Both the Obama administration and Congress are signaling an understanding that appropriate investments in agricultural development will not only reduce hunger but stimulate rural economic growth and greater self-sufficiency.
The president’s announced initiative to double U.S. foreign assistance for global agricultural productivity and rural development, along with The Global Food Security Act (S.384), introduced by U.S. Senators Richard Lugar and Robert Casey, and its companion legislation (HR 3077) introduced June 26, by Congresswoman Betty McCollum, are important first steps towards ensuring that smallholder farmers and rural food producers – a majority of whom are women – can find sustainable ways to feed themselves and their families.
The need to reinvest in agricultural and rural development is urgent. As stated in a recent fact sheet released by the White House, “we can directly improve the lives of poor populations by growing rural economies through broad-based agricultural growth.” InterAction looks forward to working with the administration and Congress to make this rebuilding and re-investment an effective reality.
