prehensive approach that targets the underlying 
causes of hunger and poverty. 
(2) This approach will link emergency food as-
sistance with sustained investments in nutritional 
support and productive safety nets, agricultural de-
velopment activities, and rural infrastructure for the 
purposes of promoting global food security, eradi-
cating hunger and malnutrition, alleviating poverty, 
improving agricultural productivity and rural devel-
opment, and expanding economic opportunity for 
poor and vulnerable populations. 
(3) To achieve these goals, the United States 
will focus on strengthening agricultural systems and 
markets in developing countries in partnership with 
government agencies, including local and regional 
governments, civil society, farmer organizations, co-
operatives, institutions of higher learning, private 
entities, multilateral institutions, and nongovern-
mental organizations. 
(4) These efforts will enhance human capacity, 
nutrition, entrepreneurial skills and job creation, im-
prove agricultural research and technology, and fa-
cilitate the dissemination of economically and envi-
ronmentally sustainable techniques to all parts of 
the agriculture sector. 
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(c) COORDINATION.—Congress finds that, for the 
purpose of enhancing program sustainability and effective-
ness, a comprehensive strategy to fight global hunger and 
promote global food security through agricultural develop-
ment should be integrated into a new national strategy 
for global development which establishes broad priorities 
and guidelines for development programs, and articulates 
how development policy is integrated into an overall na-
tional security strategy and will be coordinated with other 
United States Government policies governing trade, cli-
mate change, human rights, food safety, and related areas. 
SEC. 102. INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS IN AGRICUL-
TURAL LANDS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) A growing trend in large-scale acquisitions 
and lease agreements of farmland in Africa, Latin 
America, and Central and Southeast Asia has been 
documented by the International Fund for Agricul-
tural Development, the United Nations Food and 
Agriculture Organization, and the International In-
stitute for Environment and Development. These or-
ganizations found that nearly 2.5 million hectares of 
land have been allocated in just five sub-Saharan Af-
rican countries since 2004. 
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(2) The International Food Policy Research In-
stitute (IFPRI) estimates between 15 and 20 million 
hectares of farmland in developing countries, valued 
between $20 billion to $30 billion, have been subject 
to international transactions or negotiations since 
2006. 
(3) Evidence suggests these large land acquisi-
tions and leases are led primarily by private inves-
tors seeking to capitalize on increased agricultural 
commodity prices and demand for biofuels and also 
by governments seeking to bolster their domestic 
food security. 
(4) While the investment that accompanies 
these land acquisitions and leases may contribute to 
short-term economic development, the ventures may 
threaten the food security of developing nations and 
deepen local poverty unless adequate legal and pro-
cedural mechanisms are in place and functioning to 
protect local rights and the welfare of rural poor 
people who depend on agriculture for their liveli-
hood. 
(5) These land acquisitions may also threaten 
political stability if they involve land for which ten-
ure and use rights are complex or in dispute or if 
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they result in loss of access or use by poor people 
without free, prior, and informed consent. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that it should be the policy of the United States Gov-
ernment to— 
(1) uphold and promote the principle of free, 
prior, and informed consent in relation to the land 
access and use rights of poor people in developing 
countries; 
(2) monitor and document the trend of large 
scale land acquisitions and lease agreements in de-
veloping countries, including by working with other 
governments and international organizations; 
(3) promote global standards of transparency 
for large international land deals and identify the 
drivers of the new trend, such as the imposition of 
export restrictions during periods of global food inse-
curity; 
(4) expand and prioritize United States assist-
ance programs that strengthen land management in 
developing countries and provide support for organi-
zations that empower the rural poor to maximize the 
potential benefits from land investments and mini-
mize potential negative effects; 
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(5) actively support the current effort led by 
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza-
tion to develop and promote Voluntary Guidelines on 
Good Governance in Land and Resource Manage-
ment; and 
(6) actively support the testing and application 
of the World Bank’s Land Governance Assessment 
Framework as a tool to enable governments to iden-
tify areas of land governance that require strength-
ening. 
SEC. 103. COMPREHENSIVE FOOD SECURITY STRATEGY. 
(a) SPECIAL COORDINATOR.—The President shall 
designate an individual to serve in the Executive Office 
of the President as the Special Coordinator for Food Secu-
rity. The coordinator shall assist the President by— 
(1) advising the President on international food 
security issues; 
(2) taking such actions as are necessary to en-
sure the coordination of the global food security ef-
forts and programs of the United States, including 
the activities of Federal departments and agencies; 
(3) facilitating the development and implemen-
tation of the strategy described in subsection (b); 
and 
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