Bipartisan Legislation Secures Future of the US Government’s Feed the Future Initiative
Good news out of Washington, DC! The Global Food Security Reauthorization Act (GFSA) is now law, passed with unanimous support from both the Senate and House of Representatives and officially signed by President Trump on October 11.
The GFSA ensures the continuation of Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s flagship food security initiative, for the next five years, and provides for continued cooperation among all U.S. agencies working to address food security and malnutrition. Feed the Future was originally created in 2010, in the wake of food crises around the world. In the years since, their programs have helped millions of people, lifting them out of poverty, preventing childhood stunting, and increasing overall food security in the areas where they work.
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Around the world, approximately 821 million people suffer from hunger. Unfortunately, after years of progress, this number has increased over the past three years – making Feed the Future’s programs to enhance global food security more important now than ever.
Feed the Future’s proven success led to the first Global Food Security Act, making the program permanent when President Obama signed it into law in 2016, after nearly a decade of work by congressional leaders and advocacy organizations including Action Against Hunger. The original bill provided for a two-year authorization for Feed the Future, which meant a new bill needed to be passed this year to keep the program enshrined in law beyond 2018.
Action Against Hunger has advocated strongly for the GFSA, and its passage was a key legislative priority for us in 2018. Our Washington-based staff has met with dozens of House and Senate offices over the past year to urge a vote on the bill, working with congressional champions and many other food security organizations. GFSA’s passage is a great victory for the food security community, but most importantly, for communities around world fighting hunger.
Action Against Hunger thanks the bill’s sponsors, Senators Casey (D-PA) and Isakson (R-GA) and Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Betty McCollum (D-MN), as well as House, Senate, and committee leadership for all their efforts in moving this bill forward. We are excited to see Feed the Future continue its important work to address food insecurity and malnutrition, improving the lives of millions of people and moving us closer to a world free from hunger.
