Des Moines, Iowa
[Remarks as Prepared]
FEED THE FUTURE DEPUTY COORDINATOR DINA ESPOSITO: I want to thank IFPRI [International Food Policy Research Institute] and the CGIAR [Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research] for inviting USAID to join this important conversation today.
This week, we are celebrating the new World Food Prize Laureate Heidi Kühn whose visionary work has catalyzed agricultural recovery in conflict zones. So the topic of this breakout session looking at the impacts of conflict on hunger seems especially relevant.
In February 2022, Putin’s unjustified invasion exacerbated a global food security crisis in a world already reeling from the enduring impacts of COVID-19, climate change, and protracted regional conflicts.
In addition to the horrific loss of life and livelihoods inside Ukraine, the invasion up-ended global fuel, food, and fertilizer supplies, laying bare the over-reliance on a handful of exporting countries to feed the world, as well as the extreme vulnerability of certain net food importer nations. Many of these food insecure countries are in Africa – precisely where U.S. global food security efforts through the Feed the Future initiative are concentrated.
The U.S. government’s response has mirrored the two sides of the conflict – on the one hand, we are providing unprecedented assistance and support to the people of Ukraine, while also stepping up to mitigate the food security impacts of high food and fertilizer prices, especially in vulnerable countries.
In some cases, we are addressing both of these challenges. As you probably know, the U.S. was a strong and vocal advocate of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. This brokered agreement helped Ukraine export more than 30 million tons of food to the world when operational, and was by far the most effective and efficient export channel for Ukraine’s food supplies, reaching hungry people in some of the neediest places in the world.
USAID is also directly supporting Ukraine’s efforts to export food through alternative routes, as well as improve storage and sustain production of agriculture – the backbone of its economy.
Through an Initiative we call AGRI-Ukraine, we’ve helped farmers pack and store more than 840,000 tons of grain and access more than $54 million in much needed financing. This is helping to keep their operations going – and it’s feeding people today and allowing for quicker recovery tomorrow. So both Ukraine and the countries that depend on it, benefit.
To date, we’ve contributed $350 million and leveraged an additional $250 million in private sector and donor investments. We welcome other partners to join us in this effort to support Ukraine’s agriculture sector, the bedrock of its economy.
Looking beyond Ukraine, through both food assistance and Feed the Future partnerships, USAID was also well-placed to respond to the war’s knock-on effects on hunger and malnutrition in countries deeply affected by food and fertilizer prices.
We’ve surged support to ensure millions of farmers have access to improved seeds, fertilizer, proven production practices, and financing to help offset historically high prices for many inputs.
We’ve helped keep small- and medium-enterprises – so vital to the agricultural economy – up and running. And we’ve improved access to safety nets and nutrition services for vulnerable women and children.
Through Feed the Future, USAID has long been focused on expanding local and regional agricultural production and markets. One key, if perhaps obvious, takeaway is that this agenda is more urgent than ever, and it is going to require multiple kinds of investments.
The U.S. is providing technical support to regional institutions to help the continent realize the African Continental Free Trade Area – an ambitious effort which would be a huge resilience win and projected to raise incomes of some 100 million people across the continent in part by cutting red tape and simplifying customs procedures.
We are also working directly with African nations and in partnership with many African universities and think tanks to help countries create more efficient and effective policy and regulatory regimes that will facilitate larger regional markets, and fuel both private sector investments and more strategic government investments in areas like research, extension services, and infrastructure.
On the African continent, the crisis also brought home some core truths that fertilizer has long been a low-value proposition for many small holder farmers – because soils are poor and do not respond, or because they lack the right fertilizer and information on how to use it.
This has shifted the conversation away from a narrow focus on fertilizer availability and access, to one that also embraces the urgency of improving the health of Africa’s ancient soils. At the AU Soil Health and African Fertilizer Summit next year, we intend to express our support for the full implementation of the AU’s ten-year action plan, make significant new investments in soil health, and invite others to support nations with multi year investments in support of the vision.
We’ve also learned that global food shocks have an outsized impact on women as both producers and consumers, as well as on the small- and medium-enterprises that are the backbone of the agrifood system. Women grew hungry at a rate faster than men due to global shocks, and today more than 126 million more women than men are deemed food insecure. FAO estimates that if we simply leveled the field for women in agrifood systems, global GDP would grow by one percent – that’s nearly one trillion dollars – and would reduce the number of food insecure people by 45 million. So gender equality is not just right – it’s profitable, it’s smart, and it’s key to building more resilient food systems. At USAID, we are committing to doubling our food and water security investments in gender equity and women’s empowerment to $335 million in the coming year.
Many women and young people are central players in the small- and medium-enterprises {SMEs} that sustain the agricultural economy in many places where we work. SMEs are Africa’s largest employer and economic engine – and yet three out of four of them cannot access bank loans, and often formal finance is absent entirely. They have been particularly hard hit by the knock on effects of both COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At the UN General Assembly last month, USAID joined with Norway to announce $70 million in the FASA Fund – the Financing for Agricultural Small-and-Medium Enterprises in Africa Fund. We are inviting others to join us to reach our goal of $200 million, which will catalyze hundreds of millions in commercial financing for underserved enterprises that are the main connectors spanning agri-food systems.
These investments are well timed given recent research by Michigan State University which describes this “hidden middle” of input suppliers, off takers, transporters and wholesale enterprises that are ready to take off, fueled by urban and periurban population growth and growing demand for safe, nutritious, easy to prepare and affordable foods.
So while the global hunger picture is indeed challenging to say the least, there is also a strong undercurrent of vibrancy and possibility in these very same places that are often categorized as “hungry.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a huge shock to food systems around the world, as was COVID, and we can say with some certainty that there are more on the way. What these takeaways tell us is that many well understood and longstanding priorities – whether it be investing in women, increasing access to finance, reforming trade policy, or improving on farm production practices – will require sustained attention and collective action among multiple stakeholders if we are to deliver on more resilient food systems.