Administration Officials Urge Support for Feed the Future in Congressional Budget Hearings

During the month of March, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and USAID Administrator Shah went before Congress to testify on the Obama Administration’s FY 2013 Budget Request for International Affairs.

As part of his testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Administrator Shah noted that the U.S. Government’s investments in food security through Feed the Future have had tremendous impacts around the world, citing illustrative examples from Haiti, where a pilot program for rice growers increased yields by almost 190 percent, and Kenya, where Feed the Future has helped over 90,000 dairy farmers increase their total income by a combined $14 million.

“These investments are working,” said Shah. “Overall, since we began the initiative in 2008, our 20 target countries have increased their total agricultural production by an average of 5.8 percent. That’s over eight times higher than the global average increase of 0.7 percent.”

The Administration is requesting $1 billion to continue funding for Feed the Future.

Learn more about the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2013.