Title: A 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.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution supports continued investment in U.S. global food security programs such as Feed the Future, and it recognizes the need to deepen and extend these efforts to achieve the global goal of ending hunger by 2030. Further, it supports U.S. efforts to improve worldwide nutrition and health, and it calls on specified agencies to take certain actions to advance global food security as a U.S. foreign assistance priority.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 728 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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;
Whereas food insecurity and malnutrition in low- and middle-income 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 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 faith-based and civil society organizations, universities and 
        research institutions, the United States private sector, and United 
        States farm and commodity organizations;
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 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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports continued investment in United States global 
        food security programs, and particularly through the Feed the 
        Future program's comprehensive, multi-sectoral, transparent, 
        data and results-driven approach toward reducing hunger, 
        poverty, and malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries;
            (2) recognizes the need to deepen and extend these efforts 
        in order to achieve the global goal of ending hunger by 2030, 
        particularly in the face of unprecedented challenges posed by 
        the COVID-19 pandemic, political and social instability, high 
        levels of human displacement, gender inequities, extreme 
        natural shocks, and the increasing prevalence of invasive 
        agricultural pests, such as desert locusts and the Fall Army 
        Worm;
            (3) supports United States Government efforts to focus on 
        improving nutrition and health, building resilience, 
        integrating water, sanitation, and hygiene and empowering 
        women, youth, and smallholder farmers;
            (4) calls on the United States Agency for International 
        Development to--
                    (A) annually review the Feed the Future program 
                and, as appropriate, expand the list of target 
                countries, including those in fragile contexts;
                    (B) include information on all countries 
                benefitting from direct Feed the Future investments, to 
                include both focus and aligned countries, in annual 
                reporting in order to further enhance the program's 
                commitment to transparency and impact;
                    (C) develop a robust multi-sectoral learning agenda 
                for maternal and child malnutrition and its causes, 
                with a focus on the 1,000 day window until a child's 
                second birthday;
                    (D) strongly amplify the critical role of women and 
                smallholder farmers in enhancing food security and 
                catalyzing agriculture-led economic growth; and
                    (E) advance the New Partnerships Initiative by 
                promoting, building the capacity of, and entering into 
                partnerships with locally-led organizations under the 
                Feed the Future program;
            (5) calls on the relevant Federal agencies identified under 
        the United States Government Global Food Security Strategy, 
        including the United States Departments of State, Agriculture, 
        Commerce, and Treasury, and the United States Agency for 
        International Development, the Millennium Challenge 
        Corporation, the International Development Finance Corporation, 
        the Peace Corps, the Office of the United States Trade 
        Representative, the U.S. Africa Development Foundation, and the 
        U.S. Geological Survey, to--
                    (A) continue to advance global food security as a 
                United States foreign assistance priority, enhance 
                inter-agency coordination under the Global Food 
                Security Strategy, and align relevant programs with the 
                Feed the Future program's needs-based, multi-sectoral 
                approach; and
                    (B) contribute to the development of an updated 
                Global Food Security Strategy and a Global Food 
                Security Research Strategy in 2021 to guide and inform 
                Feed the Future activities between 2022 and 2026.
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