On December 2, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held a hearing, “Agriculture’s Role in Combating Global Hunger.”
Krysta Harden, deputy secretary, Department of Agriculture, stated, “Last April, I had the opportunity to meet female rose farmers in Guatemala’s Chimaltenango area. The Ixoqui Women’s Training and Food Processing Center works only with indigenous women from one of the poorest rural areas in Guatemala. This rose production facility was developed through the Food for Progress program and implemented by Texas A&M University from 2008-2012…I met with widows and mothers, grandmothers, and daughters who now possess the skills and knowledge to produce and market roses, thereby generating income for themselves and their families. They are engaging in regional trade, exporting roses to El Salvador.” Ms. Harden added, “The McGovern-Dole Program provides U.S. agricultural commodities and technical assistance for school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects in low-income, food deficit countries committed to universal education. If funding is maintained at the 2016 President’s Budget requested level, the program is projected to assist 3 million women and children worldwide in 2016…I had a chance to visit a McGovern-Dole program first hand during a trip to Central America last spring. I saw sixth grade girls in an elementary school in rural Honduras who are enthusiastic about learning and actively engaged in their school gardens…Not only are these girls being fed but they are getting educated about nutrition, food safety and sanitation, knowledge they take back to their families.”
The following witnesses also testified:
