Legislation will help developing countries grow their way out of extreme poverty                                                                          

WASHINGTON — The ONE Campaign celebrated the passage today of the bipartisan Global Food Security Act (GFSA). The GFSA was sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Senators Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and in the House by U.S. Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ-04) and Betty McCollum (D-MN-04). ONE and its partners worked with Congressman Smith and Congresswoman McCollum to help secure a bipartisan array of 121 cosponsors and unanimous passage in the House in April of this year.

The Global Food Security Act ensures that the President’s Feed the Future Initiative becomes permanent. Feed the Future advances global agricultural productivity through research and development, making sure proven technology is available to more people, and creating opportunities for better economic growth and trade in developing countries. Feed the Future also boosts the harvests and incomes of small farmers and works with communities to prevent recurrent crises and help them bounce back from those crises when they occur. The legislation strengthens America’s commitment to helping developing countries grow their way out of extreme poverty, while overcoming hunger and malnutrition.

Tom Hart, North America executive director for The ONE Campaign, said:

No child should go to bed hungry, and every mother should be able to feed her family. Humanity has the knowledge and resources to feed everyone on the planet, and yet too many — almost 800 million people — still suffer from hunger. Today, Congress made great progress toward changing that.

The Global Food Security Act is an important step forward in the modernization of American foreign assistance. It strengthens America’s commitment to helping developing countries grow their way out of hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty. Investments in basic nutrition have been shown to yield extraordinary returns to the local economy, more effectively fighting extreme poverty than almost any other area of international development.

ONE’s two and a half million members in the U.S. are grateful for the leadership of Senators Casey and Isakson, Representatives Smith and McCollum, and all the senators and members of Congress who voted in support of this legislation. We look forward to seeing President Obama sign this bill into law soon.