Obama Announces Commitment Initiated by Lugar's Global Hunger Bill
On April 2, 2009, President Barack Obama announced a doubling of assistance for global agricultural productivity and rural development. He also called for a comprehensive food security strategy to alleviate chronic hunger that affects nearly one billion people worldwide.
The announcement tracks provisions of the Global Food Security Act of 2009, authored by U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar and approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 31.
Foreign Relations Committee Hearing
On March 24, 2009, Senator Lugar discussed the state of agriculture in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, exploring how young people and U.S. embassy staff might become more involved in development work at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on food security.
Watch Senator Lugar's first round of questions where he discussed the role of a potential White House Food Czar, one of the tenants of the Lugar-Casey Global Hunger bill, with former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Former Executive Director of the World Food Program Catherine Bertini.
Watch Senator Lugar's second round of questions where he discussed the impact foreign aid and assistance could have in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the importance of drawing attention to the global food crisis at the Congressional level and how the United States can work with European and other countries to embrace the benefits of genetically modified seeds and organisms.
The Legislation
On February 5, 2009, Senators Dick Lugar and Bob Casey(D-PA) reintroduced the Lugar Casey Global Food Security Act, S.384.
"Food insecurity is a global tragedy, but it is also an opportunity for the United States. The United States is the indisputable world leader in agricultural production and technology. A more focused effort on our part to join with other nations to increase yields, create economic opportunities for the rural poor, and broaden agricultural knowledge could begin a new era in U.S. diplomacy. Such an effort could improve our broader trade relations and serve as a model for similar endeavors in the areas of energy and scientific cooperation. Achieving food security for all people also would have profound implications for peace and U.S. national security. Hungry people are desperate people, and desperation often sows the seeds of conflict and extremism."
Initially introduced on September 23, 2008, the legislation calls for:
Creating a Special Coordinator for Global Food Security and that would be in charge of developing a food security strategy;
Authorizing additional resources for agricultural productivity and rural development; and
Improving 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.
