Ending Hunger: 60 Years of Action
USAID’s journey toward global food security
For many Americans, putting food on the table often means enjoying a flavorful meal, gathering with family, or putting cooking skills to the test. But for the 800 million people across the globe who go to bed hungry every night, food is much more than that. Food is a means to climb out from poverty, build community resilience, or ensure life-saving dietary needs are met.
When communities are food secure, they are able to reach their full potential and live healthy, prosperous lives.
This is why, for 60 years, USAID has led the fight against global hunger and contributed to one of history’s most transformative periods for food systems and agriculture.
The foundation of food security at USAID
USAID’s history with food security begins at our inception, with the goal of supporting famine prevention and freedom from hunger outlined in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. At the time, starvation was one of the most urgent problems facing the global community, warranting attention from world leaders who could spearhead change at a government level.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy articulated the objective that “all nations, all people, all inhabitants of this planet have all the food that they need, all the food that they deserve as human beings.” That principle has guided USAID’s work for decades.
In the 1960s, efforts to reduce world hunger were already underway as part of USAID Administer William Gaud’s vision of a “Green Revolution.”
Across the globe, countries fought hunger by ramping up agricultural production and utilizing practices such as farming with fertilizer, which was new at the time.
An example of USAID’s early food assistance is a child hunger initiative named Operation Niños that began in 1962 to strengthen economic ties between the United States and Latin America. By 1965, the program had reached more than 13 million school-age children and 2 million preschool age children with daily meals.
However, during the 1970s, bad weather hit crops across the globe, diminishing progress and reducing food production for the first time in 20 years. It became clear that ending global hunger was a challenge that demanded new thinking. It was time for a change in the way USAID approached hunger.
Expanding Partnerships in Food Security
Following setbacks in the 1970s, USAID’s efforts to curb hunger and malnutrition increasingly called upon diverse partnerships. Leveraging these partnerships enabled USAID to build a coalition that would combat hunger from multiple angles and at a magnified scale.
Supported by USAID, American scientists and universities, developed new innovations and agricultural breakthroughs. By supporting experts in the field, USAID partners developed techniques to boost crop and animal productivity, regenerate soils, manage pests, enhance nutrition, support science-based biotechnology, and more.
In total, USAID has provided more than $1.4 billion to fund the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), a partnership of international research centers that has lifted food production in 108 developing countries. USAID also partnered with nonprofits, civil society groups, other federal agencies, and even local governments.
Feeding the future
In 2007 and 2008, the world experienced significant food price spikes and the international community reached an inflection point. Stakeholders like USAID needed to determine a path forward, a new paradigm, to tackle global hunger.
In 2010, these efforts culminated in the creation of Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s initiative to end global hunger. Led by USAID, Feed the Future combined the best aspects of our food security work, and coordinates a whole-of-government strategy that prioritizes country ownership, proper nutrition, private sector partnerships, research and innovation, and resilience building.
Feed the Future focuses on helping smallholder farmers across the globe, particularly women, move from subsistence farming to surplus farming. Agriculture-led economic growth is key to development and is up to four times as effective at lifting people out of poverty as other sectors.
In 2016, Congress passed the Global Food Security Act, which codified Feed the Future in its own right, recognizing the critical role of food security in development. The initiative now had congressional oversight, monitoring, and evaluation of its impact and effectiveness.
With bipartisan support, the Global Food Security Act demonstrated U.S. commitment to ending global hunger. Since the start of Feed the Future, roughly 23.4 million more people now live above the poverty line and 5.2 million more families no longer suffer from hunger. In total, more than 3.4 million children now live free from stunting.
New challenges in global hunger
The battle against hunger and malnutrition is constantly shifting, particularly as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing impacts of climate change. COVID has impeded cross-border trade and access to markets, as well as significantly cut household incomes and nutritious diets.
In addition, the pandemic has highlighted the fragile nature of many of our food systems and placed decades of development gains at risk.
Today, USAID is committed to working with governments and partners around the world to make smart policy decisions and make measurable progress on world hunger.
What’s more, the world also finds itself in the middle of a climate crisis. With less predictable rains, rising sea levels, and widespread droughts, agriculture in many nations will inevitably face disruptions and shocks.
USAID recognizes the need for climate-resilient food systems, where agriculture can not only end hunger but also preserve ecosystems and biodiversity.
By prioritizing climate in our programs, USAID can strengthen the resilience of communities and the food and water systems they rely on. By embedding adaptation and mitigation in our work, communities will be better prepared to manage climate shocks, while reducing future risks and protecting their development progress.
What began as a goal to get food to those who need it has transformed into a decades-long, worldwide initiative seeking to end hunger itself. Today, Feed the Future not only works to end hunger, but also pushes innovations in the agriculture sector, reduces food loss and waste, combats climate change, helps nations rebound from the COVID pandemic, and partners with countries and governments around the world. Working alongside partners, USAID is at the forefront in the fight against global hunger. And we intend to win it.
About the Author
Emma Santini is a strategic communications intern with the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs at USAID.
