AMERICA’S ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY AND THE HORN OF AFRICA FAMINE
The Honorable Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in sixty years. Conditions are so dire, the United Nations has declared famine and emergency conditions in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. To date, the United States has aided more than 4.6 million people in the region and has provided over $750 million in emergency assistance. However, emergency assistance alone cannot solve the problem of food insecurity. President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative is addressing the root causes of hunger, as well as the challenges of poverty, water scarcity, climate change, and diminishing natural resources, by helping farmers in the developing world grow their own food. But with the financial strain of the global economic crisis, how will these efforts continue? How critical is food security to national security? Join The Chicago Council for a discussion with the head of USAID, Rajiv Shah, who has recently returned from Kenya and Ethiopia, on the agency’s initiatives for mitigating the Horn of Africa famine and the role of the United States in promoting global food security.
Rajiv Shah is the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. Previously, Shah served as under secretary for research, education and economics, and as chief scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Shah was with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where his positions included director of agricultural development in the Global Development Program and director of strategic opportunities. In these roles, he helped develop and launch the foundation's Global Development Program and the International Finance Facility for Immunization. He is the cofounder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007 and was recently named to CNN’s “40 Under 40” list. Shah received his B.S. from the University of Michigan, and his M.B.A. and M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
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