Part of the Food Policy Snapshot Series
Policy name: U.S. Government Global Food Security Research Strategy Fiscal Year 2022-2026
Overview: On October 19, 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released the Global Food Security Research Strategy to indicate the United States’ commitment to ending hunger and building sustainable food systems.
Location: Worldwide
Food policy category: Food security, sustainable agriculture, nutrition
Program goals: To create sustainable solutions for addressing the root causes of hunger and malnutrition.
How it works: Feed the Future is the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative that helps the world’s poorest countries to overcome food insecurity and malnutrition. The initiative has driven the research strategy that will support the U.S. Government Global Food Security Strategy, which provides a roadmap for reducing poverty, hunger, and malnutrition across the world. The research strategy focuses on three areas for advancing global food security:
- Climate-smart agricultural innovations
- Improved nutrition through high-quality, affordable diets, and
- Developing crops and livestock that are more genetically resilient.
Collaborating with American universities, American and international businesses and nonprofits, international agricultural research centers, and research centers in target countries will lead to solutions that advance agriculture and create more sustainable food systems to reduce hunger and improve nutrition in underdeveloped nations.
Progress to date: The Global Food Security Strategy was released in the fall of 2021, and the research strategy was released a year later in October 2022.
Why it is important: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, approximately 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated global food insecurity, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is estimated to have resulted in an additional 40 million individuals becoming food insecure. Malnutrition can result in stunted childhood growth and/or wasting, as well as overweight and obesity – and related conditions including diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers – among both adults and children. Poverty is associated with an increased risk of hunger and malnutrition and is also associated with an increased risk of health complications that result from malnutrition.
Feed the Future states that, historically, investments in agricultural research have been economically worthwhile and highly profitable, resulting in a seven- to tenfold rate of return. USDA also claims that “without innovation and advances derived from collaborative research, global food and supply chain crises will continue and likely worsen.” The announced research strategy outlines how and with whom to conduct this research in order to make it more likely that the solutions will be successful and low-risk.
Program/Policy initiated: The research strategy was released on October 19, 2022.
Point of contact:
USDA Press
Email: press@usda.gov
Similar practices: The first five-year global food security strategy was released in 2017 under the Global Security Act of 2016, and its associated research strategy was released in 2018.
Evaluation: Evaluation has not yet been completed. Indicators that will be used to evaluate the success of the 2022-2026 Global Food Security Strategy can be found here.
Learn more:
- Food Security Update (The World Bank)
- Impacts of Land Use, Population, and Climate Change on Global Food Security (Food and Energy Security)
- Impacts of the Russia-Ukraine War on Global Food Security: Towards More Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems? (Foods)
- The Intertwined Relationship Between Malnutrition and Poverty (Frontiers in Public Health)
- President Biden Announces Expansion of Feed The Future in Response to The Growing Global Food Security Crisis (U.S. Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- Soil and the Intensification of Agriculture for Global Food Security (Environment International)
- The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
References:
- Child Malnutrition: Wasting Among Children Under 5 Years of Age (World Health Organization)
- Feed the Future Performance Indicators Under the Global Food Security Strategy (Feed the Future)
- Malnutrition (World Health Organization)
- Poor Nutrition (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- S.1252 – Global Food Security Act of 2016 (Congress.gov)
- The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
- USDA and USAID announce the Global Food Security Research Strategy to Fight Hunger and Build Sustainable Systems (United States Department of Agriculture)
- U.S. Government Global Food Security Research Strategy Fiscal Year 2022-2026 (Feed the Future)
- U.S. Government Global Food Security Research Strategy, FY22-26 (Feed the Future)
- U.S. Government Global Food Security Strategy 2022-2026 (USAID)
- U.S. Government Global Food Security Strategy Fiscal Year 2022-2026 (Feed the Future)
- U.S. Government Global Food Security Strategy FY 2017-2021 (English) (Feed the Future)
- The U.S. Government’s Global Food Security Research Strategy (Feed the Future)
