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
countries achieve food self-sufficiency and graduate
from dependency on international assistance.
(B) Development assistance, technical assist-
ance, and training from bilateral governmental and
multilateral entities, as well as nongovernmental or-
ganizations and land-grant universities, can facilitate
and encourage commercial development in Africa,
such as improving rural roads, agricultural research
and extension, and providing access to credit and
other resources.
(10)(A) Several United States private voluntary
organizations have demonstrated success in empow-
ering Africans through direct business ownership
and helping African agricultural producers more effi-
ciently and directly market their products.
(B) Rural business associations, owned and
controlled by farmer shareholders, also greatly aid
agricultural producers to increase their household in-
comes.
(11)(A) Over a decade ago, the Development
Fund for Africa (DFA) was enacted into law ‘‘to
help the poor majority of men and women in sub-
Saharan Africa to participate in a process of long-
term development through economic growth that is
equitable, participatory, environmentally sustainable,
and self-reliant.’’.
(B) In recent years, political change and eco-
nomic recovery in Africa have amplified the impor-
tance of this policy objective while generating new
opportunities for its advancement.
(C) Despite these developments, funding for the
Development Fund for Africa has declined from a
high of $811,000,000 for 1993 to approximately
$635,000,000 for 1997.
(12)(A) United States bilateral development
and humanitarian assistance to sub-Saharan Africa
is approximately one-tenth of 1 percent of the total
annual budget of the United States Government.
(B) Funding for agricultural development
worldwide by the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development has declined from 36 percent
of its total budget in 1988 to 15 percent in 1997.
(13) The United States Agency for Inter-
national Development has initiated an Africa Food
Security Initiative in an effort to improve child nu-
trition and increase agricultural income in Africa.
(b) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the
United States, consistent with title XII of part I of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, to support governments
of sub-Saharan African countries, United States and Afri-
can nongovernmental organizations, universities, busi-
nesses, and international agencies, to help ensure the
availability of basic nutrition and economic opportunities
for individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, through sustainable
agriculture and rural development.
TITLE I—ASSISTANCE FOR SUB-
SAHARAN AFRICA
SEC. 101. AFRICA FOOD SECURITY INITIATIVE.
(a) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN CARRYING OUT
THE INITIATIVE.—In providing development assistance
under the Africa Food Security Initiative, or any com-
parable or successor program, the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development—
(1) shall emphasize programs and projects that
improve the food security of infants, young children,
school-age children, women and food-insecure house-
holds, or that improve the agricultural productivity,
incomes, and marketing of the rural poor in Africa;
(2) shall solicit and take into consideration the
views and needs of intended beneficiaries and pro-
gram participants during the selection, planning, im-
plementation, and evaluation phases of projects; and
(3) shall ensure that programs are designed
and conducted in cooperation with African and
United States organizations and institutions, such as
private and voluntary organizations, cooperatives,
land-grant and other appropriate universities, and
local producer-owned cooperative marketing and
buying associations, that have expertise in address-
ing the needs of the poor, small-scale farmers, entre-
preneurs, and rural workers, including women.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that, if there is an increase in funding for sub-Saha-
ran programs, the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development should proportion-
ately increase resources to the Africa Food Security Initia-
tive, or any comparable or successor program, for fiscal
year 2000 and subsequent fiscal years in order to meet
the needs of the countries participating in such Initiative.
SEC. 102. MICROENTERPRISE ASSISTANCE.
(a) BILATERAL ASSISTANCE.—In providing micro-
enterprise assistance for sub-Saharan Africa, the Adminis-
trator of the United States Agency for International De-
velopment shall, to the extent practicable, use credit and
microcredit assistance to improve the capacity and effi-
ciency of agriculture production in sub-Saharan Africa of
small-scale farmers and small rural entrepreneurs. In pro-
viding assistance, the Administrator should take into con-
sideration the needs of women, and should use the applied
research and technical assistance capabilities of United
States land-grant universities.
(b) MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development
shall continue to work with other countries, inter-
national organizations (including multilateral devel-
opment institutions), and entities assisting micro-
enterprises and shall develop a comprehensive and
coordinated strategy for providing microenterprise
assistance for sub-Saharan Africa.
(2) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENT.—In carrying
out paragraph (1), the Administrator should encour-
age the World Bank Consultative Group to Assist
the Poorest to coordinate the strategy described in
such paragraph.
SEC. 103. SUPPORT FOR PRODUCER-OWNED COOPERATIVE
MARKETING ASSOCIATIONS.
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—
(1) to support producer-owned cooperative pur-
chasing and marketing associations in sub-Saharan
Africa;
(2) to strengthen the capacity of farmers in
sub-Saharan Africa to participate in national and
international private markets and to promote rural
development in sub-Saharan Africa;
(3) to encourage the efforts of farmers in sub-
Saharan Africa to increase their productivity and in-
come through improved access to farm supplies, sea-
sonal credit, technical expertise; and
(4) to support small businesses in sub-Saharan
Africa as they grow beyond microenterprises.
(b) SUPPORT FOR PRODUCER-OWNED COOPERATIVE
MARKETING ASSOCIATIONS.—
(1) ACTIVITIES.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of
the United States Agency for International De-
velopment is authorized to utilize relevant for-
eign assistance programs and initiatives for
sub-Saharan Africa to support private pro-
ducer-owned cooperative marketing associations
in sub-Saharan Africa, including rural business
associations that are owned and controlled by
farmer shareholders.
(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In car-
rying out subparagraph (A), the Adminis-
trator—
(i) shall take into account small-scale
farmers, small rural entrepreneurs, and
rural workers and communities;
(ii) shall take into account the local-
level perspectives of the rural and urban
poor through close consultation with these
groups, consistent with section 496(e)(1)
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2293(e)(1)); and
(iii) should take into consideration the
needs of women.
(2) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—In addition to carry-
ing out paragraph (1), the Administrator is encour-
aged—
(A) to cooperate with governments of for-
eign countries, including governments of politi-
cal subdivisions of such countries, their agricul-
tural research universities, and particularly with
United States nongovernmental organizations
and United States land-grant universities, that
have demonstrated expertise in the development
and promotion of successful private producer-
owned cooperative marketing associations; and
(B) to facilitate partnerships between
United States and African cooperatives and pri-
vate businesses to enhance the capacity and
technical and marketing expertise of business
associations in sub-Saharan Africa.
SEC. 104. AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT AC-
TIVITIES OF THE OVERSEAS PRIVATE IN-
VESTMENT CORPORATION.
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
courage the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to
work with United States businesses and other United
States entities to invest in rural sub-Saharan Africa, par-
ticularly in ways that will develop the capacities of small-
scale farmers and small rural entrepreneurs, including
women, in sub-Saharan Africa.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that—
(1) the Overseas Private Investment Corpora-
tion should exercise its authority under law to un-
dertake an initiative to support private agricultural
and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa, in-
cluding issuing loans, guaranties, and insurance, to
support rural development in sub-Saharan Africa,
particularly to support intermediary organizations
that—
(A) directly serve the needs of small-scale
farmers, small rural entrepreneurs, and rural
producer-owned cooperative purchasing and
marketing associations;
(B) have a clear track record of support
for sound business management practices; and
(C) have demonstrated experience with
participatory development methods; and
(2) the Overseas Private Investment Corpora-
tion should utilize existing equity funds, loan and in-
surance funds, to the extent feasible and in accord-
ance with existing contractual obligations, to support
agriculture and rural development in sub-Saharan
Africa.
SEC. 105. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND EXTENSION AC-
TIVITIES.
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—The Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development,
in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and ap-
propriate Department of Agriculture agencies, especially
the Cooperative State, Research, Education and Extension
Service (CSREES), shall develop a comprehensive plan to