The law that sets the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security strategy and lays out the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, the Global Feed Security Act, was reauthorized late last week.

Introduced by U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson, a Republican from Georgia, and Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, the reauthorization extends food security programs for another five years. The original Global Food Security Act became law in 2016 and streamlined the whole-of-government approach to addressing hunger and food insecurity across the globe.

“I appreciate President Trump’s willingness to join us in this life-saving effort that is a smart investment in our national security,” said Isakson, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. “Ultimately, the global food security strategy is about helping developing countries achieve self-reliance through research, the use of new technologies and agriculture development. Food insecurity leads to instability and violence, so helping our neighbors abroad bolsters our security by strengthening U.S. influence and fostering stability. This program is designed to ensure a maximum return on our foreign assistance and also allows our farmers and researchers in Georgia to share their knowledge and benefit from these investments.”

Specifically, the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act will:

  • Require the administration to keep a whole-of-government strategy to address global food insecurity and hunger. The strategy emphasizes agricultural development, maternal and child nutrition, community resilience and civil society engagement.
  • Ensure the alignment of U.S. assistance with country-owned strategies to enhance agricultural productivity, household income, local economies, and food and nutrition security to work toward the ultimate goal of transitioning countries and communities away from the need for U.S. assistance under this act.
  • Improve upon existing monitoring and evaluation practices to ensure the effective use of U.S. taxpayer dollars. This includes a requirement for the Government Accountability Office to issue a report in 2019.
  • Require that the administration report to Congress and to the American people annually about the strategy, its results and the use of foreign assistance funds.
  • Authorize appropriations through 2023 to carry out international development assistance programs and activities under the strategy.

USAID Administrator Mark Green pointed to the impact the Feed the Future initiative since 2008, when a global spike in food prices pushed a billion people into food insecurity.

As a result of Feed the Future, $23 million more people are living above the poverty line, 3.4 million more children are free of stunting, and 5.2 million more families do not go hungry in countries where the initiative works.

“Feed the Future is helping governments in our partner countries create better policies and systems for food security and to ultimately help them move from vulnerability to self-reliance,” Greed said. “To date, Feed the Future partner countries in Africa have outpaced their neighbors’ domestic investments in agriculture: they have increased spending by an average of 25 percent, or a total of an additional $719 million per year.”