Chairman Meeks, Ranking Member McCaul, distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for convening this hearing to discuss the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) food security programs. Humanitarian and food assistance is a cornerstone of U.S. foreign aid. Thanks to your leadership and the generosity of the American people, we are able to reach the world’s most vulnerable with life-saving assistance.
Today, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the historic global hunger crisis we are facing and the steps USAID is taking to deliver critically-needed and lifesaving assistance. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight potential reforms to key pieces of authorizing legislation that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of assistance to meet rising needs.
Rising Global Food Security Needs
Honorable Committee members, your commitment to eliminating global hunger has never been more critical as food insecurity statistics continue to march upward due to the confluence of conflict, climate change, and the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before Putin’s further invasion of Ukraine in February, the global food security situation for hundreds of millions of people was at a precipice: 193 million people were in need of humanitarian food assistance, a 24 percent increase over 2020 and a nearly 80 percent increase compared to 2016.
Chairman Meeks, Ranking Member McCaul, and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for having me here today. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak before this Committee on an incredibly important issue and one that is more pressing than ever.
While the narrative about Africa is often dominated by its challenges, it is a continent better characterized by resilience and transformation. We saw this in the innovations that sprang up to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, the resilience shown by individuals experiencing negative outcomes of climate change, and the thousands of voices that have spoken out to safeguard democracy.
Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the progress USAID has made to date – and the remaining opportunities to do more – on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) within our Agency.
Due to the overlapping crises of climate shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine, millions more across the world are at risk of being driven into starvation unless action is taken now to respond together and at scale. Thanks to the bipartisan support of Congress, USAID is investing billions of dollars to ensure families can feed their children, help countries break their dependence on Russian food and fertilizer supply while ramping up our own domestic fertilizer production, protect the poorest households around the world by scaling up social safety nets, and unleash American technical expertise to spur the long-term agricultural productivity that essential to ending hunger. I thank the Committee for its support of our work, and I look forward to discussing with you in more detail.
It will be important for U.S. foreign assistance to the Sahel to include bolstering national institutions and policy reforms; promoting local-level civilian protection, service delivery, and development; improving partner coordination; optimizing coordination around food security and humanitarian assistance; and countering unhelpful external actors and disinformation campaigns. We must support timely democratic transitions in Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali, and critical political, social, economic, and governance reforms across the region to reduce corruption and prevent further democratic erosion. U.S. assistance should also enable governments to enhance their presence in underserved areas and decentralize their service delivery, foster increased citizen trust in their governments, mitigate the risk of inter-communal conflict, improve business-enabling environments, and reduce cycles of political instability by demonstrating that democracy can deliver tangible benefits to all. We must also help our partners adapt to and manage consequences of ongoing climate change and displacement in the Sahel. None of this work will take root without strengthening and expanding the role of African institutions in balancing regional threats and opportunities with underlying macroeconomic conditions. The United States must similarly improve its coordination with other donors and allies to increase synchronization across development, humanitarian, and peace-building programming, and burden sharing while also countering the propaganda and disinformation generated by strategic competitors.
Although the immediate impacts of our work are first felt by people far from our shores, the lasting effects of greater security, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa impact our own national security and prosperity. By building vibrant economies, we create trading partners. By protecting human rights, we mitigate grievances and instability and build more sustainable partnerships. By improving governance and security, we lessen the threat of extremist violence and terrorism visiting the homeland. And in demonstrating compassion and cooperation, we build allies and partners who share our interests and aspirations.
USAID’s partnerships in Asia span more than thirty countries, from Kazakhstan in Central Asia to Kiribati in the Pacific Islands. Home to half of the global economy and over 60% of the world’s population, the fates of countries across this diverse and dynamic region are deeply intertwined with that of the United States.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s FY 2023 discretionary request of $29.4 billion will build on these steps forward, giving us the ability to invest in the people and systems to meet the world’s most significant challenges so the United States can seize this moment. Last week, with bipartisan support, you passed a nearly $40 billion package for Ukraine that will provide vital assistance to our support of displaced peoples, to the country’s recovery, and to the secondary effects on food, fuel and fertilizer that we’re witnessing as a result of the Russian Federation’s belligerence. And your bipartisan support for a robust FY23 topline for the State Foreign Operations Senate bill will help us meet this moment and advance American interests and the critical foreign policy and development priorities before us.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s FY 2023 discretionary request of $29.4 billion will build on these steps forward, giving us the ability to invest in the people and systems to meet the world’s most significant challenges so the United States can seize this moment in history. Last week, with bipartisan support, you here in the House of Representatives took a major step in that direction by passing a nearly $40 billion package for Ukraine and we are hopeful for its imminent passage in the Senate.
The consequences of Putin’s unprovoked, unjustified war in Ukraine extend beyond the battlefield, beyond Ukraine, and beyond Europe. While Vladimir Putin is leaning on noxious lies and disinformation to justify a war of aggression, the United States, through the generosity of the American people, is defending the Ukrainian people in their courageous fight for basic human rights, democracy, and self-determination. USAID is proud to stand with the Ukrainian people and we are grateful for the support from Congress. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to answering your questions.
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Last updated: November 06, 2020
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