Presidential Initiatives
The National Security Strategy of the United States of America places international development in line with defense and diplomacy as the third pillar of U.S. national security. In recognition of this significant responsibility, President George W. Bush has announced several international development initiatives that are implemented, in whole or in part, by USAID.
Feed the Future (FTF):
www.FeedtheFuture.gov website just launched!
"...the United States is leading an effort to reach out to people around the world who are suffering, to provide them immediate assistance and to extend support for food security that will help them lift themselves out of poverty. All of us must join together in this effort, not just because it is right, but because by providing assistance to those countries most in need, we will provide new markets, we will drive the growth of the future that lifts all of us up."
- President Barack Obama
Click here to open the PDF Feed the Future Guide, 1.2 MB
At the G-8 Summit in July 2009, the President pledged to provide at least $3.5 billion over the next three years (FY 2010 to FY 2012) to attack the root causes of global hunger through accelerated agricultural development and improved nutrition. In partnership with other donors and leaders – global and local, public and private – the United States,through the President’s Feed the Future (FTF) Global Health and Food Security Initiative will work with a set of host countries and other donors to accelerate progress towards achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG 1) of halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and suffering from hunger and under-nutrition by 2015. The ability to make significant and sustainable progress towards MDG1 by the 2015 timeframe will require the commitment of funding beyond the $3.5 billion in USG resources pledged and the commitment of a consistent multi-year time frame for investment.
Strategic Approach: Feed the Future (FTF) is grounded in five key principles:
- Ensure a comprehensive approach. Investment in programs that achieve sustainable agricultural productivity, improve access to strong markets, increase incomes so the poor can purchase food, reduce under-nutrition and increase effectiveness of emergency humanitarian assistance by strengthening the capacity of countries to anticipate and prevent hunger related emergencies.
- Invest in country-led plans. Alignment with countries’ own investment plans and strategies, reflecting broad-based stakeholder engagement and ownership support result-based programs and long-term sustainable outcomes.
- Strengthen strategic coordination. Reinforcement of strategies using both diplomatic and foreign assistance tools to ensure that efforts are coordinated on multiple levels: from community-based to country, regional and global mechanisms.
- Leverage the benefits of multilateral institutions. Partnerships with other donors, including non-traditional donors, to leverage additional resources, complement bi-lateral assistance, facilitate alignment behind country-led plans and reduce process burdens on recipients.
- Deliver on a sustained and accountable commitment. Strong commitment to establish a results framework that monitors performance and measures progress towards goals and to promote a level of mutual accountability among all stakeholders that invest in country-led investment plans that creates greater transparency and that allows for greater coordination and greater impacts.
The Feed the Future (FTF) Global Health and Food Security Initiative in Mali focuses on efforts to foster economic growth through increasing productivity in agriculture while reducing poverty and increasing broad based nutrition. The initiative builds off of the Global Food Security Response (GFSR) launched in 2009 which responded to radical price increases by rapidly increasing food availability through increasing productivity in rice, sorghum, millet, and horticultural produce. Nearly 4,000 hectares were brought into production in 2009 setting the stage for further increases under the Feed the Future (FTF) Global Health and Food Security Initiative. Food security is high on the political agenda in Mali with a strong emphasis on the agricultural sector to encourage increased food production. While any given year, Mali is self-sufficient in cereals, access to that food remains an issue in many isolated areas of the country. The response to these challenges lies in the pairing of Government of Mali (GOM) programs such as the loi d’orientation agricole (Agricultural Guidelines Act), approved in 2005, and the Programme National d’Investissement dans le Secteur Agricole (National Agricultural Investment Strategy) with strategies for a sector-wide approach to agriculture. An agricultural investment program, currently being developed with the guidance of ECOWAS and NEPAD, the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) brings together the sector-wide approach and National Agricultural Investment Strategy led by the Malian government. With additional funding anticipated over the coming years under the Feed the Future (FTF) Global Health and Food Security Initiative, the USG, through the USAID Mission, will continue to scale-up successful interventions in support of the investment framework, as well as to continue the analysis and strategic planning necessary for the identification and design of additional interventions that will include components in climate change, infrastructure, adult literacy, nutrition, and inclusion of more marginalized populations.
Last Updated on: August 25, 2011