Did you know that 805 million people around the world don’t have enough to eat? This year, Global Poverty Project is trying to change that.

Global Poverty Project is campaigning for increased funding for Food for Peace which provides food aid in emergency situations. Global Poverty Project is also working with Senator Bob Corker and Senator Chris Coons to make American food aid more efficient by passing the Food for Peace Reform Act. A few weeks ago, we ran a Day of Action on food aid reform and hundreds of global citizens signed the petition supporting these important goals.

Since the Day of Action, our team has been hard at work making sure that global citizens’ voices are heard on Capitol Hill. Last week, Global Poverty Project worked with partners like Bread for the World, Mercy Corps, and CARE to draft a letter to important Members of Congress like Chairman Aderholt who leads the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.

Take a look behind the scenes at Global Poverty Project and check out a copy of our letter to Congress, below.

And, if you agree that we need a new approach to food that puts hungry people first, be sure to sign the petition in the “Take Action’ button.

Dear Chairman Aderholt and Ranking Member Farr:

Thank you for your stalwart leadership and dedication in supporting the world’s most vulnerable people. Thanks to your efforts, Food for Peace emergency programs have helped fed tens of millions of hungry people annually and non-emergency programs have communities around the world to build their self-reliance. In addition, we deeply appreciate your ongoing support in reforming U.S. international food assistance programs.  With these reforms, programs that were already effective at meeting the needs of food-insecure people, can become even more efficient and reach more vulnerable people at no additional cost to the American taxpayer.

Food security programs funded in the Agriculture Appropriations bill are vital for global food security, and unfortunately the needs remain great. More than 805 million people in the world do not have enough to eat, and that number will likely grow as global crises persist. Numerous crises, including the war in Syria and conflicts in South Sudan and the Central African Republic are contributing to escalating humanitarian food needs worldwide.

In light of the immense needs of hungry civilians throughout the world, we ask that you support the following funding requests in the Agricultural Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2016.

Food for Peace/Title II Funding and Authorities

The Food for Peace program is the US Government’s primary account for providing international food assistance. Title II emergency programs serve millions of the most vulnerable people suffering in crises by saving lives. Title II non-emergency programs are essential to building food security around the world and ensuring that long term aid is not a handout, but a hand up, helping to break the cycle of poverty and hunger to allow for sustainable achievements in international development. Non-emergency programs are also a cornerstone of the Administration’s effort to build resilient communities that can bounce back better from conflicts, droughts, and other types of natural disasters and become less dependent on emergency assistance.

We hope you can support further steps recommended by the Administration in the FY 2016 budget request to improve food aid efficiencies and increase the number of people these lifesaving programs can reach.  Specifically, we recommend the following levels of appropriations and new authorities for Title II/Food for Peace program:

• Not less than $1.75 billion for overall Food for Peace/Title II funding, including funding for non-emergency programs that take full advantage of funding mechanisms provided through the Community Development Fund.

• New authority to provide the flexibility to use up to 45 percent of Title II for cash-based food assistance for emergencies, which would allow for USAID to reach approximately four million more people with lifesaving assistance at no additional cost.

Community Development Fund

Within the Development Assistance Account, the Administration proposed $80 million for the Community Development Fund (CDF).  These funds are used by USAID to minimize the need to monetize commodities under Title II non-emergency programs, including in countries where transport costs are prohibitively high, like the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the DRC, losses of US commodities can be as high as 50% because of transportation costs etc. We recommend that you provide $80 million for the CDF in the SFOPS Appropriations bill, along with full flexibility in the Agricultural Appropriations bill to utilize this funding in non-emergency food aid programs.  These two recommendations will improve the efficiency of non-emergency food assistance programs and continue to build self-reliance among food insecure communities.

Local and Regional Procurement Programs

The practice of buying food aid on local and regional markets for distribution can be quicker and more cost effective than traditional in-kind food aid. Two independent evaluations by the Government Accountability Office and a Congressionally-mandated study by Management Systems International of the pilot program authorized in the 2008 farm bill found that local and regional procurement (LRP) programs have an average cost saving of at least 25 percent compared with similar in-kind food aid programs. In some cases, these savings can increase to over 50 percent, as a Cornell University study documented, along with a 62 percent gain in timeliness of delivery. In addition to being cost effective, buying food locally allows for support of local farmers and recovery of local markets.

The flexibility, cost effectiveness, and timeliness of such programs means that humanitarian organizations can deliver food aid quicker and at less cost to taxpayers while supporting local markets and communities in developing countries. Given the proven success of LRP programs, the 2014 Farm Bill established a permanent LRP program authorized at $80 million annually and we therefore request you support full funding for the new LRP program.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests.

Sincerely,

Mercy Corps

CARE

American Jewish World Service

The Borgen Project

Church World Service

Bread for the World

Global Poverty Project

Mennonite Central Committee US, Washington Office

Sign the petiton in the TAKE ACTION NOW to lend your voice to the effort to increase funding for food aid.