III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 728 

Recognizing the instrumental role United States global food security programs, particularly the Feed the Future program, have played in reducing global poverty, building resilience and tackling hunger and malnutrition around the world, and calling for continued investment in global 

food security in the face of the economic impact of COVID–19. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 30 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 29), 2020 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. RISCH) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the instrumental role United States global food 

security programs, particularly the Feed the Future program, have played in reducing global poverty, building 

resilience and tackling hunger and malnutrition around 

the world, and calling for continued investment in global 

food security in the face of the economic impact of 

COVID–19. 

Whereas food security and nutrition are fundamental to 

human development, particularly in the critical 1,000 day 

window until a child’s second birthday, and persistent 

hunger and malnutrition stunt children’s mental and 

physical development and hinder the health, prosperity, 

and security of societies; 


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Whereas food insecurity and malnutrition in low- and middleincome countries force tens of millions of people into poverty, contribute to political and social instability, and 

erode economic growth; 

Whereas in its 2014 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the 

United States, the United States intelligence community 

reported that the ‘‘lack of adequate food will be a destabilizing factor in countries important to United States 

national security’’ and has since consistently linked global 

food insecurity to broader instability; 

Whereas, despite decades of progress, the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report for 2020 indicates that global hunger has increased since 2014, with 

2,000,000,000 people worldwide currently experiencing 

food insecurity, of which nearly 750,000,000 people are 

facing severe food insecurity, and 10,000,000 more people having fallen into hunger between 2018 and 2019, 

144,000,000 children stunted, and 47,000,0000 children 

experiencing wasting; 

Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities 

in global food systems and food supply chains, and has 

severely exacerbated existing food security shocks, such 

as the Fall Army Worm and desert locust infestations in 

the Horn of Africa region, particularly in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, as well as parts of Asia and the Middle East, which already represented an unprecedented 

threat to global food security and livelihoods; 

Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic and its second-order impacts are expected to dramatically worsen the state of 

global food security and nutrition, with preliminary assessments predicting a doubling of severe hunger (from 

135,000,000 to 265,000,000 people) and an increase in 


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child wasting (from 47,000,000 to 52,000,000) by the 

end of 2020; 

Whereas the United States has been a global leader in addressing food insecurity on a bipartisan basis and across 

Administrations, particularly in response to the global 

food price crisis in 2007–2008 and subsequent launch of 

the whole-of-government, United States Agency for International Development-led, Feed the Future program in 

2010; 

Whereas the late Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana was instrumental in advancing United States efforts to reduce 

global poverty through smart investments in agriculture 

and food security, including through his stewardship of 

the Global Food Security Acts of 2008 and 2009, support 

for the launch of the Feed the Future program in 2010, 

and continued advocacy to formally authorize the Feed 

the Future program through enactment of the Global 

Food Security Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–195) and 

the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 

(Public Law 115–266); 

Whereas the Global Food Security Act of 2016 (Public Law 

114–195), as enacted in 2016 and reauthorized in 2018, 

required the development and implementation of a comprehensive United States Government Global Food Security Strategy and codified the Feed the Future framework, strengthening its accountability and transparency 

mechanisms, deepening interagency engagement, and engaging a broad coalition of stakeholders, including faithbased and civil society organizations, universities and research institutions, the United States private sector, and 

United States farm and commodity organizations; 


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Whereas Feed the Future investments have helped transform 

countries’ food systems and improve their own food security and nutrition, with investments currently focused in 

twelve target countries and 35 aligned countries and regions in Asia, Central America, and east, southern, and 

west Africa; 

Whereas according to its most recent progress report, Feed 

the Future has helped more than 23,400,000 people lift 

themselves out of poverty, prevented 3,400,000 children 

from being stunted, and ensured that 5,200,000 families 

no longer suffer from hunger in areas where the program 

operates; 

Whereas Feed the Future is making significant progress towards building local capacity and resilience by promoting 

inclusive economic growth, strengthening monitoring and 

evaluation, implementing sustainable agricultural practices, risk management, improving forecasting and adaptation, and building the agricultural capacity of rural 

communities; 

Whereas Feed the Future also is advancing women’s economic empowerment by providing targeted technical assistance to women working in agricultural systems and 

equipping women with adequate tools, training, and technology for small-scale agriculture; 

Whereas Feed the Future investments benefit communities in 

the United States as well, including by increasing United 

States trade and agricultural exports to Feed the Future 

countries by more than $1,400,000,000 since inception; 

and 

Whereas Feed the Future investments in international agricultural research and development through partnerships 


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with United States universities and land-grant institutions, international research systems, such as the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, and 

other organizations will help the United States agricultural sector prepare for, adapt to, and remain resilient 

amid evolving threats; Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports continued investment in United 

3 States global food security programs, and particu4 larly through the Feed the Future program’s com5 prehensive, multi-sectoral, transparent, data and re6 sults-driven approach toward reducing hunger, pov7 erty, and malnutrition in low- and middle-income 

8 countries; 

9 (2) recognizes the need to deepen and extend 

10 these efforts in order to achieve the global goal of 

11 ending hunger by 2030, particularly in the face of 

12 unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID–19 

13 pandemic, political and social instability, high levels 

14 of human displacement, gender inequities, extreme 

15 natural shocks, and the increasing prevalence of 

16 invasive agricultural pests, such as desert locusts 

17 and the Fall Army Worm; 

18 (3) supports United States Government efforts 

19 to focus on improving nutrition and health, building 

20 resilience, integrating water, sanitation, and hygiene 


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1 and empowering women, youth, and smallholder 

2 farmers; 

3 (4) calls on the United States Agency for Inter4 national Development to— 

5 (A) annually review the Feed the Future 

6 program and, as appropriate, expand the list of 

7 target countries, including those in fragile con8 texts; 

9 (B) include information on all countries 

10 benefitting from direct Feed the Future invest11 ments, to include both focus and aligned coun12 tries, in annual reporting in order to further en13 hance the program’s commitment to trans14 parency and impact; 

15 (C) develop a robust multi-sectoral learn16 ing agenda for maternal and child malnutrition 

17 and its causes, with a focus on the 1,000 day 

18 window until a child’s second birthday; 

19 (D) strongly amplify the critical role of 

20 women and smallholder farmers in enhancing 

21 food security and catalyzing agriculture-led eco22 nomic growth; and 

23 (E) advance the New Partnerships Initia24 tive by promoting, building the capacity of, and 


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1 entering into partnerships with locally-led orga2 nizations under the Feed the Future program; 

3 (5) calls on the relevant Federal agencies iden4 tified under the United States Government Global 

5 Food Security Strategy, including the United States 

6 Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, and 

7 Treasury, and the United States Agency for Inter8 national Development, the Millennium Challenge 

9 Corporation, the International Development Finance 

10 Corporation, the Peace Corps, the Office of the 

11 United States Trade Representative, the U.S. Africa 

12 Development Foundation, and the U.S. Geological 

13 Survey, to— 

14 (A) continue to advance global food secu15 rity as a United States foreign assistance pri16 ority, enhance inter-agency coordination under 

17 the Global Food Security Strategy, and align 

18 relevant programs with the Feed the Future 

19 program’s needs-based, multi-sectoral approach; 

20 and 

21 (B) contribute to the development of an 

22 updated Global Food Security Strategy and a 

23 Global Food Security Research Strategy in 


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1 2021 to guide and inform Feed the Future ac2 tivities between 2022 and 2026. 

Æ 


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