By Ethan Wong and Siena Cicarelli
On March 6, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) held a hearing on global food security featuring testimony from Dina Esposito, Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Dr. Cary Fowler, Special Envoy for Global Food Security at the US Department of State.
This hearing came at a critical time for development, diplomatic and food security leaders alike. In her testimony, Ms. Esposito noted that over 735 million people are chronically hungry and the state of global food security is only worsening. Ongoing and emerging conflicts continue to drive food insecurity, particularly through the weaponization of food, as seen in Gaza and Ukraine. At the same time, shifting weather patterns and increasing climate extremes have threatened global supply chains and future food production. These recent shocks highlight the urgent nexus between hunger, climate, and conflict – and the need for greater US leadership in building resilient and future-fit food systems.
A central theme throughout the hearing – and in many of today’s conversations around aid and development – was how to balance long and short-term food risks. On one hand, several acute emergencies require immediate assistance to prevent further hunger, malnutrition, and famine. Historically, the United States has been a leader in this realm, serving as the largest donor to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), the largest contributor to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and disbursing almost $13 billion in humanitarian assistance during the last fiscal year. However, food crises in Gaza, Haiti, Somalia, Yemen, and more require significantly more support than is currently allocated. This hunger funding gap of at least 65% has forced donors like the WFP to make tough decisions about where to allocate support, and demonstrated that the international community must better mitigate the underlying drivers of hunger.
Although US assistance in acute food emergencies is critical, the enduring gap between needs and available emergency resources emphasizes the importance of investments in long-term resilience efforts that focus on preventing hunger and food crises in the first place. As Dr. Fowler asserted, “Food aid is not the same as food security.” Along those lines, both witnesses drew attention to current efforts that are helping other countries anticipate shocks and strengthen their capacity to grow food in the face of climate risks. This included the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), which seeks to boost productivity by promoting indigenous crops, enhancing soil quality, and developing climate-resilient crop varieties, as well as Feed the Future, the signature global hunger initiative that has catalyzed agricultural transformation in many countries. However, as crises continue to push millions into food insecurity, testimony from Dr. Fowler and Ms. Esposito demonstrated that these efforts aren’t enough, and that there need to be more investments in adaptation and prevention.
Given today’s budgetary constraints, both Senators and the witnesses explored pathways to scale up long-term food security efforts by leveraging the private sector. With public-private partnerships a key component of the Global Food Security Strategy, Esposito highlighted that USAID is enhancing cooperation with private firms, research centers, and universities, such as utilizing innovation labs to develop climate-smart seeds. Yet, there are even more opportunities to spur innovation and tap into domestic agricultural expertise (including the proposed Foundation for International Food Security Act raised by co-sponsor Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)), accelerate the deployment of solutions abroad, and strengthen agricultural R&D through the Farm Bill. As Dr. Fowler warned, China’s investments in agriculture have far outpaced those of the United States, making China the largest funder of agricultural R&D in the world. Therefore, long-term investments in agriculture not only provide significant returns to American farmers and help the United States lead in tackling the global food crisis, they can also be a tool for strategic competition with China.
Last week’s SFRC hearing underscored that tackling food insecurity is not just a humanitarian challenge, but a key national security imperative as well. As crises in Gaza, Haiti, Yemen, and more demonstrate, food and conflict are intrinsically linked. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of today’s agri-food system means that local crises can have reverberating impacts, threatening regional and even global stability. As SFRC Chair Ben Cardin (D-MD) stated in his opening remarks, “when people go hungry, instability often follows.” Critically, as climate change accelerates, it will further exacerbate this dynamic. It is therefore imperative to not just continue emergency aid and humanitarian assistance, but generate investments in long-term development, adaptation, and resilience-building efforts. As SFRC Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-ID) acknowledged in his statement, the United States has the capacity to “help communities grow their own way out of poverty and become more resilient to food shocks,” but more work is needed to maximize this impact. In today’s complicated operating environment, the United States is in a unique position to serve as a leader on food security, not just in rhetoric, but in investments as well.
The recording of the hearing and written testimonies from both witnesses are available here, as well as links to the opening statements from Chair Cardin and Ranking Member Risch.