Richard G. Lugar, United States Senator for Indiana

U.S. Senators Dick Lugar (R-Ind) and Bob Casey (D-Pa) have reintroduced the Global Food Security Act, S. 384. The bill seeks to improve the effectiveness and expand the reach of U.S. agriculture assistance to the developing world.

“Roughly one billion people in the world suffer from food insecurity – they are unable to consume sufficient calories for a healthy and active life,” said Lugar, the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Hunger is both a humanitarian and security challenge for the United States. The consequences of hunger are profound. Quality of life for affected families deteriorates as access to food decreases, affecting their productivity, and ultimately the economic growth of nations. Hungry children are unable to learn, and hungry adults are not productive. Hungry people are desperate people, and their hunger can breed instability in the most vulnerable regions of the world.”

“After the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s greatly reduced the threat of world famine, the international community prematurely declared victory over hunger,” Lugar explained. “During the last two decades, investments in agriculture productivity tumbled. By 2007, donor countries devoted a mere 4 percent of their foreign assistance to agriculture. In Africa, donor aid to the farm sector plunged from $4.1 billion in 1989 to just $1.9 billion in 2006. Africa’s per capita production of corn, its most important staple crop, has dropped by 14 percent since 1980.”

“The Green Revolution saw the introduction of high yield seeds and improved agricultural techniques that resulted in a near doubling of cereal grain production per acre. But by 2050, it is projected that population growth will require another doubling of food production,” Lugar continued.

“Moreover, the task of doubling food production is likely to be complicated by the effects of climate change. An important report by Sir Nicolas Stern estimated that a 2 degree Celsius increase in global temperature will cut agricultural yields in Africa by as much as 35 percent. Thus, farmers around the world will be asked to meet the demands of global demographic expansion, even as they may be contending with a degrading agricultural environment that depresses yields in some regions,” Lugar said. “Unless much greater effort is devoted to this problem, the world is likely to experience more frequent food crises that increase migration, stimulate conflicts, intensify pandemics, and accelerate deforestation, worsening the threats from climate change.”

“The magnitude of the global food crisis cannot be overstated. The cost of not doing anything is unacceptable and could leave an additional 100 million more people hungry,” said Casey. “Last year’s sharp spike in commodity prices heralded the onset of the worst global food crisis in more than three decades. Although Congressional pressure helped secure additional U.S. funds to provide temporary assistance to those affected, it is clear that the United States must renew its commitment to help developing nations invest in their own agricultural sectors so that they can feed their own people. I am proud to once again stand by Senator Lugar as we introduce comprehensive legislation to address the structural flaws that trap almost one billion people in food insecurity.”

The Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act is a five-year authorization that seeks to provide solutions that will have the greatest effect.

First, it creates a Special Coordinator for Global Food Security and that would be in charge of developing a food security strategy.

Second, the bill authorizes additional resources for agricultural productivity and rural development. Their plan draws from the experience of U.S. land grant colleges and the contributions they have made to U.S. agriculture. The bill creates a new program that would strengthen institutions of higher education in the areas of agriculture sciences, research, and extension programs. Investments in human capital and institutional capacity are important to developing a robust agricultural sector. It calls for increasing collaborative research on the full range of biotechnological advances including genetically modified technologies.

Third, the bill improves the U.S. emergency response to food crises by creating a separate Emergency Food Assistance Fund that can make local and regional purchases of food, where appropriate. The legislation would provide USAID with the flexibility to respond to emergencies more quickly, without supplanting other food programs such as P.L. 480.

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