On November 10, 2015, former USAID administrator Rajiv Shah spoke at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs regarding the impact of volatile global food prices on families in the developing world. Shah, who was welcomed by Dan Glickman, former secretary of agriculture and cochair of the Council’s Global Agricultural Development Initiative, emphasized the role of the United States in leading the fight against malnutrition and hunger around the world.

Shah, also a senior advisor at the Council, spoke in depth regarding the ways in which food price volatility can negatively impact nutrition and food access, especially for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. He emphasized that for those worldwide who allocate 70-80 percent of their incomes on food, food prices can determine whether or not a family chooses between eating, or paying for school fees, for example. Following the food price spike of 2007, 70 to 100 million people were left in food insecure situations. He lauded, however, the important role that the Obama administration’s Feed the Future program, for which the Council provided the intellectual blueprint, has played in substantially reducing hunger and poverty worldwide. 

Technological innovations, Shah added, are key to mounting a better international response to hunger. Advancements in food fortification have created products far more effective in resuscitating malnourished children, and improved market price information have helped aid workers identify and address the needs of the most vulnerable. From the famine in Somalia to the Ebola crisis, Shah believes that “real time data and information have modernized humanitarian leadership around the world.”

This year, he noted, has seen global food surpluses and lower prices, which have severe implications for families who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Shah highlighted the critical role of American humanitarian leadership in addressing such issues. He commended USAID’s increasing attention to investment in agricultural development and the strengthening of value chains, and cited the United States’ humanitarian work in Haiti as evidence of the success of these policy changes; in 2015, child malnutrition rates were 50 percent lower than they were the day before Haiti’s devastating earthquake as a result of US humanitarian action.

Shah concluded with a reminder that while significant gains have been achieved, there is still more work to do in the fight against worldwide poverty and hunger. He reiterated the importance of America’s strong record of humanitarian leadership, and his hope for future success:

When we put our expertise, and our passion to work, on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable people, we can help move people out of poverty and protect children and expand the reach of opportunity for all.

The Chicago Council program featuring Rajiv Shah was generously supported by the CME Group.