Faith-based development agency leaders, meeting January 4 with U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah, center, to discuss his vision for ending global hunger. Photo: U.S. Agency for International Development
Feed the Future consult calls on experience of faith-based agencies
UN-FAO: “We need to hear from you because you are in touch with even the smallest of the grassroots organizations.”
Washington, D.C. — John L. McCullough, executive director and CEO of humanitarian agency Church World Service, today hailed the new United States commitment to a long-term focus on smallholder farmers, the leadership of women, and connections at community levels as the foundation for President Obama’s new “Feed the Future” initiative.
The U.S. now has the resources to reverse two decades of “disinvestment in food and agriculture.” That was the message from USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah at a Tuesday (1/4) USAID consultation with executives from faith-based U.S.-headquartered development organizations.
The United States Agency for International Development has been named lead agency for the initiative.
“We are heartened by what appears to be a big and vital shift in how development assistance has been provided, to a focus on country- and grassroots-led food security development, with an emphasis on smallholder farmers, the leadership of women and listening to local communities in poor countries,” said McCullough, a participant at the meeting.
The U.S. initiative has identified 20 focus countries, largely agrarian in nature. While the majority of the countries are located in Africa, others are in Southern Asia, Southeast Asia and Central America.
Shah said the U.S. already has made significant progress in meeting with those governments and establishing plans. He asked the non-governmental organizations attending Tuesday’s consultation to help the U.S. reach the grassroots.
Church World Service’s McCullough pressed USAID’s Shah to share the U.S. criteria for its selection of the targeted 20 countries and whether a second tier was anticipated.
Ertharin Cousin, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, told the faith-based NGOs, “We need to hear from you because you are in touch with even the smallest of the grassroots organizations.”
CWS and partner support for innovative greenhouse gardening is enabling families in the highlands of Guatemala to improve their nutrition and their income. Photo: Rolanda Hughes/CWS
Ann Tutwiler, incoming Deputy Director General for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, emphasized the need for research and education at grassroots levels. She asked the NGOs for help in getting information to smallholder farmers and youth and in sharing best practices.
‘Fifty percent reduction in child hunger over next few years would be remarkable’
Shah indicated that the U.S. needed to be more focused in its efforts in order to achieve measurable success and cited his hope that a 50 percent reduction in child hunger over the next few years would be a remarkable achievement.
CWS’s McCullough emphasized the importance of addressing nutrition as well as food security, saying he was pleased to see that both were incorporated in the overall Feed the Future proposal and that he hoped the balanced approach would persist.
McCullough questioned the U.S.’s stated strategies relative to the urban poor. He urged U.S. consideration of strategies that reach as deep into grassroots communities as possible, saying, “The goal should be one of helping people in rural as well as urban areas achieve food and achieving nutritional security and independence.” He cited homestead or home gardening as part of a viable sustainable development strategy in rural and urban environments.
In its own food and nutritional security programs and advocacy, CWS supports rural and urban food and nutritional security programs, with a dual approach that includes emergency nutrition interventions along with longer-term sustainable, diversified food production and livelihoods that enable food purchasing power.
Susan Bradley from USAID’s Bureau of Food Security said research suggested that, particularly in Africa, the focus must first be on rural areas, where 70 percent of the poor live. Bradley said successful development strategies in rural areas will in time translate into more stable food prices and food security within urban communities as well.
Held at the White House, the Feed the Future Consultation with Faith-Based Development Leaders was a collaboration of USAID, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
“While many of the participating organizations are based in Washington, there was a stated intentionality to benefit from the perspectives of views coming from outside of the beltway,” said McCullough.
McCullough called the consultation “one of the most encouraging meetings in years with USAID officials,” and said it was “equally exciting to witness the collaboration with the State Department and the USDA. Under the leadership of President Obama, the government seems poised to follow through on his inaugural address commitment to work towards eradicating global hunger and poverty.”
Church World Service is a relief, sustainable development and refugee assistance agency with particular focus on food security and fighting hunger domestically and worldwide.
For more, see the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships story.
CWS Head of Programs assesses outcomes of Feed the Future meeting with faith based agencies
CWS Deputy Director, Head of Programs, Maurice Bloem commented on Tuesday’s (1/4) USAID consultation, saying, “From the strategies discussed by USAID and U.N. experts during Tuesday’s meeting, Church World Service’s CEO rightly pointed out that home gardens are a good strategy for addressing malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.
“Even though animal products are the best sources of micronutrients, vegetables and fruits may be the only source of micronutrients that are most available to poor families,” he said. “We are seeing that home gardening combined with livestock production and nutrition education has proven successful in increasing poor people’s production and consumption of foods that are rich in micronutrients, as well as in empowering women and building community development.”
Bloem reinforced the approach of emphasizing home food production. “Homestead food production improves dietary quality and also respects local customs and practices. That, in turn, improves chances for continued, sustainable development and encourages people to be receptive to new information and change. The outlook for such an approach is increasing food security for vulnerable communities for a very long time.”