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Office of Food for Peace
Please note: All linked documents are in PDF format
| Objective |
SO Nunber
| FY 2004 |
FY 2005 |
FY 2006 |
| Central Program, Support for PL 480 Title II Emergency |
962-001 |
8,472 |
0 |
0 |
| Central Program, Support for PL 480 Title II Development |
962-002 |
3,193 |
0 |
0 |
| Central Program, Support for PL 480 Title II Program |
962-004 |
0 |
9,000 |
309,000 |
| Total (in thousands of dollars) |
11,665 |
9,000 |
309,000 |
|
The Development Challenge: Nearly 800 million people in the world are food insecure. Food insecurity fuels political instability and environmental degradation. Reducing the number of chronically undernourished and underweight people throughout the world is both a humanitarian concern and a strategic goal. P.L. 480 Title II, administered by USAID's Office of Food for Peace (FFP), is a people-to-people program, from the people of the United States to people who do not have access to sufficient food to meet their needs for healthy and productive lives.
The USAID Program: U.S. Government support for overseas food aid was formalized in the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as P.L. 480. The basic legislation, which has been modified over time, establishes the U.S. policy for using abundant U.S. agricultural resources and food processing capabilities to enhance food security in the developing world through the provision of culturally acceptable nutritious food commodities. In the 50 years since its inception in 1954, Food for Peace has sent millions of metric tons of American food to more than 150 countries. Billions of people at risk of hunger and malnutrition have directly benefited from receiving this assistance. Many of the food insecure live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Chronic poverty, that is the unrelenting lack of economic opportunity either to produce adequate amounts of food or to exchange labor for income needed to purchase food in adequate amounts, is the chief cause of food insecurity and its cost is enormous. PL 480 Title II seeks to address chronic hunger, malnutrition and threat of famine. USAID has identified several key areas of focus to improve agricultural productivity, rural income and to reduce food insecurity and is seeking increased integration of Development Assistance (DA) funding and Title II resources. FFP's role in U.S. and multilateral food policy development is increasing in significance. The Agency recognizes that only with sound policies in place can domestic and foreign private investment and development assistance catalyze growth by helping people solve the problems that all too often keep them poor and food insecure. FFP is focusing on targeting both chronic and transitory vulnerabilities to food insecurity in food aid allocation and programming. FFP will strengthen its ability to identify these populations through improved analytical skills, both in the determination of the populations that need to be targeted as well as in the verification of results of food assisted programs through evidence-based evaluations. This will require innovative and expert approaches to food insecurity problems.
Another important priority area is USAID's input into the U.S. position on the World Trade Organization (WTO). The current WTO round of trade negotiations is focusing on how countries may be using food aid to circumvent export competition disciplines. Depending upon the outcome of the negotiations, U.S. food aid programs could be negatively affected. To better explain the principles and disciplines the United States employs in its food aid programs, USAID and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organized a seminar in early December for WTO members on U.S. food assistance. The seminar was a good step toward dispelling many of the misperceptions surrounding U.S. food assistance. Additional seminars and consultations will be undertaken in Geneva and with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome over the course of the next year to increase the understanding of U.S. food aid programs.
USAID recognizes that emergency needs assessment are an essential link in the improved emergency response chain and is working with the United Nations World Food Program and the international donor community to improve emergency needs assessment guidelines. Improving the credibility of emergency needs assessments is perhaps the principal means upon which more credible response plans can be developed that act as the foundation for more credible emergency responses. It is this need for a robust response to requirements that caught the attention of members of the Group of Eight at Sea Island, Georgia, June 2004 when they "urged the international community to meet fully the emergency assistance needs, including non-food items, in the Horn of Africa and other famine-prone regions, and to do their part to achieve that objective."
USAID recognizes the need for improved methods to better engage other donors in assessment processes so that needs assessments are linked with their contributions. This can best be done by having donors fully associated with the emergency needs assessment process. USAID is convinced that the better the needs assessment process is understood, the more likely it is to lead to quicker and more appropriate responses by other governments and donors. With the integration of the Famine Early Warning System (FEWSNET) activity in its operations, FFP is well-positioned to lead USAID's efforts in this sector. FEWSNET continues to be considered a world leader in early warning and food security assessments. A new Request for Application, being issued during FY 2005, will set the stage for a new phase in FEWSNET technical service provision.
FY 2005 P.L. 480 Title II resources, totaling $1,173 million, are addressing continuing emergencies in Africa, with most resources planned for Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Emergencies in other regions of the world that are being addressed include Indonesia and Sri Lanka hard hit by the Asian tsunami, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Afghanistan. In addition, USAID plans continued non-emergency food assistance activities to address the needs of the most vulnerable populations, including persons living with HIV/AIDS and orphans; to build individual, household, and community capacities to manage successive shocks; and to establish conditions for longer-term development throughout all region of the world, including Africa, Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean.
The FY 2006 request is for $885 million of P.L. 480 Title II resources. For 2006, $300 million that was previously requested for P.L. 480 Title II is being requested under International Disaster and Famine Assistance (IDFA) for emergency food aid needs. (For additional information see the section on IDFA.) For both FY 2005 and FY 2006, $10 million of Title II resources will be allocated each year for the Farmer to Farmer Program that is managed by the Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade.
Under FFP's streamlining and management improvement actions, the office has drafted Title II proposal guidance that replaces emergency and non-emergency guidelines. For FY 2006 programs, only one set of simplified guidelines and proposal submission procedures will be issued. This was one of the priority action items identified in the Streamlining Report to Congress that was written in FY 2003. Additional actions include a rewrite of 22CFR211 (Regulation 11), the regulation guiding use of commodities and creation of a new chapter in the Agency's Automated Directive System, as well as finalizing the modernization of information systems that is currently on-going.
Other Program Elements: The strength of the U.S. international food assistance program is USAID's presence around the world and its numerous organizational partnerships. USAID collaborates closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of State to ensure that both emergency and non-emergency food aid programs are coordinated and effective. USAID works in close partnership with private voluntary organizations (PVOs), indigenous organizations, universities, American businesses, international agencies, and other governments. USAID has relationships with a large number of American companies and U.S. based PVOs, allowing for greater creativity and effectiveness in incorporating food into a wide range of development efforts.
FFP has a particular interest in a stronger and more effective World Food Program (WFP), one of its most important partners and continues to work with the organization to improve its emergency response programming, food needs assessments and early-warning capacity, partnerships with non-governmental organizations, program concentration in countries that need food the most, and close out of small programs.
Other Donors: The World Food Summit of 2002, convened by the FAO, provided an international forum to focus attention on efforts to address hunger and food insecurity. The United States, along with 182 nations and the European Community, pledged to halve the number of hungry people by the year 2015. In 2004, the United States provided over $2.1 billion in food aid of which P.L. 480 Title II was $1.6 billion. To prevent famine, the United States provided $1.2 billion in global emergency food aid. Of this total, $943.6 million was provided through the World Food Program (WFP), almost half of all emergency food aid contributions to WFP and over four times greater than the next largest donor. Other donor contributions to the World Food Program in FY 2004 include the European Commission (11%), Japan (7%), United Kingdom (5%), Netherlands (4%), Germany (4%), Canada (3%), Norway (3%), Sweden (3%), Denmark (2%), and other donors (13%). Following this chapter is a table showing P.L. 480 Title II funding and tonnage by region and country for FY 2003 through FY 2006.
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