Global Food Security Act (S.1252) to be marked up in Senate Foreign Relations Committee

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will mark up the Global Food Security Act (GFSA) on Thursday, March 10 at 10am. CHC joined 66 other humanitarian and development organizations in issuing the following statement of support for this important legislation.

Coalition Statement of Support for the Global Food Security Act of 2016 (S.1252)
As organizations engaged in efforts to end global hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty, we applaud the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for scheduling a markup of the Global Food Security Act (S.1252). We thank Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) and Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD) for their leadership, and now urge the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee to move this important bill out of Committee. We also thank Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA) for their leadership and originally introducing this important piece of bipartisan legislation. These Senators are well-known leaders in the fight against global hunger and malnutrition, as well as champions of small-scale producers’ efforts to lift themselves out of poverty.

Globally, 795 million people are hungry and malnutrition causes nearly half of all deaths of children under 5 (3.1 million children) each year. Hunger and malnutrition prevent millions of people in developing countries from living healthy, productive lives and stunt the mental and physical development of future generations.

After decades of declining support for farmers in developing countries, renewed U.S. leadership from President Bush and now President Obama has sparked a global commitment to help people feed themselves. Governments, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, academic and research institutions, businesses, multilateral institutions, and producers themselves have all recommitted to fighting extreme hunger and malnutrition through new agriculture-focused investments. The impacts are clear. Growth in the agriculture sector is 11 times as effective at reducing poverty as growth in other sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Global Food Security Act is an exciting step forward in building the political will needed to end global hunger and malnutrition in our lifetime. The Act includes the development and implementation of a comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy to combat hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. The strategy focuses on increasing sustainable and equitable agricultural development; reducing global hunger; and improving nutrition – especially in the key first 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday. The legislation also promotes country ownership and accountability, improving upon existing monitoring and evaluation practices to ensure U.S. taxpayer investments are implemented transparently, efficiently, and effectively.

In addition to capturing and improving upon the successes that the U.S. government is already achieving through its Feed the Future Initiative, this legislation authorizes the continued use of the International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account to respond to emergency food needs by creating the Emergency Food Response Fund. We strongly support the Emergency Food Response Fund, which supports the continued use of response tools such as cash transfers, food vouchers, and local and regional procurement to meet the needs of communities affected by manmade or natural disasters in places like Syria, Yemen, and Nepal. The bill also maintains IDA’s existing flexibility to ensure the U.S. government can respond appropriately to the challenging and changing needs of vulnerable people affected by disasters.

We support passage of the Global Food Security Act, a bill that responds to the full spectrum of food security needs. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress and the Administration to pass the Global Food Security Act and help ensure U.S. leadership continues to sustainably tackle global hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty in the most effective ways possible.

1. 1,000 Days
2. ACDI/VOCA
3. Action Against Hunger
4. ActionAid USA
5. ADRA International
6. Alliance to End Hunger
7. American Academy of Pediatrics
8. American Jewish World Service
9. Amref Health Africa
10. Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD)
11. Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
12. Auburn University Hunger Solutions Institute
13. Bread for the World
14. CARE USA
15. Catholic Relief Services
16. Church World Service
17. Concern Worldwide US
18. Congressional Hunger Center
19. Counterpart International
20. Edesia
21. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
22. Fabretto Children’s Foundation
23. Farm Journal Foundation
24. Food for the Hungry
25. FRB – Foods Resource Bank
26. Global Communities
27. Global Food Exchange, LLC
28. Global Harvest Initiative
29. Global Health Council
30. Global Poverty Project
31. Global Water Challenge
32. GrainPro Inc.
33. Heartland Global, Inc.
34. Heifer International
35. Helen Keller International
36. INMED Partnerships for Children
37. InterAction
38. International Medical Corps
39. Islamic Relief USA
40. JAM – Joint Aid Management
41. Lutheran World Relief
42. MANA Nutrition
43. Mercy Corps
44. Mercy-USA for Aid and Development
45. NCBA CLUSA
46. ONE
47. One Acre Fund
48. Outreach, Inc.
49. Oxfam America
50. PCI
51. Presbyterian Church (USA)
52. Salesian Missions, Inc.
53. Save the Children
54. Self Help Africa
55. Stop Hunger Now
56. The Borgen Project
57. The Episcopal Church
58. The Hunger Project
59. United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
60. United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
61. U.S. Fund for UNICEF
62. Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA)
63. Water for South Sudan, Inc.
64. Women Thrive Worldwide
65. World Concern
66. World Food Program USA
67. World Vision

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