................... 115 

QUESTION AND ANSWER: 

Harden, Hon. Krysta: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 118 

Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow ......................... 120 

(1) 

AGRICULTURE’S ROLE IN 

COMBATING GLOBAL HUNGER 

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY, Washington, DC 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in room 

328A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Pat Roberts, Chairman 

of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Roberts, Boozman, Perdue, Ernst, Tillis, Sasse, 

Grassley, Thune, Stabenow, Brown, Klobuchar, Gillibrand, Donnelly, Heitkamp, and Casey. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Good morning. I call this meeting of the 

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to order. 

Prior to making my opening statement, I am going to yield to the 

distinguished Ranking Member, who has another meeting she must 

attend—something about tax extenders, as I recall. You do have 

my list. 

Senator STABENOW. Yes, I have your list. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. So I yield to my distinguished friend and 

colleague. 

STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN 

Senator STABENOW. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I hope to be coming back. I am looking forward, maybe, to the day 

of saying, ‘‘Beam me up, Scotty,’’ so we can be two places at once, 

because this is a very, very important hearing, and I am so pleased 

to welcome Krysta Harden, our Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, 

who is doing such a phenomenal job. She had been a steadfast 

champion of America’s farmers and families, and I want to thank 

you for leading our efforts to implement the 2014 farm bill. Just 

extraordinary what you and the Secretary have been able to do. We 

put a lot on your plate, and you have worked very, very hard and 

diligently to move things forward. 

I also want to thank you very much for the excellent job that you 

are doing in highlighting the leadership and contributions that 

women are making in the agricultural economy, food economy, not 

only in our country but throughout the world. 

Mr. Chairman, back in August of last year, 2014, Deputy Secretary Harden joined Senators Klobuchar, Heitkamp, Cantwell, 

Hirono, and myself on the first-ever all-women’s Senate delegation 

trip to Africa. It was really an extraordinary trip. Our time in AfriVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:23 May 17, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\MW42035\DESKTOP\DOCS\98997.TXT MICAH
2 

ca strengthened my appreciation of our country’s commitments to 

helping fight global hunger and food insecurity, as well as our efforts to help empower women who represent the majority of all 

farmers in Africa. 

Additionally, Senators Leahy, Brown, and I, alongside other colleagues, had the opportunity a few years ago to see the McGovernDole School Feeding Programs in action when we visited Haiti 

after its devastating earthquake. This program was providing children, and is still today, with their only meal of the day, and it 

sends a powerful message to Haitian families about our American 

values. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Would the distinguished Senator just yield 

for a point? 

Senator STABENOW. I would gladly yield. 

Chairman ROBERTS. In Kansas, we refer to that as the ‘‘DoleMcGovern program.’’ 

[Laughter.] 

Senator STABENOW. I should have known that, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Please proceed. 

Senator STABENOW. Well, we are very, very proud to be bipartisan. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Yes, ma’am. 

Senator STABENOW. The McGovern-Dole/Dole-McGovern program. It really is very powerful when you see it in action, Mr. 

Chairman, as you know. 

Tragically, today nearly 800 million people across the world are 

affected by hunger and poverty. Compounded by a growing population, climate change, strains on our natural resources, we face a 

significant challenge of how best to feed and sustain a growing 

world. 

This has also become a significant global security issue, as we 

know. As we look at the crises around the world today, whether it 

is a prolonged drought in East Africa or a severe flooding in Bangladesh, our emergency food aid programs are vital to so many 

families. 

It is in those moments of crisis that the United States has a 

proud legacy of extending a compassionate hand. The Food for 

Peace Program has become one of the most extraordinary partnerships to help alleviate hunger and suffering around the world. In 

fact, the story of the Food for Peace Program has been a story of 

partnerships throughout its history—partnerships between American farmers and those in need, the U.S. Government and the onthe-ground volunteer organizations, and partnerships between 

Democrats and Republicans in Congress. 

We are proud of this record, and at the same time, we know that 

with new challenges come new responsibilities to make our international food programs even more effective. 

During the farm bill, Senator Roberts and I brought together a 

broad coalition to reform food aid while honoring the traditional 

partnerships that keep the program strong. The farm bill made 

permanent the Local and Regional Procurement Program and gave 

additional flexibility for Food for Peace to address hunger wherever 

and whenever it exists. 

3 

Taken together, these changes represent the most significant reforms to our food aid programs in more than 50 years. Our longterm goal, however, should be to reduce the need for emergency 

food aid by focusing on achieving global food security through advancements in nutrition and the long-term productivity of agriculture. 

New agricultural technologies provide a platform for world communities to create stable food sources for families as well as economic independence. We must invest in those technologies, in people, and in the infrastructure both here and broad that support the 

growth of sustainable agricultural production. In doing so, we also 

invest in our own security. 

Achieving global food security is not only the right thing to do, 

it is the smart thing to do. A food-secure world is a safer and more 

secure world. Freedom from hunger is a basic right for all humans, 

and those of us in agriculture have a commitment to upholding 

that covenant. 

Mr. Chairman, again, I thank you for holding this important 

hearing, and I look forward to working with you and all the members as we continue to strengthen these effective programs. Thank 

you for allowing me to have the opportunity to speak here and then 

step away for a few minutes. Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF HON. PAT ROBERTS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 

STATE OF KANSAS, CHAIRMAN, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

Chairman ROBERTS. I will proceed with my opening statement 

and wish you good luck in your endeavors—or our endeavors. 

Senator STABENOW. Yes. 

Chairman ROBERTS. We hope that you can make it back as soon 

as possible. 

As the distinguished Ranking Member has pointed out, one in 

nine people today, 800 million worldwide, will go to bed hungry. 

Around the world, impoverished regions are facing increasing challenges in trying to feed their people, from political unrest, social 

conflict like what we face in places like Yemen or Syria, to weather-driven crises with what we currently see in East Africa. 

As Chairman of this Committee and former Chairman of the 

Senate Intelligence Committee, I can assure you there is no issue 

in global security more timely or more relevant than food security. 

Show me a nation that cannot feed itself, and I will show you a 

nation that is in chaos. 

American farmers and ranchers have a deep understanding of 

the need to feed a troubled and hungry world. Back in 1953, a 

young Kansas farmer by the name of Peter O’Brien had the idea 

that U.S. farmers could give aid to other countries in the form of 

our commodities. He made the suggestion at a countywide Farm 

Bureau meeting, and eventually a resolution was accepted by both 

the Kansas Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation. 

The next year, U.S. Senator from Kansas Andy Schoeppel, with 

the help of another Senator from Kansas, Frank Carlson, my 

former boss, sponsored a bill that was ultimately signed into law 

by yet another native son of Kansas, Dwight David Eisenhower. To 

4 

this day, the Food for Peace Program, commonly referred to as 

‘‘P.L. 480,’’ provides aid to nearly every country in the world. 

Now, while P.L. 480 is an enormous instrument in fighting hunger, it is just one tool of many, one of many in the toolbox of assistance. Since 1985, the Department of Agriculture has been using 

the Food for Progress Program to help developing countries advance their own agricultural assistance, which would naturally 

benefit our farmers and ranchers and all of agriculture in this 

country. By increasing productivity and expanding market and 

trade opportunities, countries are better able to grow their economies and respond to any regional crisis. According to the USDA, 

last year the Food for Progress Program alone generated nearly 

10,000 jobs and provided training for over 220,000 producers. 

Then we have the McGovern-Dole School Feeding Program, or 

the Dole-McGovern Program. Through that program, the Department and partners have the ability not only to provide a child with 

a nutritious meal for the day, but offer the opportunity to receive 

an education. Yes, it is ‘‘female-friendly,’’ a new term that I had 

discovered in reading testimony for this hearing. With two granddaughters and two live-wire daughters and a very active wife, I 

would recommend to all members, all male members of this Committee, to adopt that term, ‘‘female-friendly.’’ That works pretty 

good. 

Now, hard red winter wheat is currently traveling from fields in 

Kansas to Nicaragua in bags like the one that is shown over here 

to my right, right behind these very professional staff members 

who are trying to duck as I am pointing to the bag. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. At any rate, that is to be used as part of a 

school feeding program to boost nutrition among preschool and primary school children between the ages of 6 and 14. 

Under this Committee’s leadership, we continued to help the 

mission of combating global hunger by making significant, realistic, 

and bipartisan reforms to food aid programs in the 2014 farm bill, 

adding flexibility, transparency, and efficiency. The United States 

has proven that American agriculture plays a pivotal role in addressing food shortfalls around the world, and we must continue to 

consider new and innovative ways to get ahead of the growing population and production challenges. We really have no other alternative. 

International trade and the role played by the United States will 

undeniably play a critical role in getting food to those who need it 

the most. It is not enough, however, to improve the yields of small 

holder farmers if there is not a market where it can be sold, a silo 

where it can be stored, or a road upon which it can be transported. 

The Department has invaluable expertise in developing agricultural policy and has the capability to offer important technical assistance to nations establishing critically needed infrastructure. I 

myself personally think that among all the feeding programs we 

have in the Department, we could do more and certainly share information to do a more coordinated effort. 

The private sector has expensive knowledge in the development 

of the necessary value chains and new technologies that can address country-specific challenges. Our friends at the Department, 

5 

along with USAID, our land grant universities, our commodity organizations, our NGOs, our PVOs, have a strong history of working 

together to promote an efficient and affordable food supply. I am 

very proud of the critical role our agriculture has played and will 

continue to play in combating global hunger. Farmers and ranchers 

in Kansas and all across America are committed to doing our part 

to feed a troubled and hungry world. 

I ask unanimous consent to enter statements for the record on 

behalf of industry stakeholders. I look forward to hearing from our 

witnesses. 

[The following information can be found on page 104 in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. With that, we have recognized Senator Stabenow, so we will go ahead with our first panelist, our Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Krysta Harden. The Committee extends a 

warm welcome to you this morning, Madam Secretary, in what I 

believe is your first time before our Committee since your confirmation hearing. Welcome back. Thank you for joining us to talk about 

an issue that I know is very close to your heart. 

Deputy Secretary Harden returned just weeks ago from a trade 

mission to Sub-Saharan Africa, and I know you will share some of 

your findings. 

The Deputy Secretary hails from Camilla, Georgia, where she 

began her roots in agriculture, coming from a line of three generations of southwest Georgia farmers. Ms. Harden has held leadership positions at the Department as Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations and Chief of Staff to the Secretary, at the National Association of Conservation Districts as the chief executive 

officer, and with the American Soybean Association as senior vice 

president of Gordley Associates. She received her B.A. in journalism from the University of Georgia. 

I have a note down here from staff saying that it is imperative 

that I say, ‘‘Go, Dogs.’’ 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you for not saying the year I graduated. I 

appreciate that. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Right. Welcome back, Deputy Secretary, and 

I look forward to your testimony. You are recognized. Thank you 

so much. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE KRYSTA HARDEN, DEPUTY 

SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, DC 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank the members that are here. My home state senator, thank you very much 

for being here. 

The last time I was here for my confirmation hearing as Deputy 

in August of 2013, it seems like a long time ago and then sometimes like yesterday. But the Committee has always been very gracious and very generous to me, and I appreciate that very much. 

Thank you for going through my background. I think it is very 

important for this type of hearing to recognize where I came from, 

and it is from production agriculture. My parents are still on the 

farm, and my entire career I have thought about trade and marVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:23 May 17, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\MW42035\DESKTOP\DOCS\98997.TXT MICAH
6 

kets that have been the focus of my very fun and successful career 

in this town and working in agriculture. 

But that has changed, and I hope, Mr. Chairman, that it is okay 

if I just talk. I have a written statement that all of you have. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Certainly. 

Ms. HARDEN. But instead of reading something—you can all 

read. Instead of doing that, I am just going to talk, and I will try 

to look at these lights, but I get wound up and long-winded when 

I talk about this, so I will try to be as brief as I can and hope the 

Committee will indulge me. 

When I joined the Administration in 2009, President Obama 

made his first farm policy priority global food security, and I recognized that I had some learning to do. I was aware of the issues in 

the abstract. I thought about them. I was certainly aware of the 

tools that USDA had from my time with the Soybean Association. 

But it was not an area that I knew very well or had delved into 

or really felt a connection to. I, like a lot of folks, need to learn 

firsthand. Getting briefed, going to meetings, listening to others 

can only go so far. For me, it really is about getting on the ground. 

Talking to our staff on the ground, talking to NGOs, talking with 

the folks that we are reaching out to, that we are interacting with, 

and hopefully helping is the best way for me to learn. I just dove 

right in as Deputy. With the Secretary’s blessing and encouragement and with our team at USDA and partners across the Federal 

family, I was able to lead a trade mission to Sub-Saharan Africa 

after I was Deputy just for a month. But I also went to Mozambique to see our work on the ground there. 

But one of the turning points for me was this spring when I really kind of got it, when the light bulbs went off for me, and I hope 

you will indulge me in this story. 

It was in Honduras. I usually want to go to Africa. My heart is 

kind of there, but I went to Honduras and Guatemala in Central 

America and went with our Ambassador 4 hours from the capital 

city. I grew up on a dirt road, so I know about dirt roads. But I 

had never seen one like this. We drove almost to El Salvador, I 

think, to this tiny village with this wonderful little elementary 

school. We were greeted by kids standing out all lined up singing 

a song—I cannot tell you what is was—waving American flags, 

cheering, so happy we were there. It was very, very moving. You 

could not ask for a grander—it was like the red carpet on Oscar 

night. It was just that kind of moving situation. 

The Ambassador and I were able to serve lunch to third and 

fourth graders, little kids, like kids anywhere except they brought 

their own little bowls from home. The mothers fix the food every 

day, the porridge for them, and it was a soy-corn mix that was provided by the U.S. This was—I am going to get this right—a DoleMcGovern project. I should have said that from the beginning. 

These kids were just so happy and so normal and just delighted we 

were there, looked so healthy, so good. 

Some of the kids took us to a garden that they have on campus 

that the parents work with them in, and they are supplementing 

their diet with fruits and vegetables that we know is important, 

and your changes in the farm bill with LRP helped so that these 

7 

kids actually had it on campus and did not have to have it from 

the community. 

Dads were there putting in latrines so the girls would stay in 

school. They need separate latrines. Everything you would think, 

even this remote area, you could see the difference that we were 

making. I was just feeling great. 

As we were winding down the visit, we went to the kindergarten. 

Here are little kids. I know little kids. They are squirmy at 5. They 

are wiggly, they are active. These kids were not. Their hair was 

dull, their skin was dull, their eyes were lifeless. They were sweet, 

they were kind, and you could sit down at the little tables and talk 

to them. But they did not have the benefit of the nutrition that the 

older kids have had. The stark reality of what our support and our 

help and the generosity of American farmers and American taxpayers in that school, seeing the difference in someone who has not 

had the ability to have a balanced diet, not to have good nutrition, 

was so amazing to me. I was not prompted about this. No one said, 

‘‘You are going to see a big difference. Look for this.’’ It just was 

so amazing to see the difference. This one little girl’s face I will 

never forget. I hope to see her after she has had a couple years of 

our rations. 

The other thing that I will never forget about this school was a 

sixth grader, a young girl, stood up and read to us a little—kind 

of a poem, something to me and the Ambassador about her learning, and thanking us for being there, just a bright, a very talented 

young woman. Her question to us was, ‘‘Please help me go to high 

school. Help me continue my education.’’ 

I think about kids in our country, I think about kids in other 

places who take so much for granted, who do not want to get up 

in the morning, who complain about homework, who do not want 

to go to school. Here is a young woman who knows the only way 

she is likely to be able to go is if we help. It is just a memory, sir, 

that I will never forget. It is memories that make me know that 

our investments, that our caring, our commitment, what we do, 

how we use the tools and the flexibilities that Congress has given 

us at USDA makes such a difference in lives, in people. It is not 

about numbers. It is not about dollars. It is about giving hope and 

opportunity and a chance. They do not want handouts. They want 

partners. I think that is what USDA does. 

I know that red light has been on, and I apologize, but I just 

thank the Committee for your work, for the additional reforms and 

changes. LRP is going to offer yet another tool for us. I appreciate 

the commitment this Committee has shown to this agenda, and you 

personally, sir. I know that the Dole-McGovern Program is at 

USDA I believe from one of your efforts a long time ago, to make 

sure that it stayed at the Department. It was a wise decision. 

Thank you, and I encourage the members of the Committee, 

when you travel—and I have traveled with a couple of you, and we 

saw this firsthand. When you are out, I know you are busy, you 

have a lot of demands on your time and a lot of projects to see. I 

encourage you to work with USDA to get out to a school, and you 

will see firsthand the difference your commitment and your investment makes in someone’s life. 

8 

Thank you, sir. I look forward to further questions and discussion. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Harden can be found on page 45 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Well, thank you for your personal testimony 

and your personal story, if it can be described as that. That is always helpful to put it in those terms, and I just have a couple of 

questions here for you. 

One of the most powerful tools that we have in our arsenal to 

combat hunger is the research being done at and through the Department of Agriculture, partnerships with entities such as our 

land grant universities. I am very proud of my university, my alma 

mater, Kansas State, one of the leading partners in the Feed the 

Future research effort, hosting four innovation labs that work in 

areas like post-harvest loss, the development of heat-resistant and 

high-yielding crops. 

My question would be: How do we take advantage of the long 

history and extensive knowledge we have of research, extension, 

and public-private partnerships, particularly in areas that you 

have described, in areas of the world that lack that structure? How 

do we put that together? 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you, sir. One thing I have found when I 

have traveled is—and I am sure you have witnessed this as well— 

extension and our land grant system are the envy of the world. We 

have such great partnerships and the partnership USDA has with 

both is very valid. I do not go anywhere that I do not see logos from 

our favorite land grants, and Kansas State certainly being one. 

Working on the ground with our land grants, having students go 

learn, having research done and research shared with our partners 

around the world I think is one of the key benefits of our system 

and being able to share that. 

The Cochran and Borlaug, both of those programs I think are 

very key to the exchange of information as well, and you remember 

that the Committee has supported both of these for many, many 

years and making sure that researchers and scientists and other 

leaders from developing countries come to the U.S. and train at our 

land grants, learn about our systems, learn how to collect data, 

learn how to share that information with their producers. 

So I think that we use our tools in as many ways as we can, the 

flexibilities that we have in building these partnerships. I am reminded of a processing plant in Guatemala that I visited. They had 

graduated out of our programs, our Food for Progress programs, 

but were still very much viable, exporting snow peas and beans the 

day I was there to the U.K., the workers walking around with caps 

on their heads, I think it was Texas A&M and maybe Arizona 

State just happened to be at that facility. But the lasting deep relationship that many people in these countries form with our universities I think is part of the residual benefit, the connections that 

they have. I think that it is a lasting commitment, and we see the 

results of that in the work on the ground, and I commend our land 

grant universities for their continued commitment to this agenda 

as well. 

Chairman ROBERTS. We have a lot of resources and capabilities 

at the USDA. What resources and capabilities do you think would 

9 

enable us to better and effectively deliver food aid under programs 

such as McGovern-Dole, strengthen the agricultural development 

in other countries through Food for Progress? What skills and programs are underutilized? Just to add another question there so we 

can both share the red light here, are there things that you could 

be doing or should be doing that are currently limited by Federal 

rules and regulations? 

Ms. HARDEN. Well, I will first answer the first part of that, and 

thinking about LRP, I am very hopeful we get a budget next week 

or very soon, and we will have for the first time a full program in 

LRP and we can actually utilize and complement, the McGovernDole/Dole-McGovern program by being able to buy locally, to have 

a more balanced diet for kids in that program. I think we will see 

additional results if we are able to fully utilize that program, which 

is $20 million in our budget proposal. If we are funded, that is 

three or four different projects somewhere around the world where 

we can see the benefits. I think that is definitely very important. 

I think the beauty of what we have at USDA in our programs 

is flexibility, to be able to adapt to the need and the desire and the 

demands and the needs of the communities that we are working in 

and being able to leverage our dollars. We look for projects where 

there is going to be buy-in from not only the national government 

but the local government, to be able to cut through the red tape, 

to be able to have lasting programs and get results, and also to use 

our NGOs, who are on the ground with so many resources. 

So I think it is the partnerships that we build at USDA with all 

those that I just outlined, very much our land grants, I should 

mention that again as well, and being able to use the flexibilities 

that we have. 

Chairman ROBERTS. My time has expired. I apologize to my colleagues. You did not mention any Federal rules or regulations that 

hamper you. If there are none, you are the only one in Washington 

that—— 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. HARDEN. I guess I was just trying to be diplomatic, sir. 

Chairman ROBERTS. You can submit that for the record, if you 

would like. 

Ms. HARDEN. I will do that. That is a good idea. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Okay. I appreciate that. 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you. 

[The following information can be found on page 64 in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Perdue. 

Senator PERDUE. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I am really proud to have somebody from my home State with roots at the— 

I know what the dirt road looks like down in Camilla, Georgia. 

I have a little story, too. I saw the results of what you do in Haiti 

last year. After the election, my wife and I went down and spent 

a weekend at an orphanage down there, and we saw that one meal 

a day, and it really does make a difference. But I have three questions I would love to give you. I am going to just lay them out first 

and let you answer these at your discretion. 

Ms. HARDEN. Certainly. 

10 

Senator PERDUE. One is this technology transfer. As you mentioned in your testimony, our universities, our land grant universities, as well as companies, the technology that we have developed 

in agriculture over the last 30 years is phenomenal. Our productivity has gone up dramatically. I have a very good friend who is 

CEO of Pioneer Seed Company, part of DuPont, and I look at corn 

just as an example. Productivity in corn since I was a kid, harvesting corn on our farm, I mean, it is just incredible. That only 

enhances our ability to help the rest of the world. So this technology transfer is one question. Can you speak to that? 

Second is the procurement. LRP you mentioned a couple times, 

but can you mention how important that flexibility is long term? 

I want to remind the Committee for the record that it is important 

that we work on technology transfer, because honestly—and I say 

this with all due respect—40 percent of what we spent last year 

as a Federal Government, including every one of our philanthropy 

programs, 40 percent of those programs, Mr. Chairman, was borrowed. That means these programs are in great jeopardy, and we 

cannot let anything happen to these programs. I know the need out 

there. 

The third area is waste. You mentioned in your written testimony 30 percent or so of the world’s food production is waste. 

Can you just speak to those three briefly for us? 

Ms. HARDEN. I certainly can, sir. Thank you. They are all very 

valid and good questions, and, again, it is quite an honor to be with 

my home state senator always. I am so glad we always have a 

member from Georgia on the Ag Committee. It is nice to have two 

pictures up here, which we need to keep having more. 

Tech transfer, Secretary Vilsack often says that science has got 

to be shared, and technology has to be shared. It is something I 

think USDA has been a leader in around the world with our partners, looking at the great research and the science and the technology that we do have and sharing with our partners who do not. 

I was reminded of a story of how weather is just such a huge 

thing, weather predictions, for farmers. I mean, that is the first 

thing my Daddy asks, and it is the last thing he does before going 

to bed, is, ‘‘What is the weather?’’ so you know how to make decisions. He even asks me about weather here. I do not know why, 

but that is important to him. That is always the first question. 

Thinking about a producer in a remote area that does not get a 

weather report, has absolutely no idea. They do not know that the 

storm is coming. They do not know not to harvest and put maize 

out to dry and the weather is going to come. They do not even have 

the ability to know. 

So how do we communicate better, how do we share that kind 

of data on some of the very basic fundamental issues, not even the 

more complicated that you are addressing, I think is something 

that USDA wants to be and has been a leader on and will continue 

to focus on with this Committee’s help. 

For LRP, long term I think it is the same relationship we see in 

our country in some ways with Farm to School, buy-in from a local 

community, a connection with that school, ownership of what is 

happening there, relationships, a local group of farmers who can 

help feed the kids in their school, whether they have kids there or 

11 

not. Building those ties I think is very key. Also just the balanced 

diet that the kids will get, even if they are getting our porridge, 

our rations from the U.S., just like kids here, they need more vegetables, and being able to make that connection. But it is not just 

nutrition. It is also the buy-in and the commitment from that community who wants that school to stay open, they want their kids 

going there, they have a connection there. It is a market for them. 

It is a way to provide the sense of community and investment in 

education for all kids, boys and girls. 

Food waste, that could be a whole hearing on food waste, and the 

Committee maybe should do that at some point. Thirty percent is 

lost. In our country, it is more at the institutional level. At the personal level, folks like me who go to the farmers’ market, I need 

three apples. I buy nine because I want to help that farmer, and 

then I do not eat them. I buy all this wonderful produce, and I 

swear to my husband every night, ‘‘We are going to eat at home. 

I am going to cook, or you are going to cook.’’ Then we go out. 

So a lot of us in the U.S. make those kind of decisions, but 

around the world it is post harvest, and it is some of the issues I 

have talked about, with not knowing weather, not being able to 

predict weather, not being able to gather crops, not having the 

tools to do so, the equipment to do so, the people to do so. Sometimes it can be a variety of things. But in the U.S., we have a 

pledge to cut food waste in half in the U.S. by 2015, and we are 

going to continue to work with the rest of the world. I was able to 

lead a discussion at the UN Conference this fall on these very 

issues with all of our partners around the world. How do we address these issues? We are going to have 9 billion plus people to 

feed by 2050. We need to be looking at all these tools, and food 

waste is one of them. 

Senator PERDUE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Heitkamp. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, 

Deputy Secretary, for such a moving and appropriate opening 

statement. I think we do a lot especially in agriculture and alphabet soup, whether we call it Dole-McGovern or, USAID or USDA 

or this program and that program, we certainly saw a lot of them— 

World Food Program—when we are looking internationally. But 

the reality is that for those of us who have been to these places, 

especially rural communities in countries like El Salvador and 

countries like Ethiopia, we see the absolute critical need to engage. 

That engagement is not just about humanitarian interest. It is in 

our national security interest. We are seeing, again, because of the 

disruption of security in El Salvador, we are seeing a surge again 

at the border of unaccompanied minors, a lot of those children who 

are most at risk. I have been to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala in the last probably 4 or 5 months and have seen what that 

migration from rural areas, for lack of ability to make a living, to 

urban areas, the disruption, the social disruption that that has created and what has happened in terms of risk. 

So I want to talk not just about these programs but talk about 

the value of these programs in getting to those communities where 

there you can start talking about soil science, you can start talking 

about co-ops, you can start talking about storage of crops, maybe 

12 

even get a little electricity so that they can download weather reports. I mean, there are a whole lot of things that we will never 

be able to feed the world from relief programs. 

I would like you to just speak to how this gives you an entree 

into those communities and what advice you would give us as we 

move through, I think, this discussion about food security and making sure that committees like the Ag Committee remain in charge 

of this distribution, because at the end of the day what we are trying to do is create more opportunity globally for farmers. 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you, Senator. You and I have talked about 

these issues many times, and I know we share a passion for them, 

and so it is great to be with you today. 

A lot of things you hit on are so true. I think we all know that 

it is much better if kids are listening to a teacher instead of their 

empty stomach growling, and that is what our programs are able 

to do, and it does build stronger communities, it offers jobs, when 

we are in a location and can actually provide opportunity for the 

young people to be educated and to help their families, help their 

communities. 

So I have seen the benefits of our programs and our work on the 

ground, and I hope that this Committee continues to provide us the 

flexibilities like with LRP and other reforms that give us more 

tools to get to work with folks. 

As I said earlier, people do not want a handout. They want a 

partner. I think that is what we are at USDA. 

I think that we relate so well to folks in rural communities. 

When I am on the ground, it is like rural communities here. It is 

so fun to sit and talk with a group of farmers. I always talk to 

women farmers, as you know, but men and women farmers relate 

to each other. You could be anywhere, except for some language 

barriers sometimes, it is anywhere. They are worried about weather. They are worried about what is happening on their operations. 

They are worried about their families. Farmers and ranchers are 

the same at the heart level. I do believe that. We have so many 

tools here that we can share, and I think we need to do that. 

Senator HEITKAMP. We have a lot of really great partners in the 

philanthropic world—Howard Buffett, the Gates Foundation very 

involved, we saw their work in terms of doing extension. But one 

of the things—and I had a chance to just spend time with Mike 

Johanns before he left, who I have just such tremendous respect 

for, and I said, doing international work, what is the one priority 

that you think we should exercise? He said, building out co-ops and 

that extension. Extension and co-ops have really—I mean, they are 

the bedrock of what we have been able to do in American agriculture. 

How can we do a better job assisting in building out, farmer-tofarmer relationships internationally and then obviously, extension, 

which is critically needed? 

Ms. HARDEN. I think a couple of things, and I have mentioned 

some of them already with our Cochran and Borlaug exchanges. I 

think having folks come from other countries, come to the U.S. to 

understand how we do that, how things are set up to be able to 

take that back home and do it working with folks, there is no doubt 

extension and our land grant systems are the envy of the world, 

13 

and we probably take them for granted. But being able to help do 

that, and co-ops as well, and for women in particular, I think it is 

very helpful. These are small farm holders. They are not large, so 

you do not need a huge tractor. You need a small machine or tool 

that you can actually share and work together. I saw a great coop, milk collection, in Rwanda this summer where the milk is delivered sometimes by hand and by bicycle, a can strapped to the back 

of a bicycle, or maybe a little motor scooter. This is, a couple of 

cows, but it is delivered every day, and these farmers—many of 

them are women—are bringing their milk there together, and it is 

pasteurized and provided for the local community. 

So there are small co-ops. It is a different concept. It is teaching 

and explaining and gathering information and sharing it with 

many of the farmers in other countries. We just take it for granted. 

We understand how working together might make sense. We have 

to help teach and guide and show them how this can be done. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Klobuchar. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Well, thank you very much. Deputy Secretary, I want to thank you for your incredible work, and last year, 

Senator Heitkamp and myself and Senator Stabenow and Senator 

Hirono and Senator Cantwell had the opportunity to travel with 

you to Africa on the first-ever women Senators trip. We would have 

invited you, Mr. Chairman, but it did not work. Glass ceiling. 

But I wanted to commend you for your work not only on that 

trip, but just how hard you work in terms of making not only the 

words sound so meaningful at this hearing, but also actually taking 

action. There we saw on that trip in Senegal, Tanzania, and Ethiopia some of the partnerships going on with companies from my 

State like General Mills and Cargill in terms of getting more nutritious food, like at Faffa Baby Food, a place I think the President 

later visited. 

Could you talk about how we can build on this public-private 

partnership in terms of making sure that we increase the effectiveness of our own Government programs? 

Ms. HARDEN. I think we have to. There is absolutely no way that 

we can do it by ourselves in the Federal family, and we should not 

be, frankly. We need the investment and the buy-in and the commitment from other partners, and we do have that in the private 

sector. I remember the incidents with the food as well. There is fortification of products that are done. I was just in Ghana recently, 

as the Chairman mentioned, and went to a facility that Hershey 

from Pennsylvania is actually supporting with peanuts. Not coming 

from Georgia, that was the only kind of downside about this 

project, but they were actually making a fortified supplement, a 

nutritional supplement for kids, an investment working with 

USDA, working with private entities, working with our land 

grants. It is all about partnerships, and we continue to look for opportunities. That way we can leverage the resources that we do 

have to get them to more places, to more people, and to make a 

bigger difference. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. The other aspect of that trip is 

we focused a lot on women in agriculture, and then closer to home, 

I know you visited Minnesota and North Dakota. I have a great 

14 

photo of the three of us and a rather large piece of agricultural 

equipment. We know that women account for more than 60 percent 

of global food production. They are the backbone of so many of our 

rural economies in the developing world, yet they face challenges 

of land rights, access to credit. So they are basically doing the 

work, but do not always have the ownership or get the amount of 

money that they should for their work. 

I know that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 

Nations estimates that if women had access to the same resources 

as men, their farms would increase yields by 20 to 30 percent. That 

alone would alleviate hunger for 100 to 150 million people. 

In what ways do our current food assistance programs focus on 

empowering women as part of the solution to world hunger? 

Ms. HARDEN. I could talk the whole day about women and the 

work of women and the dedicated, hard work that they do around 

the world, in our country as well as in developing countries even 

more so. They are also responsible for raising their kids, taking 

care of their families. I think of a woman that I met in Ethiopia 

at a small dairy, and she was one of the women who actually had 

men working for her, very unusual, with seven men, including her 

husband, and she had a methane digester that heated her cook 

stove in her house. She could not read or write, and so everything 

that she learned through this program was by demonstration. 

So many women, they are ambitious. They want to do more. Ritu 

Sharma is quoted as saying that if you teach a woman to fish or 

farm, that she will not only feed her family but her community. I 

believe that is exactly right. The numbers that you read are so disturbing to me personally, to think about that women do not have 

access to credit. Maybe 10 percent of that 50 or 60 percent that are 

farming, and they are producing about 80 percent of the food, many 

of them cannot own land or transfer land. I think about my own 

family. If anybody told me that my sister and I could not inherit 

our farm, I cannot imagine how that must feel to young women, to 

daughters, to granddaughters, to nieces, to think that that would 

not be available. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. So do you think that with the aid that we 

do give we could use that as leverage to get these countries to 

change their laws? 

Ms. HARDEN. I think there are a couple of things we do. We 

make sure girls get educated, and we focus our feeding programs 

on girls. We highlight girls. Many of them not only come to school 

because they can get a meal that day, but there are bags of beans 

or rice that they can take home. So it is an incentive for the entire 

family to make sure that girl, that daughter, those daughters are 

educated. We can make sure the girls feel comfortable going to 

school, that they have separate latrines. There are things that we 

can do to help educate so the decisions come—they become the 

leaders, they become from the ground up. 

One of the most powerful, effective Ministers of Agriculture on 

the continent of Africa in my personal opinion is a woman in 

Rwanda, and she is just a dynamo. She participated in the Borlaug 

program at Michigan State. I am sorry that Senator Stabenow did 

not hear me say that. She is back home, and when you talk to her 

about issues about women farmers and women landownership, she 

15 

was educated, and she came here, and she understands the value 

and the need. We have to empower women. We have to keep the 

pressure on. 

I remember when we met with the Prime Minister in Ethiopia, 

and we raised the question to him and he said, ‘‘Even though it 

may be not the law, as long as I am Prime Minister, it is going to 

be this way.’’ Well, what about when you are not? That is the questions we have to continue to answer. 

So I think it is from the top down and asking the questions, encouraging the dialogue at your level, at my level, the Secretary’s 

level. But it is also making sure that girls are educated and we are 

helping to do that with the programs that we have on the ground, 

and then working with women farmers, business owners. I had a 

roundtable in Ghana with 40 producers, small business owners, researchers—all women—talking about the barriers of export and 

how they get involved. We can help and empower them often by 

being there and using all of our tools and our flexibilities. 

I know I am out of time. I told you I could get wound up on this 

one, so I am sorry. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. Thank you. Well, I am glad you 

have shared that with all of us, so it was very meaningful, and I 

hope—of course, women are not the only ones that can raise the 

issue. Everyone can raise this issue. 

Ms. HARDEN. Exactly right. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Because I think it is one of the keys to 

moving forward here internationally. Thank you. 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar, and thank 

you for targeting a most important topic. Madam Secretary, thank 

you for your passion. 

Senator Boozman? 

Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank Senator 

Klobuchar for her question. It is interesting, and you know better 

than anybody, but the instance of grinding poverty has decreased 

substantially in the last 10 years, and a lot of it is due to the fact 

that, through our hard work and others’ hard work, we have a situation where people can get out and start earning a living by breaking down in Africa just the barriers of the borders, all of those kind 

of things. The good news is it seems like that, the various countries 

involved see that they are having success, and it is kind of snowballing a little bit. 

But I think that anything we can do along with the food aid, as 

the Senator is alluding to, to help that process, particularly with 

women, them being such the fabric of the society in these different 

countries, is really very beneficial. So I would just echo what she 

brought up. 

We continue to be the most generous Nation on the Earth as far 

as providing food aid. Since World War II, I think we have literally 

saved millions of people from malnourishment and things. We can 

be so very, very proud of that. As the co-chair of the Hunger Caucus and then somebody that represents lots of farmers in Arkansas, 

like I say, we are very, very proud of all that we have done. 

16 

Can you talk a little bit about the USDA Food Aid Program and 

the impact it is having on the world in these very difficult situations where people desperately need some help? 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes, thank you, sir. We are very fortunate, I think, 

at USDA to have so many tools that we can use. As I mentioned 

earlier in the very beginning of my statement, being able to adapt 

the tools that we have, have the flexibilities to create partnerships, 

to adapt to the needs and concerns, to build the relationships on 

the ground, to work with the private sector, NGOs, and other partners from the U.S., I think that is what is most effective for us. 

Also having buy-in from the national government where we are, so 

when we are not just there, we pull out, the program is graduated 

and it goes away. What have we accomplished? We have helped for 

a few years, but we do not have that lasting residual benefit. 

So I think we are very careful and try to be at USDA to make 

sure we have not only buy-in at the national level when we have 

projects, but also at the local level. I mentioned the school on Honduras where the entire community embraced that little elementary 

school. LRP is going to give us even more opportunities. I was talking earlier about having the local procurement of vegetables and 

maybe fruits for a school so the community sees the benefit of having kids in that school. It is a market for them. That helps build 

infrastructure. It helps with storage. It helps with all the things 

that are needed to make sure that the farmers stay successful. It 

just helps build an infrastructure. 

I also would just add that our trade does the same as well. 

Senator BOOZMAN. I was going to ask about that. I know you 

were in Sub-Saharan Africa promoting—— 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes, sir, with a lot of Arkansans. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Well, again, promoting—we talked about the 

importance of jobs in solving these, but talk a little bit about trade 

in regard to that. 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes, sir. I just mentioned the trip to Ghana, as the 

Chairman mentioned in the very beginning. I led a trade mission 

and included—also I was very happy to see a number of States represented, including Kansas, sir, as well had a representative from 

the State Department of Agriculture. We were looking at ports. We 

were looking at refrigeration. We were looking at all the elements 

in the chain that are needed to have trade. Trade is two-way. We 

were looking at markets there. There is a growing consumer group 

in western Africa, actually in Ghana, but there were representatives and buyers probably from five or six or ten other countries in 

that area wanting our goods, really wanting the quality, the consistency that you get from American product, but the infrastructure 

has to be there. We spent a lot of time at the port, looking at where 

the goods would come in. Is there enough refrigeration? Are there 

enough checks and balances there to make sure folks are going to 

get paid? There are certain kind of issues that you have to work 

through. 

But as we worked through being able to have the two-way trade, 

it builds infrastructure that the local producers can use as well, 

and I think that is the residual benefit. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Right. One last thing. You talked about in 

your testimony the worldwide demand for food is going to increase 

17 

60 percent by 2050, really being able to feed 9, 10 billion people. 

Can you talk about the importance of agricultural research in 

meeting that demand? 

Ms. HARDEN. It is so understated, sir. I do not think the rest of 

the public understands the value—they do not even understand the 

results of the research that we have gotten, that they benefit from 

every day, that not only our farmers and ranchers benefit from but 

consumers do. So I think we still need to continue to have the investments in ag research. We very much appreciate the foundation 

that was created in the last farm bill by this Committee. I think 

that is one step in making sure that we can leverage private dollars with public dollars, but we certainly need to be focusing on 

many of these key issues, and working with our land grant institutions as well. I think it will be the combination of the Federal Government as well as land grants and the private sector. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Ernst. You are recognized, Colonel. 

Senator ERNST. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. Thank 

you very much, Secretary Harden, for being here today. 

When the USDA and other agencies that are involved in that 

whole-of-government approach to food aid programs determine 

where to focus their efforts, is the political stability of the country 

or the region that you are looking at, is that a factor when making 

those determinations? 

Ms. HARDEN. It certainly has to be for USDA, and that is who 

I will speak to. When we are looking at the best places to make 

investments and build these partnerships, you have got to have a 

partner. You have got to have a willing and able partner to make 

sure that there is a lasting commitment, as I was talking with the 

Senator from Arkansas just a moment ago, making sure that there 

is buy-in, there is commitment. We obviously want to make sure 

that our personnel are safe, so you want to go to places that are 

stable, but also where there is a commitment from the other governments, whether it is at the national level and the local level, to 

make sure there is buy-in, so it is not just a drop in the bucket, 

that it is leveraged, that it is a lasting commitment, and so you do 

need, again, a willing partner from the host country. 

Senator ERNST. Then looking at those willing partners, then, do 

you look at what that national security risk might be to the United 

States to determine would that be a willing partner? Is it worth a 

long-term investment to make sure that they are not—as we look 

at the turmoil in the Middle East, if we can help ease some of their 

food instability, maybe they would be less likely to produce people 

that would be wanting to harm us, is that part of the process as 

well? 

Ms. HARDEN. I think Senator Heitkamp, before you came in, Senator, talked a little bit about that. It also helps with national security. Global food security is also a national security issue, and I 

think you are exactly right. Hungry people, disgruntled people, 

nothing is worse—I know how irritable I get when I am a little bit 

late for a meal. I have never really missed a meal. I will be honest 

with you. I could probably miss a few and be okay. But I just know 

how aggravated I get, and I cannot imagine if that is a sustained 

symptom that you do not have enough food, how you are suscepVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:23 May 17, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\MW42035\DESKTOP\DOCS\98997.TXT MICAH
18 

tible to others, I can see just in my own body how I react when 

I do not have enough nourishment. If it is chronic and if it is lasting, obviously there are going to be some problems. 

So we do look at that, and I was talking about Honduras earlier, 

and so was Senator Heitkamp, our work there, and Guatemala, 

trying to find opportunities for our young people, getting them educated, having them well fed, well nourished. That is very much 

part of the overall goal. 

Senator ERNST. That is very good. Earlier last week, I attended 

a conference in Des Moines that focused on a number of these 

issues, and food security, of course, is one. Then there are other 

avenues or lines of effort that we can use in making sure that the 

world is a more secure place. 

Since many of the commodity and food transfers are to areas of 

the globe that are not as politically stable as we are here in the 

United States, what do you see the role of the armed services in 

doing some of those food transfers or working in those particular 

regions? 

Ms. HARDEN. That is probably less of my expertise, but certainly 

in emergency situations, I know that the Government, the Department of Defense, has been involved in those things. In the work 

that we do at USDA, it is less involved. I believe maybe National 

Guard has been involved in some of our work in Afghanistan earlier in the Administration. I do not remember all the details, but 

the work that we do at USDA, it is less of a need for the Department of Defense to be involved. It might be for more emergency 

and certain situations. 

Senator ERNST. That is very good, because I know that we do— 

and Iowa has participated in this as well, but agricultural teams 

that have deployed through the Iowa Army National Guard, a 

number of other States have done that as well. 

Ms. HARDEN. Afghanistan may be an example. 

Senator ERNST. Afghanistan is a great example. We did have a 

team there about 4 or 5 years ago that did a rotation in Afghanistan. I think that is one way that we can utilize our military forces 

in those areas that are less stable than some of the other regions 

of the world in trying to teach and educate others. 

Any particular thoughts on those types of programs? 

Ms. HARDEN. I do not. Like I say, for USDA, we are usually in 

more stable environments than others may be, except maybe in 

emergency situations. So I do not have, but I am happy to talk to 

folks at USDA who know a lot more about this than I do, and we 

will get you an answer. 

Senator ERNST. Well, I appreciate it so much. Thank you, Mr. 

Chair, very much. 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator ERNST. Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Casey. 

Senator CASEY. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and I am 

sorry I was not here earlier. I would just make a brief statement 

and maybe ask one question as well. 

First of all, I want to thank Deputy Secretary Harden for being 

here and for her work. As was discussed, I know, earlier today 

when I was not here, this issue of food security and how we put 

19 

in place strategies to reduce the likelihood that someone does not 

have enough to eat around the world and here in the United States 

is a security issue. I know others have discussed that. It is literally 

a national security issue. 

The good news here is that in the last number of years, starting 

before the current administration but really amplified since then is 

the success, the remarkable success of Feed the Future, which I 

know is not the direct subject of today’s hearing, but certainly has 

a connection. 

Senator Isakson and I are leading the effort to pass the Global 

Food Security Act, which would, in essence, codify, put into permanency the Feed the Future Program, which here are the numbers 

on Feed the Future: 

In 2014, Feed the Future reached more than 12 million children 

in the world with nutrition interventions and helped nearly 7 million farmers gain access to new tools or technologies to help them 

have greater yields with their crops and also to feed the world and 

especially to feed children. So among the many things we have got 

to do domestically, I want to make sure that we continue that success with Feed the Future. 

I want to ask, Deputy Secretary Harden, I know that USDA is 

a leading participant in what Feed the Future is, which is a wholeof-government approach. How can we better draw upon both 

USDA’s expertise and resources to make sure that we keep moving 

in this direction with regard to Feed the Future especially, but 

maybe in some other contexts as well? 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you, Senator, and thank you for your leadership and your commitment to this. Feed the Future has been extremely successful, and as I said in my opening statement, it was 

the President’s very first foreign policy priority, and I believe it has 

been successful. I believe it is recognized as successful. There are 

11 different agencies, you are right, who are involved in Feed the 

Future, and USDA certainly is front and center. We work very 

closely with our Federal family on the ground in many locations 

around the world. 

One of our main roles is capacity building, which I think is very 

key for the lasting residual commitment so that when we leave a 

community, there is still an infrastructure there, there is still the 

ongoing benefits of the investment. I think that is one of the great 

things we have. 

Our folks at USDA, to quote the Administrator of FAS, Phil 

Karsting, we are ‘‘more work horses than show horses,’’ so sometimes folks do not really fully know what we do on the ground. 

They just know the work gets done. We have that get-’er-done attitude, as we do across USDA. Here in the U.S. our folks on the 

ground have the same kind of commitment to working with farmers and ranchers and helping landowners, helping them build infrastructure, helping them develop market streams so they can continue to create livelihoods for themselves and grow their operations 

and have stability. 

So I think the work that we are doing just needs to be continued 

and enhanced. I think that we know what to do on the ground. We 

know how to work with landowners and with the farmers. 

Senator CASEY. I appreciate that. 

20 

Mr. Chairman, I am giving back a minute. Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Grassley. 

Senator GRASSLEY. Secretary Harden, I just have one question. 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes, sir. 

Senator GRASSLEY. That is, you stated in your testimony that the 

United States is the largest donor of food in the world. Do you have 

any figures on whether other countries come close to donating what 

the American taxpayers do along this same line? 

Ms. HARDEN. Sir, I do not have exact numbers. I am happy to 

get those for you. I know that the U.K. comes to mind. There are 

others, other developed countries and entities around the world 

that do. But I will be happy to get you those exact numbers. I do 

not have them off the top of my head. 

Senator GRASSLEY. I would appreciate it for the record then. 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes, sir, I certainly will. 

Senator GRASSLEY. Thank you. I yield back my 4 minutes and 23 

seconds. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. That is rather remarkable, Senator Grassley. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Grassley, I have a note here delivered to me by Senator Boozman in your behalf stating that you are 

extremely disappointed that the leadership of this Committee is not 

providing snacks. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator GRASSLEY. I would think you could at least as well as 

Ms. Stabenow. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. HARDEN. Where are the Georgia peanuts, sir? 

Senator BROWN. We kind of like sunflower seeds. Sunflower 

seeds could work. 

Chairman ROBERTS. We will have order. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Sir, the snacks have been delivered to the 

World Food Program. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. I think are on the way to Bangladesh. But 

we have a reserve. We do not have the necessary funds for that. 

Perhaps you could be of help to us in the appropriations process, 

so snacks will be delivered if you will just be calm. I know that is 

very difficult for you, but at any rate, we will have snacks for you 

momentarily. Would you like to—— 

Senator GRASSLEY. Well, I am shocked at how fast you operate. 

Usually it is not that fast. Thank you very much. I will be glad to 

eat them. 

Chairman ROBERTS. You ask, we deliver. 

I am not sure where we are. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Mr. Boozman? 

Senator BROWN. Snickers? 

Chairman ROBERTS. You could share that down to Senator 

Thune and over here to Senator Brown. 

Senator STABENOW. Mr. Chairman, are those made in Kansas? 

21 

Chairman ROBERTS. Yes. This is a Mars company product from 

Topeka, Kansas, as a matter of fact. 

Senator BROWN. Koch brothers own it. Don’t the Koch brothers 

own this? 

Senator GRASSLEY. If you want to continue—— 

Chairman ROBERTS. If that is the case, you should consider that 

a hot basket, Sherrod. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator GRASSLEY. If you want to continue this discussion, it was 

the Senator from Arkansas that had the idea of writing you the 

note, but it happened that he told me that—— 

Chairman ROBERTS. This is in your handwriting, sir. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. All right. Let us get back to a serious situation. Madam Secretary, I apologize for this diversion. Senator 

Brown? 

Senator BROWN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

First of all, Madam Secretary, thank you for the work that you 

have done on McGovern-Dole. A number of my colleagues have 

seen these programs at work. I was in Haiti a number of years ago 

and saw what it did for particularly getting young girls to school, 

what it does for the children themselves, what it does for the families, what they are able to take home in the evening and for weekends, and what it does for American agriculture, too. But there are 

fewer things that—I hate the cliche ‘‘win-win-win,’’ but there are 

fewer things that fulfill that the way McGovern-Dole does, so 

thanks for your leadership, your outspokenness, and always your 

assertiveness on that program. 

I wanted to ask you one question. In your testimony, you touch 

on the impact that climate change will have on agricultural production and food insecurity around the world, something that we do 

not maybe want to think about enough, the impact of what we are 

doing in this country on what happens for people who are self-sufficient, who are feeding themselves and their neighbors, and the impact that has especially on the poor in the developing world. 

Discuss, if you would, the ways USDA can prepare farmers in 

the developing world for these changes and work into that how 

USDA projects climate change will affect global hunger. 

Ms. HARDEN. It is interesting, Senator, that when you talk with 

farmers in this country or around the world, some of the conversations are very much the same. They worry about extreme weather. 

They worry about drought, pests, and disease. All the problems 

that our farmers have to deal with here farmers around the world 

are having to deal with. So the conversations are very similar. 

We are lucky here in that we do have tools to deal with many 

of these issues, and sharing those tools with the rest of the world 

is something that is a call to action, is something that USDA cares 

about, this Administration has supported, and making sure the information, the technology, the conservation practices. 

I know firsthand that our farmers and ranchers are the best 

stewards of the land and given the right tools—sometimes it is 

technical assistance, sometimes it is financial assistance, sometimes it is a combination. But given the right tools, the right inforVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:23 May 17, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\MW42035\DESKTOP\DOCS\98997.TXT MICAH
22 

mation, they are going to make wise decisions about their natural 

resources. 

Farmers around the world, and landowners, do not always have 

those tools. They do not have that information. We have what Secretary Vilsack created here, Climate Hubs, which is just a place for 

information and data that farmers can go to to get it. I actually visited one. They are not actually bricks and mortar, but just a collection of information, and people who have worked together in Puerto 

Rico and looking at the coral reef loss and the impact of drought 

on Puerto Rico, and now countries in Central America are coming 

to that Climate Hub and saying, ‘‘We would like that data. We 

would like that information. We are having very similar issues. We 

are neighbors in that region, and we would like to be able to have 

that information.’’ 

So I think it is something that we can do, we can share our information, the data that we have, the conservation practices, the tools 

that our farmers are using in adapting to help mitigate many of 

the impacts of the changing climate. 

Senator BROWN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Stabenow. 

Senator STABENOW. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Again, thank you, Deputy Secretary Harden. I apologize again for 

having to step away, and we appreciate your time. Obviously, there 

is a tremendous amount of interest in what you are talking about 

today and the important actions of the Department. 

I wondered if you could expand just a little bit more as you are 

talking about weather-related things and climate-smart agricultural initiatives, because the USDA is playing a leadership role, 

not just here with our farmers playing a leadership role, but internationally, the Secretary is speaking about this now. So how, when 

we look at the administration’s overall effort to address global food 

security projects, a little bit more about the specifics of what is 

being done and what more could be done. 

Ms. HARDEN. Well, the Climate-Smart Alliance, as you mention, 

is just that. It is an alliance. It is a group of like-thinking countries 

and other groups who have come together to say we need to pay 

attention to this, we need to share information, and it creates a 

platform for being able to do that. 

As you know, we talked about that in our travels, in all of my 

travels. It always comes up with Ministers of Agriculture and other 

leaders to talk about how do we get this information. Again, as I 

was just saying with the last question, farmers and landowners 

have the same concerns. They see changes in trying to farm and 

produce food, and we know if we do not adapt, if we do not make 

changes ourselves in our conservation practices or how we farm, 

where we farm, if we do not use all the science and technology that 

is available, we are going to have greater problems. We have the 

information or much of it in the U.S., and sharing that and having 

the buy-in and the commitment to work together I think is what 

the alliance is able to do and really encourage the discussion, encourage the exchange of information and the science and the data 

that we have, and that is evolving. It changes all the time, and we 

need to make sure that we are staying on the forefront of these 

issues. 

23 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you very much. I want to go back. I 

know you talked a little bit about AGOA in general, and it was so 

interesting for me when we traveled together to see that the majority of agriculture is women, leading the co-ops, doing the work, and 

so on, the vast majority, which was interesting to me. When we 

talked to the President of Ethiopia about the fact that to strengthen them from an economic standpoint, it meant empowering 

women to own their own land, to be able to get loans, to be able 

to have inheritance rights and so on. 

So when Senator Roberts and I led the amendment to AGOA, 

which would expand the USDA’s role in trade capacity building 

specifically for women-owned farms and businesses, I wonder if you 

might talk about this new authority and what it means for USDA 

and how trade and the Foreign Agricultural Service can address 

the long-term food security issues by strengthening those from an 

economic standpoint that are doing the work. 

Ms. HARDEN. I can first just say thank you for your leadership 

to you and the Chairman for that amendment. I think it is spot on. 

I think it is exactly right. I hope that we get our budget soon and 

we can be ready to implement this. It is something I want to bird 

dog myself and make sure that it is done and done properly. 

I mentioned earlier, I think when you were out of the room, that 

I was able to host a roundtable just in Ghana recently with women 

farmers, small business owners, researchers, leaders, talking about 

exports and how they can send products to the U.S. They have 

products they want to send. They want to use AGOA benefits, but 

they have trouble with SPS. They have other issues. They do not 

understand all the requirements that we have. 

I think getting that implemented would help very much women 

just like the 40 that I happened to meet with and others around 

the continent work through those kind of delicate, sensitive, but 

very, very important issues to make sure that they can export to 

the U.S. They are ready to do so, they have product, but they need 

to know how to maneuver in many cases and get their products 

ready to meet our standards. 

So just hats off, thank you very much for that leadership, very 

well needed, very well timed. 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. I have one other question, and I apologize 

to the other witnesses. We have some expert witnesses on the next 

panel. 

Imagine that you are with me in Dodge City, Kansas, and you 

are at the local restaurant where we have the Dodge City coffee 

klatch, which is my—these are all my advisers. They talk about the 

weather. They talk about price at the country elevator, et cetera, 

et cetera. You are familiar with these things with regards to Georgia. 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes, sir. 

Chairman ROBERTS. I turn to you and whisper that you might 

want to pick a number a little higher. It is a numbers game when 

they try to stick you for the coffee. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. But I would like to have you explain to them 

why the LRP program is so important. They do not even know 

24 

what that is. That is an acronym. We all have acronyms. I am not 

sure how to pronounce that one. I am not going to try it. But focus 

on that a little bit from the standpoint of developing or having the 

opportunity for a country to develop that capability and what that 

means for them in terms of price and in terms of the agricultural 

community of Dodge City to export products to that country. 

So I just have introduced you, and I say, ‘‘Please explain to these 

farmers why LRP is important with regards to what you are 

doing.’’ 

Ms. HARDEN. I would first hope they could understand my Southern accent, so you may have to be the translator. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Do not worry about it. 

Ms. HARDEN. But assuming that they could understand it, LRP, 

Local and Regional Procurement is what LRP stands for. We do 

talk a lot in Washington about acronyms, and it is a whole different language, and I am guilty of it myself, and we should 

not—— 

Chairman ROBERTS. Do not worry about that. Just explain to 

farmers why this is important. 

Ms. HARDEN. We should connect the dots. It is important because 

it actually gives a market, an opportunity for local farmers to connect with their schools, to connect with other entities in their own 

community. It creates a market and all the infrastructure that goes 

into that. It helps bring stability to a local community. It creates 

jobs. It creates a system, a purchasing system, a marketing system, 

an operations system for agriculture. Just like in a small town— 

I am from Camilla, Georgia, a small town. My Daddy grew up on 

a produce farm. You need markets. You do not have a long shelf 

life. It is not like a grain. You have to have a market, a nearby 

market in many cases. That is what this creates. It creates stability in communities. It gives jobs. It gives opportunity for local 

farmers to help themselves, to create markets for themselves. 

Chairman ROBERTS. But in turn, I am trying to describe to them 

how that benefits them. We have had a history of a Food for Peace 

Program and all the rest of the programs and the PVOs and the 

NGOs and the Gates Foundation and the UN, the World Food Program, and then all of the programs within the Department of Agriculture which is the basis of what we are doing, and you are doing 

an outstanding job. 

I know what some of these guys would say. They would say simply, ‘‘Why don’t we have an LRP program for Dodge City?’’ We do 

in different ways. 

Ms. HARDEN. We do. Yes, sir, that is what I would say, is we do. 

Chairman ROBERTS. With different agencies. What I am trying to 

point out is that if you develop that to the degree that you have 

a stable community, and that is a tough—that is a high bar, but 

it also provides a market for us to sell them other things, fertilizer, 

tractors, et cetera, et cetera. It benefits them as well. 

Ms. HARDEN. It creates markets. If we want to sell, we have got 

to have someone able to buy. You have to have a customer. The 

way you create a customer and help build and establish a customer 

is to build stability and create a market, create demand. The only 

way you are going to do that is to have stability. Otherwise, we are 

just going to be giving handouts. We are just going to be donating. 

25 

That is not what we want to do. We do that when we need to, when 

we have to and it makes sense. But to have the complete balance 

and help us create markets for our farmers, to help our farmers 

stay on the farm and ranch, which is what we want to do, we need 

markets outside of the U.S.. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you for that. 

Ms. HARDEN. We need more markets here, and we need markets 

outside of the U.S. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you so much for that. You have hit 

the nail on the head. We will not stick you for the coffee. 

I thank you for your testimony. We would like to welcome the 

next panel at this particular time. 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you, sir. 

Chairman ROBERTS. We are eager to hear the testimony from all 

of you on this very important issue. We have compiled a panel of 

witnesses, I believe, who have broad experience and knowledge on 

these issues. 

Mr. Wade Ellis was named vice president and general manager 

of Bunge North America’s Milling Unit in 2012. He has been with 

Bunge since 2003 where he has served as vice president of sales 

for milling and general manager of Bunge’s Rice Mill in Woodland, 

California. Prior to Bunge, Mr. Ellis worked in the hybrid seed corn 

industry where he held various agronomic sales and consulting 

roles for especially hybrids, now a party of Monsanto. He received 

his bachelor’s degree at Purdue University in agribusiness management—where a quarterback played at one time that threw a pass 

that defeated Kansas State in a bowl game, Mr. Drew Brees. I will 

not hold that against you. 

Welcome, Mr. Ellis. I look forward to your testimony. I will introduce the rest of the witnesses after you give your statement, sir. 

STATEMENT OF WADE ELLIS, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL 

MANAGER, BUNGE NORTH AMERICA MILLING, ON BEHALF 

OF THE NORTH AMERICA MILLERS ASSOCIATION, ST. LOUIS, 

MISSOURI 

Mr. ELLIS. Well, I appreciate the opportunity to be here, and I 

was at the Alamo Dome for that game, by the way. I was in school 

at the time. I am Wade Ellis. I am vice president and general manager of Bunge Milling, a part of Bunge North America in St. Louis. 

I oversee milling operations for Bunge in the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, California, and Indiana. 

Raised on a corn and soybean farm in central Indiana myself, 

where my mother and father still operate today, one of the greatest 

joys I have in my work is seeing the process connected from start 

to finish where Bunge gets to truly operate in the middle of the agriculture supply chain. We connect America’s growers to food processors and consumers alike, and seeing the country’s hard work 

translating to feeding the world is something we are all very proud 

of each day. 

For decades, Bunge has been proud to provide ready-to-use foods 

for distribution in the U.S. food aid programs. What began as a 

program to supply large bulk quantities of simple products has 

shifted to a product line of high-quality, nutritious foodstuffs to 

meet the requirements of famine emergencies wherever they occur. 

26 

We can specially prepare foods for infants, children, their mothers, 

the elderly, and others with specific needs. Ready-to-use therapeutic foods now supplement local staples, and when they are used 

together, our food aid products become more effective in saving 

lives and mitigating the effects of malnutrition. 

Many of our products over the years have been formulated to 

provide vital nutrients quickly and efficiently in forms and flavors 

acceptable to people with widely varying diets. Working with other 

companies and the USDA over the years, we have contributed to 

the progress and enrichment of blended foods by volunteering resources and expertise. Further, we have made significant investments in both our milling and packaging capabilities to best meet 

the changing needs of the distribution and storage requirements of 

these programs. 

Now, our role as processors of these vital products gives us a 

unique perspective into the value this program brings from one end 

of the value chain to the other. Ultimately, the real winners are the 

people receiving the U.S. food aid in an acceptable, usable form, 

with other benefits accruing up and down the food supply chain to 

the Nation itself. 

Looking back at some of the history on P.L. 480, now 60-plus 

years, some of President Eisenhower’s remarks stuck out to me. He 

knew that the collapse of political systems as well as crop failures 

leave millions without food or the means to acquire it. When help 

does not come to people caught in these circumstances, the world 

becomes a more dangerous place. President Eisenhower saw Food 

for Peace among the best tools he had at his disposal. One look at 

the USAID food bags with the words ‘‘From the American People,’’ 

people understood that America was responding to their need. Food 

for Peace buoyed the U.S. reputation for doing good in the world, 

and it still brings the agricultural sector a major source of pride 

today. 

Bunge representatives have made numerous visits in-country to 

see our products in action, and the sense of pride is immeasurable 

upon return. 

The world has changed tremendously since this Committee considered legislation to formalize food aid in 1954. What has not 

changed is the need for food aid. Crises stemming from hunger 

occur all too frequently today, and they reshape the world as we 

know it. Back-to-back crop shortfalls in key producing areas were 

a catalyst to popular uprisings in the Middle East not even a decade ago. Today the consequences continue to reverberate around 

us. 

Also unchanged is the agricultural sector’s pride and the support 

for this program. We have faith that the Senate and House Agriculture Committees will maintain a vision of Food for Peace consistent with its original intent. As it evolves to meet the needs of 

a world with 9 billion people, new flexibilities will be needed. P.L. 

480 also has a role to play in achieving a 70-percent increase in 

world grain and oilseed production by 2050. Its farmer-to-farmer 

connections, its support for education by feeding school children in 

the developing world, its ties to global institutions that monitor 

supply-and-demand balances, and its overall contribution to food 

safety and security are important assets for the future. 

27 

It will take many commitments in many forms to feed the world. 

Just as there is an imperative now for food aid, the imperative for 

food aid will always be with us. Specific expertise in food aid and 

an industry positioned to provide it will also be necessary. With 

compassion and prudence, the U.S. should continue to claim this as 

one of our areas of expertise contributing to a better world. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to be here, and I look forward to answering questions later. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ellis can be found on page 40 in 

the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you. 

Our next witness is Mr. Leach, a well-known witness testifying 

on world hunger, food programs, what we can do, what we should 

be doing, what we should not be doing. 

Please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF RICHARD LEACH, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM USA, WASHINGTON, DC 

Mr. LEACH. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Roberts and Senator 

Stabenow, not only for convening this hearing, but for your steadfast, unrelenting, and longstanding commitment to addressing global hunger. 

If I may, before my planned comments, I would like to acknowledge that early this morning or late last night, a good friend, a 

great American statesman, Sandy Berger, passed away. Sandy 

served on our board for almost a decade and did a lot of work for 

us and for the Government as it pertains to the link between national security and food security. The people he has impacted 

around the world will ensure that his legacy will continue, and I 

felt it was important to acknowledge his planning this morning. 

U.S. support has been and is today vital in helping the World 

Food Program provide life-saving assistance to upwards of 80 million people in more than 82 countries. It provides hope to communities grappling with natural disasters, refugees fleeing conflict, 

and families living in extreme poverty. 

U.S. food has alleviated hunger and has literally transformed 

lives. In fact, over 3 billion people in more than 150 countries have 

been helped by U.S. food aid since the Food for Peace program was 

launched in 1954. It has promoted global stability, responded to 

humanitarian needs, whether caused by conflict or natural disaster, and contributed to economic development. 

As was said earlier, providing food to those suffering from hunger is a statement about the American people. Moreover, it is a 

statement about our American values and what we stand for. It is 

something that all of those who have worked to make these programs a success take great pride in—whether they are farmers, relief organizations, Members of Congress, or Government officials 

across numerous administrations. 

So we should celebrate the success—the success that this program and these programs have had for many years, but we must 

also continue to build on the lessons that we have learned. Today 

we have greater capacity to analyze market conditions, and to assess the needs of vulnerable populations so that we can determine 

28 

what is the most effective mechanism to help those suffering from 

hunger. 

Through this capacity, we have learned what types of food assistance are best to meet specific needs: LRP, Local and Regional Procurement, in-kind assistance, or cash and vouchers. We can now 

match the most effective tool to help meet the specific food and nutritional needs of vulnerable populations. 

In-kind food aid is needed when food shortages are widespread 

and local markets cannot address the needs. Cash and vouchers 

have proven effective in situations, particularly in urban areas, 

where local markets have adequate food, and vulnerable populations, if they have the resources, would buy it. Local purchase of 

food, when surplus production is available, has shown to reduce 

costs, delivery time, and also increase the incomes of small-scale 

farmers. So, bottom line, we need to use the most appropriate 

strategy as the circumstances require. 

In addition to increasing the overall effectiveness of our food assurance programs, the U.S. Government’s global food strategy 

today is more comprehensive than it has ever been; we consider 

this strategy in terms of four interrelated pillars that address all 

the multiple faces of hunger: 

First, the emergency response efforts that save lives in crisis. 

Second, the nutrition programs that help the most vulnerable. 

These are especially important for pregnant women and young children in their first 1,000 days when malnutrition could cause irreversible damage, stunting, and other problems that will last 

throughout their lives. 

Third, the use of safety net programs. This is an area where I 

think we need to have more and more focus. Safety net programs, 

like School Feeding, help people climb out of extreme poverty and 

chronic hunger, and also bounce back from weather shocks, and societal shocks. The LRP authority that was referenced earlier, and 

linked to the McGovern-Dole Program, both authorized in the farm 

bill, is a critical tool. I would love to talk more about how it can 

build long-term sustainability and local control over these school 

feeding programs, as part of our exit strategy. 

The fourth pillar is the whole range of agricultural development 

efforts to increase productivity and access to markets of small-scale 

farmers, who actually comprise about half the population of people 

who suffer from chronic hunger around the world. 

We have made great progress, and the U.S. has been leading the 

world in pursuing this more comprehensive strategy to combat 

global hunger. 

But, as noted, we have to be cognizant of the current humanitarian crises that are threatening some of the progress that we are 

making. Right now there are over 60 million people who have been 

displaced because of conflict. We have not had that number of people displaced since World War II. We have weather shocks that 

occur more frequently and with greater severity. Although we have 

significant threats, we know how to grapple with them. But we are 

going to have to work with the international community to take 

these efforts to the next level. 

In conclusion, I want to thank this Committee for your longstanding support. I think all Americans can be proud of the work 

29 

of this Committee and the longstanding bipartisan commitment to 

addressing global hunger. I thank you very much for allowing me 

to be here today. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Leach can be found on page 57 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Rick, I owe you an apology. I did not really 

address your background and what you have done in the past, 

which I will do right now before recognizing Senator Stabenow to 

recognize our next witness. 

Mr. Leach currently serves as president and CEO of the World 

Food Program, if people did not know that. Over his career he has 

worked on major social issues at a range of organizations, including 

the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services. Rick also got his start on Capitol Hill on the 

foreign policy staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Select 

Committee on Hunger. In 1997, Rick established the World Food 

Program USA, formerly Friends of the World Food Program, and 

has since traveled across the world to witness firsthand the effects 

of chronic hunger. 

So with that apology, Rick, thank you for your testimony. 

Senator Stabenow? 

Senator STABENOW. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, 

and welcome to everyone. I want to particularly welcome and introduce Arlene Mitchell today. She is the executive director of the 

Global Child Nutrition Foundation, 40 years of experience working 

in international hunger and development programs. She also grew 

up on a family farm in Michigan, is a graduate of Michigan State 

University, the Eastern Division Big 10 champs, I will say, with 

the final game, Mr. Chairman, on Saturday night. I hope you will 

be rooting for us on Saturday night. 

Prior to leading the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, she 

worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as deputy director for access and markets in the Agriculture Development Program, where she worked to assist small farmers in Sub-Saharan 

Africa and South Asia. She also previously worked as executive director for the United Nations World Food Program and in the Foreign Agricultural Service at the United States Department of Agriculture. Before that, she was a volunteer and staff member for the 

U.S. Peace Corps. 

So, Mr. Chairman, she is an important voice in this discussion. 

Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. We will turn to questions now of the panel— 

oh, I am sorry. You are going to give your testimony, Arlene. I 

apologize. All 38 pages. 

[Laughter.] 

STATEMENT OF ARLENE MITCHELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

GLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FOUNDATION, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 

Ms. MITCHELL. Thank you. As you noted from my written testimony, I had a lot to say. Thank you, Chairman Roberts and Senator Stabenow and all the distinguished Committee members and 

fellow panelists. It is a real honor to be here today. 

30 

Hunger, as we have talked about, particularly chronic hunger, is 

terrifying and it is debilitating. Hunger limits potential and causes 

people to behave in extreme ways. Hunger also takes a toll on 

those of us who are far removed through the cost of humanitarian 

assistance and health care as well as lost education and productivity and millions of people and subsequent generations. 

Agriculture can and must play a role in combating hunger. I 

want to call attention to ten issues for special consideration. Some 

have already been mentioned today. 

First, we need to reduce food loss and waste. We are losing about 

a third of what is produced around the world. 

Second, we need transportation and storage systems and solutions that leapfrog the current systems. Many of our current systems are expensive, outmoded, unsafe, unusable, and/or corrupt. 

We can get around in little vehicles on Mars and the Moon, and 

we have all-terrain vehicles that can negotiate rivers, sand dunes, 

ice, and snow, but we cannot get African tomatoes 5 kilometers 

down the road to market from the farm. 

We also have spent huge amounts of money on building and 

maintaining roads, trucks, trains, ships, and planes, but the cost 

and complications of moving food long distances are still impediments to getting food to those who need it quickly and at a cost 

they can afford. 

Food safety problems such as E. coli, salmonella, and aflatoxin 

need more attention. 

It is time to effectively involve women. There has been a lot of 

talk about that today. In addition to comprising half of the world’s 

population, we play important roles in farming and water use, food 

handling and preparation, family well-being, policymaking, et 

cetera, but we are not really included in key decisions and activities. 

Fifth, we urgently need solutions to address age issues. Farmers 

and agriculture scientists are getting old. At the same time, not 

enough young talent is entering into agriculture professions. 

Sixth, market and adoption issues thwart progress, especially in 

Africa. Why would a farmer invest in seeds, fertilizer, and technology to produce more if there is no way to cover the costs by selling the surplus that they produce? 

Seventh, we need to better control crop and animal diseases and 

pests that threaten the world’s food supply. 

Eighth, it is time to insist on linking agriculture and nutrition. 

The goals and programs are not in sync, and they do need to be. 

Ninth, protecting biodiversity is critical. We also need to explore 

the use of plants and animals that are not currently familiar to us 

in the United States. 

Tenth, agriculture affects health and health affects agriculture, 

but the two sectors work in silos. 

These items are critical to global food security. They are also the 

reason that I am working in the Global Child Nutrition Foundation. We see large institutional meal programs, nutritious and, if 

possible, locally purchased, as an avenue to addressing many of 

these issues. Building on the school infrastructure that exists in 

some form in every country gives programs a foundation, and using 

the power of education ensures that these programs will have a 

31 

positive impact for the involved children, farmers, and families 

both now and for generations to come. 

Now I want to mention two other issues that factor into the 

equation: First, traditional methods of development and humanitarian aid are being challenged by technical, digital, and cultural 

divides, by global weather patterns, conflict and displacement, political trade and economic pressures, the demands and actions of 

large emerging players such as China, India, and Brazil. Secondly, 

economic growth in Africa is positive, and the trends are expected 

to continue to be positive. These factors are causing shifts in power 

dynamics and call for new paradigms. 

Finally, the U.S. Government could tackle some entrenched behaviors and systems that, if alleviated, might speed progress. Five 

possible actions are: 

First, providing incentives for interagency cooperation and other 

good behaviors in Government agencies both here and abroad. 

Second, encouraging nongovernmental players to cooperate as 

equal partners and work from their comparative strengths rather 

than each competing to be in the lead. 

Third, instituting rewards for programs and organizations that 

work themselves out of jobs rather than creating and sustaining 

dependency. 

Fourth, creating safe ways to honestly discuss failures and challenges. 

Fifth, continuing the tradition of bipartisan support and jointly 

sponsored initiatives for combating hunger. 

That ends my remarks, and thank you for the opportunity to 

speak today. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Mitchell can be found on page 

64 in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you very much, Ms. Mitchell. 

I think I am going to go to Mr. Ellis first. You mentioned there 

have been critics of the involvement of U.S. agriculture in foreign 

assistance programs. This is sort of motivational question. What 

motivates you and your company to remain committed to these programs? This is against the backdrop of declining prices worldwide 

for commodities, all sorts of weather changes. You are facing some 

difficult decisions, but you still have that commitment to these programs. What motivates you to do that? 

Mr. ELLIS. So I think it is important to say there is an extremely 

feel-good portion of this to us as an organization. Because we have 

been in it as long as we have, too, there are several layers through 

our management that have a tremendous amount of support for 

what we have done. A lot of that is because they have seen what 

it does for folks in-country when the service is being provided. I 

think that is a very large part of it. 

There are times in the decision making process when you think 

about the volumes decreasing and some different things changing 

over the years, I think the amount of research that has been spent 

and the nutrient level and the consistency of the products now, 

there is a firm belief that we are delivering something that is making a big difference. I think that is what it is about. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Well, you have touched on this. How has 

Bunge approached the task of creating high-quality products that 

32 

help combat malnutrition and stunting, particularly for women and 

children? Both Rick and Arlene have spoken to that. 

Mr. ELLIS. So in my 13 years with Bunge now, I have had some 

exposure to this program throughout, and I think a lot of the products that would come through the program in the first 5 to 7 years, 

I would estimate, would have been more basic cornmeals that are 

enriched. But where we have moved today is to target specific age 

groups, mothers, lactating mothers, etc. The specificity to the actual product is a tremendous advance for all of us in the industry. 

One of the things that I find amazing is the commitment we 

have made to this program. In our milling business, outside of rice, 

we do not pack anything under what would be a 25 kg bag. Recently with the super cereal, we have installed equipment to be 

able to pack the 2 to 5 kg type bag for the super cereal product 

because we feel it will deliver a better product in this program. 

So the research that goes into that, at the end of the day, it does 

take staff’s time from our business, and we are committed to doing 

that, and we work with our association partners. NAMA is a strong 

leader in that category as well, and I think it is a testament to 

where the program has come to the amount of work and the 

amount of nutrients that are in these products versus even 10 

years ago. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Rick, you mentioned this in your testimony. 

I am interested in what steps you would advise the Committee that 

can be taken that can actually happen to help countries try to develop programs that will help mitigate the conflicts and other economic shocks that we see today that threaten the world’s food supply. 

Mr. LEACH. Well, there are a number of things that can be 

done—many of which are being done now. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Your top three. Pardon the interruption. 

Your top three, perhaps. 

Mr. LEACH. I think the capacity to have flexibility in the response is critical. That is what the Committee provided an opening 

for in the last farm bill. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Right. 

Mr. LEACH. I will give you an example. The authority for flexibility under Title II to use local purchase through the expanded 

202(e) authority, allowed the World Food Program to respond to a 

drought that occurred in Malawi. USAID had prepositioned food 

there, but WFP had to move more quickly than was expected to address an expanded need. The authority you provided allowed for 

WFP to buy local food that was used to address the short-term gap. 

That authority provided the opportunity to address the gap immediately. 

Other efforts are addressing those issues that would promote resilience—so that when weather or other shocks occur, we are not 

dealing with an emergency response because we already have operations on the ground. For example, building containment for rain 

water would help protect against the effects of a drought and provide an opportunity to withstand those problems. 

I would like to focus on some of the things the Committee could 

do to further enhance the capacity of local safety net systems. This 

is an area where we need to have a much greater focus. For examVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:23 May 17, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\MW42035\DESKTOP\DOCS\98997.TXT MICAH
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ple, if the USDA had the authority to use its safety net programs 

to provide technical assistance overseas, it could have a huge impact. Safety net systems should become a part of a countries’ good 

governance and rule of law. There should be a third point, and it 

should be effective safety net systems. Safety net systems should 

include, not just school feeding programs that we are supporting, 

but a more comprehensive system throughout a country. That is 

where, once again, the LRP Program, provides the capacity to create linkages, between building technical capacity, and local relationships so that we can evolve beyond external projects to those 

run locally. 

So I just would like to emphasize that we need to raise the profile of safety net systems at large—with school feeding being one 

of the most important. This is how countries can address shocks 

when they occur. For example, a drought occurs and a farmer has 

a dairy cow. If crops are destroyed because of the drought, you do 

not want that farmer to have to kill the dairy cow to feed his family. Therefore, we need safety net systems to help people get 

through shocks such as this. 

Enabling countries to have their own safety net systems in place, 

reduces the need for the international community to intercede. So 

I think there needs to be a larger focus on helping countries build 

their own systems. More than 80 percent of countries around the 

world do not have effective safety net systems. This is an area that 

we might not realize is such a critical point, I think we need to 

spend more time focusing on. 

Chairman ROBERTS. I appreciate that. 

Senator Stabenow, I am over time, but I do want to say to our 

next witness, Ms. Mitchell, you have done an exceptional job. I actually turned off Megyn Kelly last night and—— 

Senator STABENOW. That is good. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. That is not a regular thing. Now, had it 

been ‘‘Blue Bloods,’’ it might have been something else. But, at any 

rate, I read your entire testimony. I took the liberty of numbering 

your pages. You have 38. I want to thank you. It is a syllabus, sort 

of an Agriculture II, or 101/102. It is required reading by all members of the Committee who are not here, but they should be informed that we will have a test next week on this. But you said 

something here—I thought I had it marked. I will find it, hopefully. 

It is worth waiting for. 

Well, one thing I did is compare you to Samuel P. Huntington 

in ‘‘The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order,’’ 

who is one of my favorite authors. He said, ‘‘With 200 million people aged between 15 and 24 (the youth bracket), Africa has the 

youngest population in the world. 

The current trend indicates that this figure will double’’ in the 

next couple of decades, which indicates something that I asked in 

1980 in a campaign ad, and I said: ‘‘The most important question 

in agriculture today in the United States is, ‘Where is the next generation of farmers going to come from?’ ’’ That question still exists, 

and you have also referred to a new term, ‘‘older agriculturalists.’’ 

Could you put ‘‘wise’’ in front of that, maybe? Just a little thing. 

But you had a marvelous summary here, if I could just find it. It 

34 

was a great quote. I might yield to Senator Stabenow, and if I find 

it, I can come back with it. Let us do that. 

Senator STABENOW. All right. We will go ahead. Well, I also appreciate very much all of your testimony of all of our three witnesses, and your thoughtfulness. But, Ms. Mitchell, we do appreciate all of the expansive information that was in the 38 pages that 

we received, so thank you very, very much. 

I wonder if you might just talk a little bit—when we talk about 

the USDA, and you heard Deputy Secretary Harden talk about the 

breadth of their contributions in terms of hunger and nutrition and 

global food security and so on, what would you say the USDA is 

doing well at this point? Where should we be looking to help 

strengthen their role? Mr. Leach talked about technical assistance 

and global safety net systems, which I think is really an excellent 

point that we should be focusing on. But when we look at the enormous challenges we are facing, what should we do on our end to 

strengthen their role? What do you think they are doing really 

well? 

Ms. MITCHELL. Well, in my years at USDA, I had the privilege 

of working in a role that cut across all the technical agencies of the 

Department. It is an extraordinary technical resource that I feel 

the world has not seen enough of. So I think the world needs to 

see more of USDA in its breadth and its technical skills, and I 

think USDA needs to see more of the world. 

I also think that USDA can and should be involved in bringing 

the rest of the world to America, particularly rural America, where 

it is not well understood what is happen overseas and why the U.S. 

Government is investing the way they are. 

So in terms of technical capacity, we have discussed many issues 

today that the USDA is the world’s leading expert and has that 

deep technical capacity to address. But they are somewhat blocked. 

Quite frankly, there are some legal issues where, if the laws were 

tweaked just a little bit, USDA could have more flexibility. 

They are also, in my viewpoint, constrained by tradition and policy. They are not used to working overseas, and they often have 

leaders who discourage international work. 

So an action item in this area would be to tweak the law and 

encourage the leadership to allow USDA to do more international 

work. An example is Deputy Secretary Harden herself had to get 

special permission to do as much international work and travel as 

she is currently doing. 

Secondly, USDA staff are very skilled in technical areas, but they 

are not necessarily skilled in doing international work, whether 

you talk about speaking foreign languages or understanding cultural and protocol issues. Especially in relating to low-income, lowresource countries right now and low-resource agriculture, our 

technology is such that there is a very big divide in the way we 

approach issues and the way a smallholder farmer in Africa approaches an issue. 

So an action item in that area might be to encourage USDA to 

work closely with the Peace Corps, both to provide Peace Corps 

with technical expertise, but also on the other side of the equation 

to actually recruit from the Peace Corps or use those types of culVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:23 May 17, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\MW42035\DESKTOP\DOCS\98997.TXT MICAH
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tural and language skill training programs for some USDA staff to 

engage more effectively internationally. 

Lastly, I think the American public does not understand the 

work, as I was mentioning earlier, and I think that our land grant 

colleges, 1890s institutions, which, unfortunately, have not been 

mentioned today and I think are extremely important to international agriculture, and extension staff in particular could play a 

much stronger role than they currently do in helping the U.S. public to understand how important these issues are around the world. 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you. Could you also expand a little bit 

about the connection of agriculture and nutrition and the importance of having, more connections more conversations, more work 

being done? 

Ms. MITCHELL. Right. There has been a lot of attention over the 

last 3 to 5 years about the nutrition-agriculture linkages, but, unfortunately, there is still not enough being done. I think there are 

some serious issues. 

The first 1,000 days are ultra-critical, and we all agree to that. 

There is no argument about that. But it does raise questions for 

agriculture. A woman is pregnant for 9 months. A child should be 

breastfeeding immediately after birth and up to 2 years. So where 

is the agriculture play in the first 1,000 days? It is very hard to 

think of institutionally how you would reach those people and in 

the time range and with the activities that they are involved with, 

it is hard. 

So we believe in a life-cycle approach. You worry about nutrition 

throughout an individual’s whole life, with special emphasis on the 

first 1,000 days, 1,001 days and through the formative years, which 

is basically school age. We know that brain and bone growth do 

continue up until roughly age 21. Pre-parenthood adolescent girls 

and their education are ultra-important and can be reached 

through schools and school feeding with nutrition education. At 

times of particular vulnerability, if someone is ill, they need special 

nutritional interventions. If they are elderly, they may need special 

nutrition. 

In those areas, 1,001 days and beyond is where there is the 

strongest agricultural play, and I think we really need to focus on 

that, not to say it is either/or. The first 1,000 days we all agree is 

important, but we also need to worry about the life cycle. 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you. Thank you very much. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Tillis, I am going to recognize you 

in just a moment. I think I have discovered the quote that I am 

looking for, Ms. Mitchell. You said, ‘‘There are moral arguments for 

dealing with hunger at home and abroad, but moral imperative 

aside, there is self-interest to consider. American interests are at 

stake, too. The productivity and competitiveness of American agriculture is closely linked to the issues and changing landscape of agriculture internationally; our own agriculture and the U.S. economy 

can benefit from progress against global hunger.’’ 

I think that pretty well sums it up with regards to what we are 

learning and what our goals are and our challenges are. 

You even go on: ‘‘Key Issues; why this is not a question of business as usual,’’ and you have listed ten reasons why. Then you 

have, ‘‘Possible actions to address the key issues presented The 

36 

United States Government...could do.’’ I think that totals up to 11 

different suggestions. We will give these to the Appropriations 

Committee and see if we can fund all this. 

Then you finally sum up with, ‘‘Key Issues; why this is not a 

question of business as usual.’’ Now, the reason I am taking up 

Senator Tillis’ time here, because the questions have been asked of 

Senator Stabenow, is to compliment you on providing the Committee a blueprint, if you will—somebody said it was a syllabus, 

but it is a blueprint, and I thank you for that. You have 38 pages. 

I think you could probably do 50 and make it in 20 point and then 

people like me could read it. I think it is about 12 point now. 

But thank you for this. It has been a very extensive statement. 

I do not think I have ever read a statement by a witness so comprehensive with regards to this challenge. 

Senator Tillis? 

Senator TILLIS. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize for being late. 

I had three concurrent Committee meetings, one of which I was 

asked to chair the tail end of. 

Ms. Mitchell, I would like to start with you. I think you made 

a comment just before I got here about the goal of some of the organizations involved in this program should set out with a goal of 

working themselves out of existence. It kind of leads to, the ‘‘teach 

a man to fish’’ sort of paradigm, too. 

What more do we need to do to not make that aspirational but 

an expectation? How would you go about trying to provide the guidance to say, if you are not at that point, we need to get someone 

else in that can get to that point? What advice would you have for 

us, or any of the others? 

Ms. MITCHELL. Well, I think it is primarily to give teeth so that 

it does not just become a perpetual you get away with it by not 

working your way out of a job, and to provide some of the tools that 

we have been talking about in terms of strengthening safety net 

programs, in terms of local and regional purchase where you can 

actually provide a market for a farmer’s goods so that they do become sufficient, self-sufficient, and they can sell to commercial 

markets over time, et cetera. 

So it is a combination of treating this as not business as usual, 

actually putting some teeth in some of the decision making around 

organizations who are involved, and they are all great organizations. I do not want to denigrate the organizations involved, but we 

have all become dependent ourselves on resources recurring, coming year after year, rather than working our way out of a job and 

saying, ‘‘Well done. We are moving on to something else.’’ 

Senator TILLIS. To add to that, what sort of metrics exist—in 

order to fairly judge whether or not someone is on the right trajectory to end the need for whatever need they happen to be fulfilling 

because they have somehow fixed the underlying problem, what 

sort of focus on metrics and other things can we do so that we 

make that a fair and more objective discussion that we have to 

have at some point in time? 

Ms. MITCHELL. It is a tough equation because agriculture takes 

a while. I always say it takes 12 to 15 years before you can really 

see change in agriculture. But if you look at adoption rates, for example, there should be a way to actually measure whether someVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:23 May 17, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\USERS\MW42035\DESKTOP\DOCS\98997.TXT MICAH
37 

body is using your tool, your seed, your fertilizer, whatever, and 

they continue to use it once you have physically gone. That kind 

of follow-up action just does not exist in development operations. 

It is also an issue of finding who is going to take over in the 

country and providing some capacity development, and that is an 

area which is very hard to convince development workers to do, because that means they are not needed anymore. These jobs are 

really interesting, very rewarding jobs. So who wants to give that 

up and turn it over to a local, for example? But that is what we 

need to do, and we need to incentivize that in a way that makes 

it valuable to the players to do that. 

Senator TILLIS. It seems to me in our lifetime we are probably 

going to have needs maybe somewhere else, so it is not like the 

need does not exist. It may just move to a different theater. 

Mr. Leach and Mr. Ellis? 

Mr. LEACH. Sure. It is an important question, and I think it 

needs to be a consideration, in regard to everything we do. What 

is the exit strategy? How do we work ourselves out of a job? 

That is not to minimize the importance of helping those who are 

impacted by crisis. There are still people unfortunately, a growing 

number of people, impacted by civil conflict or natural disasters 

that we have to help because they are no longer in their home or 

their village. There is still that cohort that we, the international 

community, need to help. 

Senator TILLIS. Absolutely. 

Mr. LEACH. But to your question, there are number of efforts underway. One I will mention, and then a challenge to all of us. The 

World Food Program operates a program called ‘‘Purchase for 

Progress’’, which has garnered a lot of support from the U.S. Government. Actually, most of the support came from two people who 

understand business—Bill Gates, and Howard Buffett—initially 

funded the operation. It was a pilot for 5 years, a proven success. 

The goal was to help small-scale farmers, who comprise 50 percent of the people who suffer from hunger, become more productive 

and then access the market so that we no longer have to provide 

assistance. 

This was a very focused effort to help increase productivity, by 

working with a wide range of partners, talking about everything 

from fertilizer and irrigation to warehousing, and access to credit. 

The World Food Program, one of the largest purchases of commodities in the world would be the initial market. But the goal is that 

they would graduate to participate in open markets. 

This program is working, and we can measure it in terms of the 

number of people and farmers helped, and also the number of 

farmers who are now selling to companies such as Walmart and 

not us. That is a measure of success. I think earlier there were 

comments about how no one wants aid—they want to be able to 

fend for themselves, and they want to be successful. That is true 

for everyone around the world. 

So that is an example of an overall effort that includes the U.S. 

Government’s Feed the Future program. How do you create the capacity for them to become more productive, access markets, and not 

rely on external assistance? 

38 

In many respects, we buy food from hungry people to feed hungry people, and in the process you lift the first group out of hunger 

and poverty because they are now active participants in the marketplace. 

One of the points Arlene Mitchell mentioned, is the need to build 

local capacity, and that gets back to the point I was making earlier 

about safety net systems. We need to place a higher priority on 

helping countries build their own systems so that they have the capacity to run their own school feeding, and to help people through 

shocks. The challenge to all of us is to figure out how to mobilize 

the international community to providing whatever assistance is 

needed in the short term so that we have an exit strategy. 

Mr. ELLIS. Mr. Chair, I know I am over, but with your indulgence, if we could have Mr. Ellis maybe close it out? 

Chairman ROBERTS. Sure. 

Senator TILLIS. Mr. Ellis? 

Mr. ELLIS. Our job in the value chain changes every year. We 

mentioned bulk quantities of an enriched cornmeal that would go 

probably two or three times what we ship out of our system today. 

Our job is to stay relevant in the conversation, we feel, so you 

have target audiences. As we get a better understanding of what 

nutritional shortfalls there are, we continue to adapt the products, 

continue to get to where there is a more targeted audience that is 

going to take that product. That is, in a way working ourselves out 

of some of what we did in the past, and either we stay relevant by 

providing some better nutritional value, or there will be other solutions that can take place of that. 

Senator TILLIS. Thank you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

Chairman ROBERTS. We have just heard from the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture as well as those working on the ground about 

the role that agriculture plays in combating global hunger and related topics. Agriculture is clearly at the epicenter of our ability to 

address food shortfalls around the world. We must continue to be 

forward thinking, find new and innovative ways to get ahead of the 

coming population and production challenges. 

We in the agriculture industry have had a long history of exactly 

that kind of innovation. We can do this. It is through our dedication to research, our expansive knowledge in the development of 

value chains, and the advancement of new technologies that place 

the United States agriculture community on the front lines of the 

fight to end hunger around the world. 

This will conclude our hearing today. Thank you to each of our 

witnesses for sharing your views. The testimonies provided today 

are extremely valuable for the Committee to hear firsthand. To my 

fellow members, I ask that any additional questions you may have 

for the record be submitted to the Committee clerk 5 business days 

from today or by 5 p.m. next Wednesday, December 9th. 

The Committee is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 12:14 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

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