II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1252 

To authorize a comprehensive strategic approach for United States foreign 

assistance to developing countries to reduce global poverty and hunger, 

achieve food and nutrition security, promote inclusive, sustainable, agricultural-led economic growth, improve nutritional outcomes, especially 

for women and children, build resilience among vulnerable populations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2015 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. ISAKSON) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To authorize a comprehensive strategic approach for United 

States foreign assistance to developing countries to reduce global poverty and hunger, achieve food and nutrition security, promote inclusive, sustainable, agriculturalled economic growth, improve nutritional outcomes, especially for women and children, build resilience among 

vulnerable populations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Food Security 

3 Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) According to the Food and Agriculture Or7 ganization of the United Nations (referred to in this 

8 section as the ‘‘FAO’’), 805,000,000 people world9 wide suffer from chronic hunger. Hunger and mal10 nutrition rob people of health and productive lives 

11 and stunt the mental and physical development of 

12 future generations. 

13 (2) According to the January 2014 ‘‘Worldwide 

14 Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Commu15 nity’’— 

16 (A) the ‘‘[l]ack of adequate food will be a 

17 destabilizing factor in countries important to 

18 US national security that do not have the fi19 nancial or technical abilities to solve their inter20 nal food security problems’’; and 

21 (B) ‘‘[f]ood and nutrition insecurity in 

22 weakly governed countries might also provide 

23 opportunities for insurgent groups to capitalize 

24 on poor conditions, exploit international food 

25 aid, and discredit governments for their inabil26 ity to address basic needs’’. 


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1 (3) Decades of research have shown that there 

2 are multiple underlying causes of food insecurity and 

3 poor nutrition, including— 

4 (A) the lack of availability of, access to, 

5 and consumption of nutritious food; 

6 (B) limited investments to improve agricul7 tural productivity; 

8 (C) social and gender inequality; 

9 (D) insufficient value chains and market 

10 development for farmers, including small-scale 

11 producers, which lead to post-harvest loss; and 

12 (E) weak institutions in government and 

13 civil society. 

14 (4) Agriculture, which comprises large portions 

15 of the total labor force in many developing countries, 

16 is an essential component of inclusive economic 

17 growth. According to the World Bank’s 2008 World 

18 Development Report, growth in the agricultural sec19 tor has been twice as effective in reducing poverty 

20 as growth in other sectors. 

21 (5) Women, who are often heads of households 

22 and small farmers, are especially vulnerable to food 

23 insecurity. Women frequently face stricter con24 straints than men in accessing markets and re25 sources. In its 2010–2011 report, the FAO estiVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1252.IS S1252

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1 mated that if women farmers had the same access 

2 to inputs as men, they could increase their farm 

3 yields by 20 to 30 percent. According to the FAO, 

4 this ‘‘could raise total agricultural output in devel5 oping countries by 2.5–4 percent’’. 

6 (6) According to UNICEF— 

7 (A) more than 161,000,000 children 

8 younger than 5 years of age suffer from chronic 

9 malnutrition (also referred to as stunting); and 

10 (B) 1 in 3 women in the developing world 

11 are anemic, which leads to severe health and 

12 developmental consequences. 

13 (7) According to the United Nations World 

14 Food Programme, poor nutrition causes 45 percent 

15 of deaths in children younger than 5 years of age. 

16 (8) Malnutrition can— 

17 (A) undermine future earning potential by 

18 up to 20 percent; and 

19 (B) inhibit economic growth by up to 3 

20 percent of gross domestic product. 

21 (9) According to The Cost of Hunger in Africa 

22 Study by the African Union Commission— 

23 (A) the economic costs associated with 

24 child undernutrition are substantial, ranging 


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1 from 2 percent to 16 percent of the gross na2 tional product in several African nations; and 

3 (B) adults who suffer from stunting as 

4 children are less productive than nonstunted 

5 workers and are less able to contribute to the 

6 economy. 

7 (10) According to Save the Children’s 2013 

8 Food for Thought report, if the current malnutrition 

9 rates continue, global output could be reduced by an 

10 estimated $125,000,000,000 by 2030, as the young 

11 children of today reach working age. 

12 (11) A comprehensive approach to sustainable 

13 food and nutrition security should not only respond 

14 to emergency food shortages, but should also ad15 dress malnutrition, resilience to food and nutrition 

16 insecurity, building the capacity of poor, rural popu17 lations to improve their agricultural productivity, 

18 and incomes, removing institutional impediments to 

19 agricultural development, value chain access and ef20 ficiency, including processing and storage, enhancing 

21 agribusiness development, access to markets and ac22 tivities that address the specific needs and barriers 

23 facing women and small-scale producers, education, 

24 and collaborative research. 


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1 (12) An effective, sustainable approach to com2 bating food insecurity requires consultation with, 

3 and participation from, multiple stakeholders, in4 cluding government, the private sector, international 

5 organizations, international and local nongovern6 mental stakeholders, grassroots and civil society or7 ganizations, faith-based organizations, and higher 

8 education research institutions. 

9 (13) Nongovernmental organizations, faith10 based organizations, community-based organizations, 

11 private voluntary organizations, academic institu12 tions, and cooperatives can increase the effectiveness 

13 of public investments by building local capacity, 

14 strengthening food and nutrition security and resil15 ience, and leveraging additional resources. 

16 (14) The United States has provided consistent 

17 global leadership in addressing food security and in18 vesting in agricultural development and humani19 tarian assistance. In 2010, the United States Gov20 ernment launched Feed the Future (referred to in 

21 this paragraph as ‘‘FTF’’), an initiative designed to 

22 expand and better coordinate the United States in23 vestments in improving global food security. FTF is 

24 a whole-of-government approach that works across 

25 agricultural value chains and focuses on the dual obVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 May 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1252.IS S1252

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1 jectives of improving farmer productivity, income, 

2 and livelihoods in developing countries and improv3 ing the nutrition of women and children. 

4 (15) The United States Government spear5 headed the creation of the Global Agriculture and 

6 Food Security Program (referred to in this para7 graph as the ‘‘GAFSP’’), which mobilizes contribu8 tions from a wide range of international donors to 

9 support the goals of FTF. As of 2014, the GAFSP 

10 had received pledges totaling $1,300,000,000 from 

11 10 donors and reached an estimated 12,000,000 di12 rect beneficiaries in 25 countries. 

13 SEC. 3. POLICY OBJECTIVES; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

14 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY OBJECTIVES.—It is in 

15 the national security interest of the United States to pro16 mote global food and nutrition security, consistent with 

17 national agriculture investment plans, which is reinforced 

18 through programs, activities, and initiatives that— 

19 (1) eradicate hunger and malnutrition, espe20 cially for women and children; 

21 (2) assist foreign countries to achieve long22 term, sustainable, and inclusive agricultural develop23 ment by emphasizing— 

24 (A) increased productivity, resiliency, local 

25 management capacity, income, and growth; 


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1 (B) reduction in poverty and long-term 

2 vulnerability to food and nutrition insecurity; 

3 and 

4 (C) improved skills building and market 

5 linkages for producers, especially for women 

6 and small-scale producers, who face specific 

7 constraints in accessing markets, networks, and 

8 resources; and 

9 (3) ensure the effective use of United States 

10 taxpayer dollars to further these objectives. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that the President, or a designee of the President, 

13 in providing assistance under this Act, should— 

14 (1) coordinate, through a whole-of-government 

15 approach, the efforts of relevant Federal depart16 ments and agencies to develop and implement the 

17 strategy set forth in section 5(a); 

18 (2) utilize, to the maximum extent possible, 

19 open and streamlined solicitations, grants, and coop20 erative agreements to allow for the participation of 

21 a wide range of implementing partners; and 

22 (3) strengthen and expand partnerships be23 tween developing country institutions of agricultural 

24 sciences with universities in the United States, with 


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1 a focus on building the agricultural capacities of uni2 versities in developing nations. 

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

9 the Senate; 

10 (B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri11 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 

12 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

13 the Senate; 

14 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

15 the House of Representatives; 

16 (E) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

17 House of Representatives; and 

18 (F) the Committee on Appropriations of 

19 the House of Representatives. 

20 (2) FEED THE FUTURE INNOVATION LABS.— 

21 The term ‘‘Feed the Future Innovation Labs’’ 

22 means research partnerships led by United States 

23 universities that advance solutions to reduce global 

24 hunger, poverty, and malnutrition. 


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1 (3) FEED THE FUTURE STRATEGY.—The term 

2 ‘‘Feed the Future Strategy’’ means the strategy de3 veloped and implemented pursuant to section 5(a). 

4 (4) FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY.—The 

5 term ‘‘food and nutrition security’’ means access to, 

6 and availability, utilization, and stability of, suffi7 cient food to meet caloric and nutritional needs for 

8 an active and healthy life. 

9 (5) MALNUTRITION.—The term ‘‘malnutrition’’ 

10 means poor nutritional status caused by nutritional 

11 deficiency or excess. 

12 (6) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ means 

13 the ability of people, households, communities, coun14 tries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover 

15 from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces 

16 chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth. 

17 (7) SMALL-SCALE PRODUCER.—The term 

18 ‘‘small-scale producer’’ means farmers, pastoralists, 

19 and fishers that have a low asset base and limited 

20 resources, including land, capital, skills and labor, 

21 and, in the case of farmers, typically farm on fewer 

22 than 5 hectares of land. 

23 (8) STUNTING.—The term ‘‘stunting’’ refers to 

24 a condition that— 


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1 (A) is measured by a height-to-age ratio 

2 that is more than 2 standard deviations below 

3 the median for the population; 

4 (B) manifests in children who are younger 

5 than 2 years of age; 

6 (C) is a process that can continue in chil7 dren after they reach 2 years of age, resulting 

8 in an individual being ‘‘stunted’’; 

9 (D) is a sign of chronic malnutrition; and 

10 (E) can lead to long-term poor health, de11 layed motor development, impaired cognitive 

12 function, and decreased immunity. 

13 (9) SUSTAINABLE.—The term ‘‘sustainable’’ 

14 means the ability of a target country, community, 

15 implementing partner, or intended beneficiary to 

16 maintain the programs authorized and the outcomes 

17 achieved pursuant to this Act over time. 

18 (10) TARGET COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘target 

19 country’’ means a developing country that is selected 

20 to participate in agriculture and nutrition security 

21 programs under the Feed the Future Strategy. 

22 SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY. 

23 (a) FEED THE FUTURE STRATEGY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, or a designee 

25 of the President, shall coordinate the development 


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1 and implementation of a United States whole-of-gov2 ernment strategy to accomplish the policy objectives 

3 set forth in section 3(a), which shall— 

4 (A) support and be aligned with country5 owned agriculture, nutrition, and food security 

6 policy and investment plans developed with 

7 input from relevant governmental and non8 governmental sectors within target countries 

9 and regional bodies, including— 

10 (i) representatives of the private sec11 tor; 

12 (ii) agricultural producers, including 

13 women and small-scale producers; 

14 (iii) international and local civil soci15 ety organizations; 

16 (iv) faith-based organizations; and 

17 (v) research and academic institu18 tions; 

19 (B) support inclusive, sustainable agricul20 tural value chain development, with small-scale 

21 producers, especially women, gaining greater 

22 access to the inputs, skills, networking, resource 

23 management capacity, bargaining power, fi24 nancing, and market linkages needed to sustain 

25 their long-term economic prosperity; 


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1 (C) support the improvement of the nutri2 tional status of women and children, especially 

3 during the critical 1,000-day window starting at 

4 the beginning of a woman’s pregnancy and end5 ing 2 years after her child’s birth, with a focus 

6 on reducing child stunting; 

7 (D) urge target countries and communities 

8 to respect and promote the land tenure rights 

9 of local communities, particularly those of 

10 women and small-scale producers; 

11 (E) support the long-term success of pro12 grams by building the capacity of local organi13 zations and institutions; 

14 (F) integrate resilience and nutrition strat15 egies into food security programs, such that 

16 chronically vulnerable populations are better 

17 able to build safety nets, secure livelihoods, ac18 cess markets, manage resources, and access op19 portunities for longer-term economic growth; 

20 (G) develop community and producer resil21 ience to natural disasters, emergencies, and 

22 natural occurrences that adversely impact pro23 ductivity and livelihoods; 

24 (H) harness science, technology, and inno25 vation, including the research conducted at 


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1 Feed the Future Innovation Labs, or any suc2 cessor entities, throughout the United States; 

3 (I) leverage resources and expertise 

4 through partnerships with the private sector, 

5 farm organizations, cooperatives, civil society, 

6 research entities, and academic institutions; 

7 (J) support collaboration between United 

8 States universities and public and private insti9 tutions in developing countries to promote agri10 cultural development and innovation; 

11 (K) set clear and transparent selection cri12 teria for target countries, regions, and intended 

13 beneficiaries of assistance provided under this 

14 Act; 

15 (L) set specific and measurable goals, 

16 benchmarks, timetables, performance metrics, 

17 and monitoring and evaluation plans that re18 flect international best practices relating to 

19 transparency, accountability, food and nutrition 

20 security, and agriculture-led economic growth, 

21 consistent with the policy objectives described in 

22 the Feed the Future Strategy; and 

23 (M) include criteria and methodology for 

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1 ance provided under this Act once the countries 

2 have achieved certain benchmarks. 

3 (2) GOVERNING LAW.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of law, in carrying out the purposes 

5 of this Act, assistance may be provided to the De6 partment of State and the United States Agency for 

7 International Development pursuant to sections 103 

8 and 103A, title XII of chapter 2 of part I, and chap9 ter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

10 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151a, 2151a–1, 2220a et seq., 

11 and 2346 et seq.). 

12 (b) FEED THE FUTURE COORDINATION.—The Presi13 dent, or a designee of the President, shall coordinate, 

14 through a whole-of-government approach, the efforts of 

15 relevant Federal departments and agencies in imple16 menting the Feed the Future Strategy by— 

17 (1) establishing policy coherence, monitoring 

18 and evaluation systems, and coordination across all 

19 relevant Federal departments and agencies; 

20 (2) aligning linkages with other initiatives and 

21 strategies of the United States Agency for Inter22 national Development, the Department of Agri23 culture, the Department of State, the Millennium 

24 Challenge Corporation, the Overseas Private Invest25 ment Corporation, the Peace Corps, the United 


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1 States Trade Representative, the United States Afri2 ca Development Foundation, the Department of 

3 Commerce, the Department of the Treasury, and the 

4 United States Geological Survey; 

5 (3) establishing platforms for regular consulta6 tion and collaboration with key stakeholders, includ7 ing— 

8 (A) national and local governments; 

9 (B) multilateral institutions; 

10 (C) private voluntary organizations; 

11 (D) cooperatives; 

12 (E) the private sector; 

13 (F) local nongovernmental and civil society 

14 organizations; 

15 (G) faith-based organizations; 

16 (H) research and academic institutions; 

17 (I) congressional committees; and 

18 (J) other stakeholders, as appropriate; 

19 (4) leveraging the expertise of the Department 

20 of Agriculture in agricultural development, nutrition, 

21 trade, research, and education; and 

22 (5) establishing and leading regular public con23 sultations in target countries. 


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1 SEC. 6. REPORTING. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than De4 cember 31 of each year thereafter through 2020, the 

5 President, or a designee of the President, shall submit a 

6 report to the appropriate congressional committees that 

7 describes the status of the implementation of the Feed the 

8 Future Strategy. 

9 (b) CONTENT.—The report required under subsection 

10 (a) shall— 

11 (1) contain an appendix of the Feed the Future 

12 Strategy; 

13 (2) identify any substantial changes made in 

14 the Feed the Future Strategy during the preceding 

15 calendar year; 

16 (3) identify the indicators that will be used to 

17 measure results, set benchmarks for progress over 

18 time, and establish mechanisms for reporting results 

19 in an open and transparent manner; 

20 (4) describe the progress made in implementing 

21 the Feed the Future Strategy; 

22 (5) assess the progress and results of imple23 menting international food and nutrition security 

24 programming on the policy objectives set forth in 

25 section 3(a); 


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1 (6) indicate how findings from monitoring and 

2 evaluation were incorporated into program design 

3 and budget decisions; 

4 (7) contain a transparent, open, and detailed 

5 accounting of spending under this Act by all relevant 

6 Federal agencies, including a disaggregated account7 ing of assistance provided through different procure8 ment mechanisms; 

9 (8) identify any United States legal or regu10 latory impediments that could obstruct the effective 

11 implementation of the programming referred to in 

12 paragraph (5); 

13 (9) describe how the Feed the Future Strategy 

14 relates to other United States food security and de15 velopment assistance programs on the continuum 

16 from emergency food aid through sustainable, agri17 culture-led economic growth; 

18 (10) contain a clear gender analysis of pro19 gramming that includes established disaggregated 

20 gender indicators to better analyze outcomes for 

21 food productivity, income growth, control of assets, 

22 equity in access to inputs, jobs and markets, and nu23 trition; 

24 (11) describe the methodology and criteria for 

25 the selection of target countries; 


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1 (12) describe related strategies and benchmarks 

2 for graduating target countries and communities 

3 from assistance provided under the Feed the Future 

4 Strategy over time, including by building resilience, 

5 reducing risk, and enhancing the sustainability of 

6 outcomes from United States investments in agri7 culture and nutrition security; 

8 (13) assess efforts to coordinate United States 

9 international food security and nutrition programs, 

10 activities, and initiatives with— 

11 (A) other bilateral donors; 

12 (B) international and multilateral organi13 zations; 

14 (C) international financial institutions; 

15 (D) target country governments; 

16 (E) international and local private vol17 untary, nongovernmental, and civil society orga18 nizations; 

19 (F) research and academic institutions; 

20 and 

21 (G) other stakeholders; 

22 (14) assess the status of institutional capacity 

23 building efforts, including higher education; 


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1 (15) assess United States Government-facili2 tated private investment in related sectors in target 

3 countries and communities; 

4 (16) assess the impact of private sector invest5 ment on— 

6 (A) the economic opportunities available to 

7 small-scale producers, especially women; 

8 (B) improving international food and nu9 trition security; 

10 (C) local land tenure issues; and 

11 (D) enhancing inclusive, sustainable agri12 cultural development; 

13 (17) be prepared in consultation with relevant 

14 United States Government agencies; and 

15 (18) incorporate a plan for regularly reviewing 

16 and updating strategies, partnerships, and programs 

17 and sharing lessons learned with a wide range of 

18 stakeholders in an open and transparent manner. 

19 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The 

20 information referred to in subsection (b) shall be made 

21 publicly accessible in an electronic format and in a timely 

22 manner. 

23 (d) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE24 PORT.—During the 1-year period ending on December 31, 


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1 2019, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

2 publish a report that— 

3 (1) summarizes the progress of the strategy de4 scribed in section 5(a); 

5 (2) assesses the whole-of-government coordina6 tion described in section 5(b); 

7 (3) assesses the mechanisms through which 

8 United States assistance authorized under this Act 

9 is provided, including a list of the major recipients 

10 of United States contracts, grants, and cooperative 

11 agreements; 

12 (4) includes a review of evaluations conducted 

13 on assistance provided under this Act; and 

14 (5) assesses the budget decisionmaking process, 

15 including the role of monitoring and evaluation in 

16 program design. 

17 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec19 retary of State and the Administrator of the United States 

20 Agency for International Development to carry out this 

21 Act, for each of the fiscal years 2015 through 2020, an 

22 amount equal to the amount of funds made available for 

23 food security and agricultural development programs for 

24 fiscal year 2014 under section 7060(d) of the Department 

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1 propriations Act, 2014 (division K of Public Law 113– 

2 76; 128 Stat. 554). 

Æ 


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