Union Calendar No. 404
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4283
[Report No. 105–681, Part I]
A BILL
To support sustainable and broad-based agricul-
tural and rural development in sub-Saharan Afri-
ca, and for other purposes.
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the
Union and ordered to be printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 404
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4283
[Report No. 105–681, Part I]
To support sustainable and broad-based agricultural and rural development
in sub-Saharan Africa, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 21, 1998
Mr. BEREUTER (for himself, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. LEACH, Mr.
HALL of Ohio, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. WALSH, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr.
EHLERS, Ms. WATERS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. SCOTT, Mr.
DICKS, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. CARSON, Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. SLAUGHTER,
Mr. SABO, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. FURSE, Mrs.
CAPPS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. ACK-
ERMAN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. MCHALE, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr.
ENGEL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. LANTOS,
Mr. CHABOT, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. GOODLING, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. BER-
MAN, Mr. HORN, Mr. METCALF, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PORTER,
Mr. DIXON, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. STARK, Mr. OXLEY, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. HINOJOSA, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. CHRIS-
TIAN-GREEN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. KILPATRICK, Ms. MCKINNEY,
Mr. WATT of North Carolina, and Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
AUGUST 6, 1998
Reported from the Committee on International Relations
AUGUST 6, 1998
Referral to the Committee on Agriculture extended for a period ending not
later than September 11, 1998
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
Additional sponsors: Mr. YATES, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BONIOR,
Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. WOLF, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON
of Texas, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. MCCARTHY of Mis-
souri, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. HILLIARD, Mrs. MEEK
of Florida, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BOEHLERT, Ms. RIVERS,
Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts, Mr.
SAWYER, Mr. COYNE, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. FRANKS of New
Jersey, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BISHOP,
Mr. FORD, Mr. CLAY, Ms. LEE, Mr. HYDE, Mr. STOKES, Mr. MEEKS of
New York, and Mr. CLYBURN
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
A BILL
To support sustainable and broad-based agricultural and
rural development in sub-Saharan Africa, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Africa: Seeds of Hope Act of 1998’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is
as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and declaration of policy.
TITLE I—ASSISTANCE FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Sec. 101. Africa Food Security Initiative.
Sec. 102. Microenterprise assistance.
Sec. 103. Support for producer-owned cooperative marketing associations.
Sec. 104. Agricultural and rural development activities of the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation.
Sec. 105. Agricultural research and extension activities.
TITLE II—WORLDWIDE FOOD ASSISTANCE AND AGRICULTURAL
PROGRAMS
Subtitle A—Nonemergency Food Assistance Programs
Sec. 201. Nonemergency food assistance programs.
Subtitle B—Bill Emerson Humanitarian International Food Security Trust
Act of 1998
Sec. 211. Short title.
Sec. 212. Amendments to the Food Security Commodity Reserve Act of 1996.
Subtitle C—International Fund for Agricultural Development
Sec. 221. Review of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 301. Report.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The economic, security, and humanitarian
interests of the United States and the nations of
sub-Saharan Africa would be enhanced by sustain-
able, broad-based public and private sector agricul-
tural and rural development in each of the African
nations. The United States should support such de-
velopment.
(2) According to the Food and Agriculture Or-
ganization, the number of undernourished people in
Africa has more than doubled, from approximately
100,000,000 in the late 1960s to 215,000,000 in
1998, and is projected to increase to 265,000,000 by
the year 2010. According to the Food and Agri-
culture Organization, the term ‘‘under nutrition’’
means inadequate consumption of nutrients, often
adversely affecting children’s physical and mental
development, undermining their future as productive
and creative members of their communities.
(3)(A) Currently, agricultural production in Af-
rica employs about two-thirds of the workforce but
produces less than one-fourth of the gross domestic
product in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the
World Bank Group.
(B) Africa’s food imports are projected to rise
from less than 8,000,000 metric tons in 1990 to
more than 25,000,000 metric tons by the year 2020.
(4) African women produce up to 80 percent of
the total food supply in Africa according to the
International Food Policy Research Institute.
(5) The most effective way to improve condi-
tions of the poor is to increase the productivity of
the agricultural sector. Productivity increases can be
fostered by increasing research and education in ag-
riculture and rural development.
(6)(A) In November 1996, the World Food
Summit set a goal of reducing hunger worldwide by
50 percent by the year 2015 and encouraged na-
tional governments to develop domestic food plans
and to support international aid efforts.
(B) Since then, several agencies of the United
Nations, including the International Fund for Agri-
cultural Development (IFAD), whose mission is to
provide the rural poor and women in the developing
world with cost-effective ways of overcoming hunger,
poverty, and malnutrition, have undertaken a coop-
erative initiative on Africa.
(7) Although the World Bank Group recently
has launched a major initiative to support agricul-
tural and rural development, only 10 percent, or
$1,200,000,000, of its total lending to sub-Saharan
Africa for fiscal years 1993 to 1997 was devoted to
agriculture.
(8)(A) The future prosperity of the United
States food processing and agricultural sector is in-
creasingly dependent on exports and the liberaliza-
tion of global trade.
(B) Africa represents a huge potential market
for United States food and agricultural products.
(9)(A) Increased private sector investment in
African countries and expanded trade between the
United States and Africa can greatly help African