International food aid is the United States' major response to reducing global hunger. In 2006, the United States provided $2.1 billion ( Table 1 ) of such assistance which paid for the delivery and distribution of more than 3 million metric tons of U.S. agricultural commodities. The United States provided food aid to 65 countries in 2006, more than half of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the food aid—$1.2 billion or 57%—was provided as emergency food aid. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which administers the largest U.S. food aid program, estimates that from 50-70 million people benefit from U.S. food aid programs annually. Much of U.S. assistance is provided through the World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations' food aid agency. The United States is the largest contributor to WFP. Its contribution in 2006 was $1.125 billion or about 40% of total donor contributions to WFP that year. On average since 1995, the United States has provided WFP with about 50% of the food aid it distributes. Legislative authority for international food aid programs in the 2002 farm bill ( P.L. 107-171 ) expires in 2007. The 110 th Congress has been considering the extension and reauthorization of food aid programs as part of the 2007 farm bill. The Senate passed its version of the 2007 farm bill on December 14, 2007. The House passed its version of the farm bill ( H.R. 2419 ) on July 27, 2007. The United States provides U.S. commodities as international food aid through eight programs. These are Titles I, II, and III of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-48), known collectively as P.L. 480; the Food for Progress Program; the John Ogonowski Farmer-to-Farmer Program; the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program; Section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949; and the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust (BEHT). In Congress, the food aid reauthorization debate has focused on P.L. 480 Title II commodity donations and food aid for school feeding and child nutrition in the McGovern-Dole food aid program. P.L. 480 Title II, the largest U.S. food aid program, provides for the donation of U.S. agricultural commodities to foreign countries to meet humanitarian needs arising from emergencies or for use in non-emergency or development projects. USAID administers this program which is carried out by private voluntary organizations (PVOs), cooperatives, or intergovernmental organizations such as the World Food Program (WFP). The authorizing statute provides that a minimum of 2.5 million metric tons of U.S. agricultural commodities is to be provided each year and that of the total provided, not less than 1.875 million metric tons is be made available for nonemergency food distribution through the eligible organizations. (This provision can be waived, and often has been, if the Administrator of USAID determines that the volume of commodities mandated cannot be used effectively or in cases of emergency.) In recent years, emergency food aid has become the largest component of Title II, while the use of food aid in development projects has declined substantially ( Figure 1 ). P.L. 480 Title I , uses long term, low interest loans to finance government-to -government purchases of U.S. agricultural commodities by developing countries and emerging markets with the potential to become commercial markets for U.S. agricultural exports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the Title I program, and has been phasing out funding for Title I. No funding was requested by the Administration for Title I in FY2007 or FY2008 budget requests to Congress. P.L. 480 Title III , also administered by USAID, provides for government-to-government grants to support long-term economic development in least developed countries. The revenues generated by the sale of Title III commodities can be used for economic development activities in the recipient country. The Administration stopped requesting funding for Title III in FY2001. Congress has not appropriated funds for Title III since FY2001. The John Ogonowski Farmer-to-Farmer Program is a technical assistance program that aims to improve global food production and marketing by transferring technical skills of the U.S. agricultural community to farmers in participating countries. The Farmer-to-Farmer program does not use commodities, but is allocated 0.5% of the funds made available to P.L. 480 to carry out its technical assistance activities. It is authorized under Title V of P.L. 480, administered by USAID, and implemented by PVOs, cooperatives, land grant universities, private agribusinesses, and nonprofit farm organizations. The program was renamed in the 2002 farm bill to honor John Ogonowski, a participant in the program, who was one of the pilots killed on September 11, 2001. The Emerson Trust is a reserve of commodities and cash that can be used to meet unanticipated humanitarian food needs in developing countries or when domestic supplies are short. It is authorized under the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act of 1998 ( P.L. 105-385 ). Up to four million metric tons of grains can be held in the Trust in any combination of wheat, rice, corn, or sorghum, but wheat is the only commodity ever held. Funds regularly appropriated for P.L. 480 can be used to purchase grain to replace supplies released from the reserve, but the purchases are limited to $20 million per fiscal year. Emergency supplemental appropriations have on occasion been devoted to replenishing the BEHT. The authorizing statute, however, does not require the replenishment of the Trust. Currently, the Trust holds 915,000 metric tons of wheat and $107 million. The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (FFE), authorized by the 2002 farm bill, provides U.S. agricultural commodities and financial and technical assistance to establish school feeding and maternal, infant and child nutrition programs in foreign countries. The McGovern-Dole program is considered by many to be a model of combining food with non-food resources to meet its program objectives because of the flexibility with which it can combine food commodities, cash, and technical assistance in carrying out its programs. USDA administers the program which is carried out by PVOs, cooperatives, intergovernmental organizations, and governments of developing countries. Food For Progress provides U.S. agricultural commodities to developing countries and emerging democracies that have made commitments to introduce or expand free enterprise in their agricultural economies. It is authorized in the 1985 farm bill ( P.L. 99-198 ) and administered by USDA. Commodities for the FFP can be purchased with appropriations for P.L. 480 Title I or with funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC); if available, CCC commodity inventories may be used. USDA administers FFP. Section 416(b) of the Agriculture Act of 1949 provides for donations of surplus U.S. agricultural commodities, acquired by the CCC through its farm price support operations, to developing and friendly countries. Section 416(b) is permanently authorized and does not expire with the 2002 farm bill. USDA administers Section 416(b), which operates much like Title II. Commodities provided can be used for emergency and non-emergency assistance; commodities are provided to the ultimate beneficiaries via PVOs, cooperatives, and the WFP. Section 416(b) food aid has been highly variable because it is entirely dependent on the availability of surplus commodities in CCC inventories. Proponents of providing food aid to developing countries point to the large number of chronically hungry people in the world as evidence of the need for food aid. The United Nations Food And Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that there are more than 850 million people in the world who are chronically hungry. These people lack the food that they would need to lead active and healthy lives. FAO points out, however, that the amount of food aid that has been provided, an average of about 10 million metric tons per year from all donors, would make barely a dent in global hunger. The average annual total volume of food aid is equivalent to about 2% of world grain trade and less than 0.5 % of world grain production. If all the food aid in the world were distributed evenly among the 850 million hungry people, FAO calculates, it would provide only about 12 kilograms of grain per person per year. Clearly, FAO concludes, the amount of food aid that has been provided is not enough to make a dent in chronic hunger. There is broad agreement that food aid provided for emergency relief is a valuable tool for ensuring basic nutritional needs in times of humanitarian crisis—earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, wars, etc.—and is credited with saving millions of lives. A growing share of global food aid is provided as emergency aid—which, according to FAO, accounts for one-third to one-half of total global food aid. USAID reports that in FY2006, more than 70% of U.S. food aid (Title II) was provided as emergency aid. In addition, FAO says, the timely delivery of food aid in emergency situations can relieve the pressure on poor people to sell scarce productive assets, thus enabling them to resume normal livelihoods when the crisis passes. But even in emergency situations other ways to enable people to get the food they need, such as providing cash vouchers for the poor to purchase food on local markets, may be preferable to in-kind food aid from overseas. While food aid can contribute to reducing chronic food insecurity, it alone is not sufficient. USAID notes in its Food Aid Strategic Plan for 2006-2010, that distributing food commodities by themselves is of limited use in reducing food insecurity.