USAID to release study on Feed the Future results
May 19, 2014 | 06:07 AM
U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah is scheduled to release today a major study on the results of the Feed the Future initiative that the Obama administration unveiled in 2009 to fight poverty and hunger through agricultural development and improved nutrition in developing countries.
The report will be released at a Feed the Future conference this afternoon at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Va.
According to an internal USAID memo obtained by The Hagstrom Report, the USAID study shows that “in the places where this initiative is working, poverty is down, hunger is down, sales and incomes are up. The program is reaching 7 million small farmers on more than 4 million hectares of land, as well as 12.5 million kids with improved foods. It’s reducing hunger and malnutrition and upping economic gains due in large part to partnerships and innovations from U.S. universities (Tufts, Kansas State, Penn State, California) businesses (Dupont, Cargill) and civil society (Bread for the World, WFP).”
In Africa, USAID is working with more than 160 local and international companies, has attracted more than $7 billion in planned investments, and reached more than 2.6 million farmers, the report says. It also notes that “Feed the Future was born from the food price spikes of 2007/2008 and is one of the president’s most enduring commitments.”
The report says that Feed the Future is “a completely new model for ag development” because instead of USAID focusing “on producing more, linking farmers with markets and building infrastructure,” it works “in synchronicity” with other U.S. government agencies such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the State Department and the Agriculture Department agencies “to focus on four things: quality and quantity — more food but better food (nutrition is key for children and mothers); science and technology (new methods, seeds and big data); a farm to fork approach (we support value chains — not one-off projects); and partnerships with companies and universities.”
USAID’s overall budget for agriculture has increased from $641.8 million in 2009 to just over $1 billion in Obama’s fiscal year 2015 request, an increase of $358.8 million, the USAID memo said.
The memo also noted that Feed the Future’s specific accomplishments include reform of the “broken and corrupt” fertilizer system in Nigeria to benefit small farmers, the design of new rice varieties that can be used to withstand floods in Bangladesh, expanding domestic white rice production in Senegal and the adoption of new high-yielding, rust-resistant wheat varieties in Ethiopia to counter the spread of Ug99 wheat rust.
▪ USAID Feed the Future Progress Report: Accelerating Progress to End Global Hunger
The report will be released at a Feed the Future conference this afternoon at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Va.
According to an internal USAID memo obtained by The Hagstrom Report, the USAID study shows that “in the places where this initiative is working, poverty is down, hunger is down, sales and incomes are up. The program is reaching 7 million small farmers on more than 4 million hectares of land, as well as 12.5 million kids with improved foods. It’s reducing hunger and malnutrition and upping economic gains due in large part to partnerships and innovations from U.S. universities (Tufts, Kansas State, Penn State, California) businesses (Dupont, Cargill) and civil society (Bread for the World, WFP).”
In Africa, USAID is working with more than 160 local and international companies, has attracted more than $7 billion in planned investments, and reached more than 2.6 million farmers, the report says. It also notes that “Feed the Future was born from the food price spikes of 2007/2008 and is one of the president’s most enduring commitments.”
The report says that Feed the Future is “a completely new model for ag development” because instead of USAID focusing “on producing more, linking farmers with markets and building infrastructure,” it works “in synchronicity” with other U.S. government agencies such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the State Department and the Agriculture Department agencies “to focus on four things: quality and quantity — more food but better food (nutrition is key for children and mothers); science and technology (new methods, seeds and big data); a farm to fork approach (we support value chains — not one-off projects); and partnerships with companies and universities.”
USAID’s overall budget for agriculture has increased from $641.8 million in 2009 to just over $1 billion in Obama’s fiscal year 2015 request, an increase of $358.8 million, the USAID memo said.
The memo also noted that Feed the Future’s specific accomplishments include reform of the “broken and corrupt” fertilizer system in Nigeria to benefit small farmers, the design of new rice varieties that can be used to withstand floods in Bangladesh, expanding domestic white rice production in Senegal and the adoption of new high-yielding, rust-resistant wheat varieties in Ethiopia to counter the spread of Ug99 wheat rust.
▪ USAID Feed the Future Progress Report: Accelerating Progress to End Global Hunger
