Feed the Future, an American initiative led by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), collaborates with the U.S. government, volunteers and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to combat global hunger. The initiative aims to solve one of the greatest challenges of our time through partnerships that focus on tackling the underlying causes of poverty. Furthermore, it supports people to end their dependence on aid and opens up opportunities for future generations.

Feed the Future’s strategies include boosting agricultural growth, improving security and supporting community resilience against natural disasters. It also focuses on guaranteeing proper nutrition, specifically for women and children. Created in 2010 in response to the food crisis of 2007-2008, Feed the Future currently focuses on selected countries such as Ghana, Nepal and Uganda. The organization selects locations based on their level of need, the potential for its programs to grow and the availability of resources.

Global Food Security Strategy

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, 97 million more people have been surviving on $2 a day, leading to the first global increase in extreme poverty in more than 20 years. In response, the U.S. government introduced the Global Food Security Strategy to combat the rise in poverty and ensure that families worldwide have access to food. The Global Food Security Strategy seeks to reduce global poverty, malnutrition and widening inequality through initiatives like Feed the Future. It also aims to achieve a 20% reduction in poverty and reduce stunting in the countries where it operates with assistance from other foreign governments.

In Uganda, the Global Food Security Strategy aligns with the Government of Uganda’s Third National Development Plan. The strategy focuses on boosting household income and improving living standards. From 2012 to 2015, the stunting rate in children younger than 5 in regions where Feed the Future operated dropped by 11%. In Senegal, Feed the Future facilitated $64 million in loans for Senegalese farmers, wholesales and millers. With access to mechanization services, smallholder farmers increased their productivity. As a result, rice production increased by 123% from 2012 to 2018.

Feed the Future Target Country Expansion

In a Feed the Future target country, the U.S. government takes a coordinated approach to plan its investments. This encourages other groups, like donors and local governments, to provide support and funding. In 2022, the U.S. announced it would expand Feed the Future’s reach to eight new countries, bringing the number of countries the program is involved in from 12 to 20. These countries include Rwanda and Tanzania. Feed the Future plans to increase its efforts to reduce food insecurity in the next few years in these nations.

Results and Achievements

The program’s seven-year efforts have lifted approximately 23 million people above the poverty line. Additionally, 3.4 million children are no longer stunted and 5.2 million families are no longer at risk of hunger. The initiative has unlocked $6.2 billion in agricultural financing and developed more than 1,000 innovations. From 2011 to 2022, Feed the Future generated $28 billion in farm sales, aiding farmers.

Moving Forward

As Feed the Future advances in its global reach, it proves that ending hunger is possible. Indeed, this project plays a key role in the effort to alleviate poverty worldwide, aiming to help families in impoverished nations overcome food insecurity. With the significant progress it has made and its extensive global reach, tangible improvements in people’s lives are evident.

– Nouf Hunaiti

Nouf is based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

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