On July 13, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing to review an audit of foreign agriculture and food aid programs.
Suzanne Heinen, acting administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) described the impact the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program has had on women and children in developing countries: “Congress established the McGovern-Dole Program to carry out preschool and school food for education programs in foreign countries to improve food security, reduce the incidence of hunger, and improve literacy and primary education, particularly among girls; and maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and children who are five years of age or younger. Under this program, USDA donates U.S. agricultural products and provides financial and technical assistance for school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects in low-income, food-deficit countries that are committed to universal education…In FY 2011, the McGovern-Dole Program will provide benefits to beneficiaries in 15 countries, including Nepal, Haiti, Guatemala, Burkina Faso, and Senegal.”
Ms. Heinen continued, “Since 2003, the McGovern-Dole Program has supported projects in 41 countries and has fed up to five million schoolchildren each year. USDA enters into agreements with implementing organizations to carry out activities under the program. In progress reports, implementing organizations provide information about the number of children being fed, the increases in attendance, and other benefits that lead to improved literacy, better diet, and graduation of the programs. Organizations frequently report gains in attendance of ten percent or more in participating schools. USDA and the implementing organizations develop graduation plans to ensure that progress is being made toward the goal of having a local entity assume responsibility for the program. The McGovern-Dole Program graduated a school feeding project in Moldova, and the government of Moldova has continued much of the program since the U.S. funding ended. School feeding programs in Kenya, Laos, and Guinea-Bissau are nearing full graduation.” She added: “USDA is implementing improvements in program management that will allow for more intensive monitoring of results…The improvements address a recent GAO recommendation for an improved monitoring process, which we agree with and had recognized as appropriate.”
“We are also focusing our development food aid programs in the most food insecure countries, where stunting rates are highest and people live on less than $1.25 per day,” said Nancy Lindborg, assistant administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She continued, “We have reduced the number of countries we work in with development food aid by 25 percent since 2008 in order to focus and concentrate our resources for greater impact. The programs address chronic malnutrition, boost agricultural productivity and incomes, and help build resiliency. Targeted to disaster-prone areas, the program helps people to withstand the next drought or flood so they do not have to rely on emergency aid in the future. In FY 2010, our U.S. nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners implemented development food aid programs in 21 countries to benefit some 8 million people.”
Ms. Lindborg explained that “In Bangladesh, a country of 156 million people, 45 percent of the population does not meet the minimum food requirements. Approximately 37 percent of children under five are underweight, and over 48 percent suffer from stunting. Three Title II partners aim to assist over 580,000 households in some of the poorest and most marginalized communities over the course of their multi-year development programs. One program has already reduced stunting by 28 percent in targeted communities. They have also provided business training for more than 6,000 female entrepreneurs and increased incomes by 128 percent, among other successes. Globally the president’s Feed the Future initiative has a mission to sustainably reduce hunger and poverty. It aims to link highly productive geographic zones to more vulnerable areas, helping to increase labor opportunities for households, strengthen value chains, and increase rural jobs. Our Title II development programs complement and reinforce this initiative. Through these programs, and in combination with USAID’s other governance, development, and disaster mitigation programs, we aim to build the resiliency of the vulnerable populations we serve.”
