Congress approves five-year extension of U.S. government global food security initiatives
PHOENIX, Ariz. (September 28, 2018)— Global humanitarian organization Food for the Hungry commends congressional bipartisan passage of the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act, which aims to combat hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.
“As a proud partner of the U.S. government, Food for the Hungry applauds the congressional leadership that ensured unanimous passage of the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act,” said Mike Meyers, CEO of Food for the Hungry. “This act codifies America's role in helping to end global hunger, malnutrition, and poverty, and its passage will literally help save the lives of millions of children around the globe.”
Originally passed in 2016, the Global Food Security Act outlined strategic government initiatives like Feed the Future and set forth a U.S. Global Food Security Strategy. Both are designed to reduce global hunger in developing countries through sustainable agricultural research and development, building resilience to food insecurity shocks, and improving nutrition, especially for women and children in their first 1,000 days. These forward-looking investments will equip communities in poverty with necessary tools and resources that enable them to become self-reliant. They will help uplift local economies, and create a substantial impact on families and communities, ultimately building a more peaceful and sustainable world.
Programs supported by the act, such as Feed the Future, have already made measurable strides in reducing malnutrition and tackling food insecurity since their inception. Within the past decade, Feed the Future estimates that it has unlocked over $3.3 billion agricultural loans, helped farmers generate over $10.5 billion new sales, alleviated hunger for over 5.2 million families, and provided life-changing health interventions that prevented permanent cognitive and physical stunting caused by malnutrition in over 3.4 million children.
Food for the Hungry actively partners with USAID and other governmental agencies benefiting from this act in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the framework of Food for the Hungry’s mission to graduate communities from extreme poverty, the organization works to teach communities how to implement modern agricultural techniques, provide proper dietary nutrition for children under five, and build resilience against shocks like conflict and drought. "The strong showing by the House and Senate through unanimously voting to pass the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act is worth taking a few moments to praise our Lord, as well as thank our members of Congress,” said Meyers. “In a time of political dissonance, bipartisan support for this act is something we as Americans should pause to fully celebrate."
ABOUT FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY
Food for the Hungry is a Christian humanitarian organization ending all forms of human poverty by providing life-changing development programs, disaster relief, and advocacy. Since 1971, Food for the Hungry has been going into the world’s hardest places with an exit strategy: to respond to human suffering and graduate communities of extreme poverty into selfsustainability, all within a decade. By creating context-specific solutions in education, agriculture, health, livelihood, clean water, and disaster risk reduction, the nonprofit focuses on transformational development, investing in children as the key to lift entire communities out of poverty. With 98% of staff working in their country of origin, Food for the Hungry works side-byside with local leaders, churches, and families to implement innovative solutions. The organization currently serves more than 14 million people in over 20 countries worldwide. For more information, follow @food4thehungry or visit www.fh.org.
Media Contact:
Alice Zhang
Content Strategist
Food for the Hungry
azhang@fh.org
480-609-7784 x1184