[ As delivered ]
Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me to join this panel to discuss the inescapable links between food security, nutrition and HIV/AIDS: three of the top development priorities of the United States Government. Our major presidential initiatives – the PEPFAR, the Global Health Initiative and Feed the Future – are all working on these urgent priorities.
OPERATOR: Welcome, and thank you for standing by. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the presentation, we'll conduct a question-and-answer session. Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time.
And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's conference, Mr. Mark Toner. Sir, you may begin.
Good morning. I'd like to thank Bread for the World and David Beckmann in particular for inviting me here today. I saw David earlier this year in Iowa, where he was collecting his very well deserved World Food Prize.
Hunger, both at home and abroad, is not a problem of capability, or a problem of scarcity, or a problem of technological limitations. It is a problem of collective action.
Introduction
Feed the Future, a presidential initiative designed to reverse global hunger trends, is a whole-of-government approach aligning our resources with country-owned strategic plans to transform agricultural development and, ultimately, spur economic growth. It is part of a collaborative global effort to improve food security, agricultural production, and nutrition.
The U.S. higher education community is helping us make this happen.
Feed the Future aims to significantly reduce poverty and improve nutrition by harnessing the power of agriculture to increase the incomes of poor rural people, expanding opportunities for smallholder farmers and rural businesses throughout the value chain, and increasing the productivity and quality of food that poor people eat.
The United States is proud to be a part of this broad international effort to combat hunger and spur economic growth in some of the world’s poorest countries. The collaborative global effort is centered on country-owned processes and plans that implement a common approach to improve food security, agricultural production, and nutrition.
President Obama pledged to spend at least $3.5 billion over three years on agriculture-led development – a more than doubling of our recent spending in this area. The United States is well on its way to achieving that financial commitment with an approved FY 2010 budget of $888 million that focuses investments in agricultural development and nutrition. Feed the Future, which is the U.S. Government’s contribution to the global effort, prioritizes investments in game-changing innovations and research, host country capacity, and strong mechanisms to hold both ourselves and our partners accountable for achieving sustainable outcomes in food security.
MR. CHANG: Good evening, everyone. Thanks for coming. Thanks for waiting. I want to kick off this briefing on tomorrow's expos as St. Xavier College. Briefing you tonight on the agriculture and food security expo will be Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and USAID Administrator Raj Shah. And after that, to brief you on the Expo For Democracy and Open Government, our Special Assistant to the President for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Samantha Power, and Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.
My name is Sarah Mendelson and I am the Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. I want to thank USIP for the leadership they are showing on 1325 and to thank my colleagues at USAID as well. We have many people in this agency and in this administration that have a long standing commitment to this issue.
Secretary Clinton has laid out in her October 16th speech why this is so critical to the United States and the value of women's participation in advancing peace and security.
I’d like to thank Ambassador Quinn and the organizers of the World Food Prize for inviting me to speak today. I’ve been to this event for a few years now, and every year it seems its enthusiasm and exposure grows.
I think it’s telling that after years of travelling around the world, the first time I run into Kofi Annan in an airport is in Des Moines.
I also want to thank two pillars of Iowa politics and the world of Agriculture, Secretary Vilsack and Senator Harkin, for their mentorship, leadership and advocacy of our cause.
Comment
Make a general inquiry or suggest an improvement.