House Hunger Caucus Briefing

Thursday, February 26, 2009 9:30 A.M. ET Agriculture Committee Room
1302 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The world is coping with high food prices and financial and economic crises that are pushing more people into poverty and hunger. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the number of hungry people world-wide has increased to nearly one billion. The United States, a long-time leader in addressing global hunger, has responded to these crises by designating more than $1.2 billion in food aid and over $600 million in cash resources to respond to these urgent needs. Yet U.S. programs to address global hunger and food insecurity, administered by a wide array of U.S. departments and agencies, lack coordination and adequate funding, limiting their effectiveness, range and impact.

Recently, several U.S.-based relief, development and policy organizations have released "blueprints" on how to address global hunger, reduce malnutrition, strengthen food safety nets and increase food security.

Special Briefing on these Initiatives

• Marshall M. Bouton, president, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
  Robert Thompson, chair, Experts Committee, Global Agricultural Development Project
  Dr. Bouton and Dr. Thompson will discuss the Council’s new report, Renewing American Leadership in the Fight Against Global Hunger and Poverty: The Chicago Initiative on Global Agricultural Development. The Chicago Initiative focuses on how to reduce hunger and poverty through agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where over half of the people who survive on less than $1 a day live.
• Heather Hanson, director, Public Affairs, Mercy Corps Ms. Hanson will describe the Roadmap for U.S. Leadership to End Global Hunger. The Roadmap is a comprehensive strategy developed by a diverse NGO coalition, encompassing the full spectrum of U.S. global hunger and food security programs, from food aid and emergency interventions to child nutrition and agricultural programs that help small-scale farmers.
• Ambassador Diop of Mali, Board Vice-Chair, Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa
  Julie Howard, executive director, Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa
  Ambassador Diop and Dr. Howard will outline their initiative to create a U.S.-African vision for long-term food security and actions to improved the effectiveness of U.S. assistance and investments. The Partnership is holding a forum on these topics on February 23rd and 24th in Washington, D.C.

President Obama has pledged renewed U.S. leadership on cutting hunger and poverty in half by 2015. We hope you will join us for this briefing on how these blueprints can help Congress determine how best to focus and restructure U.S. policy, programs and resources to achieve this goal.

Briefing Sponsored By:

Representative James P. McGovern, Co-Chair, House Hunger Caucus
Representative Jo Ann Emerson, Co-Chair, House Hunger Caucus
Representative Earl Pomeroy, Co-Chair, House Hunger Caucus
Representative Jerry Moran, Co-Chair, House Hunger Caucus
Representative Betty McCollum, Co-Chair, House Hunger Caucus
Representative John Boozman, Co-Chair, House Hunger Caucus