[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1171 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1171
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 1, 2020
Ms. McCollum (for herself and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
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 House of Representatives--
(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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