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ISSUE #21 JUNE/JULY 2013
Feed the Future is the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative. For more information, or to subscribe to this publication
please visit www.feedthefuture.gov.

DELIVERING RESULTS

New Feed the Future Progress Report Shows Increased Reach and Impact

Speaking in Dakar, Senegal, President Obama announces the release of Feed the Future's Progress Report for 2012. Credit: Kate Gage / USAID

ProgOn June 28, President Barack Obama launched the 2013 Feed the Future Progress Report, which highlights results on the ground like never before and shows how the initiative's modern, rigorous approach to advancing global food security can achieve real impact, from farms to markets to tables.  

  

The release of the new report coincided with the President's recent trip to Dakar, Senegal, where he joined USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah to tour the Feed the Future Agricultural Technology Marketplace. "When people ask what's happening to their taxpayer dollars in foreign aid, I want people to know this money is not being wasted - it's helping feed families. It's helping people to become more self-sufficient. And it's creating new markets for U.S. companies and U.S. goods. It's a win-win situation," President Obama said in remarks following the tour.

 

The Progress Report, which captures Feed the Future's progress during 2012, demonstrates some concrete ways that the U.S. Government and its partners are driving the President's vision of a world where people no longer face extreme poverty, hunger and undernutrition. In the last year alone, Feed the Future has:

  • Reached over 9 million rural households with U.S. Government assistance
  • Helped more than 7 million smallholder farmers and food producers adopt improved technologies or management practices to help increase yields
  • Reached over 12 million children under 5 years of age with nutrition programs
  • Supported a $100 million increase in the value of agricultural products sold by farm households in Feed the Future focus countries.
President Obama tours the Feed the Future Agricultural Technology Marketplace, a gathering of several West African private sector entities, NGO partners, and farmers demonstrating how key research and innovation can help improve the lives of smallholder farmers. Credit: Pete Souza / White House

 

These numbers are part of a broader story of progress in the countries where we work. Poverty rates fell by an average of 5.6 percent across Feed the Future focus countries from 2005-2011, and stunting decreased an average of six percent from 2009-2012. Along with domestic investments, economic growth and a broad range of other factors, Feed the Future is contributing to these inspiring changes.

 

So what does progress look like for smallholder farmers around the world?

  • In Bangladesh, 2.8 million smallholder farmers adopted improved agronomic technologies that helped them increase on-farm sales of fish and shrimp by $10.5 million and horticulture by $7.8 million.
  • Conservation farming techniques in Senegal resulted in yield increases ranging from 20 to over 57 percent for maize, millet and sorghum crops.
  • In Haiti, 6,300 bean farmers receiving assistance from Feed the Future saw an increase in yields from 1.0 to 1.2 metric tons per hectare, while 1,900 maize farmers increased their yields from 3.3 to 3.5 metric tons per hectare.

Want to see more exciting results? Visit FeedtheFuture.gov to read the report and find more information on how Feed the Future's transformative model of development is yielding lasting impact for smallholder farmers, their families, and more resilient communities.

 

Read a  Quick Guide to Feed the Future's New Progress Report from the Deputy Coordinators.

Snapshots of Progress: Promoting Improved Seeds in Nepal

Credit: Peace Corps

In Nepal, Peace Corps Volunteer Lisa Bauer and local community partners train farmers in effective techniques for creating garden nursery beds. Using improved seeds provided by the Government of Nepal, Lisa taught women in her village how to maximize their success rate for germinating seeds, saving them both time and money. Over time, adopting improved seeds can help farmers increase their yields and incomes and improve their families' nutrition.

 

"The hands-on part of our training was really important," Lisa says. "I realized that this training design has potential for the most impact and will make sure that we incorporate these types of activities in our future trainings."

 

The Peace Corps' grassroots, community-focused approach supports economic development, small-scale agriculture, conservation and nutrition in many Feed the Future focus countries. Read more.

INNOVATION FOR IMPACT

From its inception as the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future was designed to drive a new model of development that could achieve significant impact in a rapidly changing world. The new Progress Report shows how Feed the Future is going beyond traditional development assistance to improve food security and nutrition, using a comprehensive, innovative approach that is rooted in partnership, country ownership, and long-term solutions to some of the world's most urgent challenges. 

 

Read on for some important milestones from the past year that demonstrate how Feed the Future is doing things differently.

Supporting Country-Led DevelopmentCountryLed
 
Credit: Siegfried Modola

Feed the Future invests in country-owned plans and supports results-based programs and partnerships. That's why Feed the Future focus countries create and implement investment plans for agricultural development and improved nutrition that embody the countries' own priorities, targets, and desired results. Feed the Future supports these strategies as well as local and regional systems such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), an African-led effort to improve economic growth and food security through agriculture-led development.

 

Did You Know? Twenty-four African countries that signed CAADP national agriculture plans have increased expenditures toward agriculture by an average of 7.5 percent each year between 2003 and 2010, a near doubling of these countries' national agriculture allocations. In 2012, Feed the Future supported inclusive, country-owned Joint Sector Reviews to assess the progress and impact of country investment plans as part of the country CAADP process. These consultations advance key Feed the Future goals of mutual accountability, transparency, and evidence-based planning.

Snapshots of Progress: Investing in Communities

Credit: Hector Santos

Bel�n Manazapa is a community of 450 people in rural Honduras situated high in the mountains, accessible only via steep dirt roads. Without access to electricity or water, and lacking municipal authorities to advocate on their behalf, the residents of Bel�n Manazapa struggled to stay healthy and productive.

 

Through Feed the Future, a USAID program began supporting specialists to train mothers of young children in Bel�n Manazapa to prepare fortified tortillas and healthy meals using locally-produced and readily available vegetables. Community participation in the program was immediate and promising. Read more.

Integrating Agriculture and NutritionNutrition

 

Feed the Future is committed to reducing undernutrition, particularly during the critical 1,000-day window from pregnancy to a child's second birthday. The United States plays a leading role in the 1,000 Days partnership to promote results-oriented and timely implementation of the SUN Movement, which has been endorsed by more than 100 public and private nutrition stakeholders. Agriculture and nutrition are inextricably linked, and Feed the Future is advancing better nutrition in part by promoting plant varieties with improved nutritional value, such as orange-fleshed sweet potato (OSP), which directly addresses vitamin A deficiency.

 

Did You Know? Feed the Future is playing a lead role in disseminating OSP at scale in Sub-Saharan African countries where vitamin A deficiency is prevalent and OSP is a staple crop. As of 2012, OSP had reached 21,500 farming households in Uganda alone. The evidence shows that these types of interventions are highly effective: for example, the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among Ugandan children 12-35 months who were no longer breastfeeding fell from nearly 50 percent to only 12 percent as a result of OSP adoption by participating households.

Snapshots of Progress: Ethiopia Ramps up Nutrition Efforts

Ethiopian dignitaries launch a new National Nutrition Plan
(left to right) Roman Tesfaye, wife of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Deselegn Boshe; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Demeke Mekonnen; and Minister of Health Dr. Kestetebirhan Admasu display a copy of the newly released National Nutrition Program in Ethiopia. Credit: Molly Schmalzbach

On June 24, 2013, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) launched a new, multi-sector National Nutrition Program. The program expands and strengthens an earlier program drafted in 2008 by clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of Ethiopia's health, agriculture, water, education, and commercial sectors to address chronic undernutrition, which affects 44 percent of the population. The new program also emphasizes the 1,000 days from pregnancy to age two and is aligned with the Millennium Development Goals and the GOE's development programming in other sectors. 

 

This is the GOE's first cross-sectoral program for nutrition that involves nine Ministries; the National Nutrition Coordination Body will be chaired by the Minister of Health and co-chaired by the ministers of agriculture and education. Read more.

Bringing Innovation to ScaleInnovation

 

Scientific innovation and technology are critical to meeting the global challenges of producing more food with less land and water and helping farmers to adapt to climatic, social and economic shocks. To meet these challenges and transform agriculture, Feed the Future supports research that helps get promising new technologies into the hands of smallholder farmers who most need it.

 

Did You Know? Tilapia production in Ghana is projected to increase tenfold between 2012 and 2015 as a result of Feed the Future assistance. A new breed of tilapia introduced by Feed the Future partner WorldFish in cooperation with Ghana's Water Research Institute is increasing fish farmers' incomes and providing necessary dietary protein for 170,000 local Ghanaians.

Snapshots of Progress: Innovative Cost-Sharing Improves Access to Technological Solutions

Credit: Fintrac Inc.

Mary, a smallholder vegetable farmer in Western Kenya, used to go to her local agrodealer each season and purchase whatever fertilizer was available, applying it to her soil according to the recommended time and quantity. Unfortunately, each harvest, her crops were growing smaller and more irregular instead of flourishing. She didn't understand why this happened since she had been doing everything "right."

 

A simple soil analysis, however, would reveal that what Mary really needed was not fertilizer, but lime, which would have corrected her soil acidity and improved overall soil fertility and nutrient uptake. By continually applying fertilizer without lime, she was actually making her soil worse. Since conducting the soil analysis and applying the recommended inputs, Mary's soils have started to recover and her crop yields have already increased dramatically. Read more.

Promoting a Favorable Policy EnvironmentPolicy

 

In addition to supporting the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition's public-private partnership model to accelerate private investment in African countries, Feed the Future also assists partner countries in strengthening their policies to accelerate inclusive agricultural growth. Transparent and predictable policy processes help strengthen links between farmers and markets; build confidence among private investors; take promising innovations to scale; and reduce risk for farmers. Last year, for example, farmers in Northern Ghana received for the first time payments through their drought index insurance, a product Feed the Future helped introduce to the region in 2011.

 

Did You Know? In 2012, Feed the Future helped advance critical policy milestones, including:

  • Helping the Central American Customs Union pass new legislation on biological pesticides to promote regional trade;
  • Playing a leading role in the G-20's Agricultural Market Information System, which is chaired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief economist, and aims to enhance agricultural market transparency and strengthen global collaboration and dialogue.
Embracing Innovative PartnershipsPartnership
Credit: Fintrac Inc.

Ending hunger requires a meaningful and sustained commitment from all parts of the community, not just governments. Effective Feed the Future partnerships with a wide variety of stakeholders made a huge difference in the results we were able to deliver in 2012. For example:

  • Research partners - With support from the U.S. Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and U.S. university research partners collaborated to develop flood-, drought- and salt-tolerant rice varieties in Bangladesh that have already been adopted by more than 12 million farmers across South Asia and have the potential to help feed an additional 30 million people in the region.
  • Civil society partners - In Senegal, Feed the Future and its local partners are helping 392 community nutrition volunteers teach families to prepare nutritious meals. Nutrition volunteers are also identifying locally grown, nutritious food. Their efforts have helped to reduce micronutrient deficiencies in children in 336 villages.

Snapshots of Progress: The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

Credit: Jake Lyell

In May 2012, on the eve of the G8 Summit at Camp David, President Obama announced the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a global effort to lift 50 million people out of poverty by 2022. 

 

The New Alliance seeks to achieve this goal through public-private partnerships founded on three areas of mutual commitment: policy reforms by African governments that are transparent and build investor confidence; investments by the private sector targeted at reducing poverty and increasing agricultural growth; and coordinated assistance by G8 partners to catalyze and expand Africa's potential for sustainable and agricultural growth. Since then, the New Alliance has grown into a $3.75 billion partnership representing commitments from more than 70 global and local companies to increase the incomes of smallholder farmers.

 

Read a blog from the Feed the Future Deputy Coordinators or check out the May 2013 Newsletter to learn more about how Feed the Future is contributing to the New Alliance and producing results.

Building ResilienceResilience
 
Credit: Kelley Lynch

While it is not always possible to prevent shocks to communities such as drought, flood and disease, it is possible to reduce the likelihood that such events will trigger food insecurity and a humanitarian crisis. Feed the Future aims to do this by supporting and strengthening countries' local and national capacities to remain food-secure over the long term, even during or in the wake of crises. That's why the U.S. Government joined other international donors and African leaders in 2012 to form the Global Alliance for Action for Drought Resilience and Growth, which aims to improve coordination, shared learning, mutual accountability, and sustained commitment to resilience.

 

Did You Know? Last year, Feed the Future helped farmers in Nepal reach sales totaling more than $8.5 million (a 70 percent increase from the previous year) through what began as a disaster recovery program for flood victims. The program initially helped victims generate income through commercial farming and the rebuilding of infrastructure, and over several years stimulated agricultural production and economic activity.

INTELLECTUAL RIGOR IN FOOD SECURITY

To maximize results for every taxpayer dollar invested in development, Feed the Future maintains a high standard of evidence, results and accountability. All Feed the Future programming, monitoring and evaluation are based on a common Results Framework that establishes the initiative's goals, objectives and indicators. In addition, the Feed the Future Learning Agenda is helping us fill in the gaps in evidence on what works best to achieve food security. 

Did You Know?DYN

  • In 2012, the Millennium Challenge Corporation released its first set of independent impact evaluations for farmer training in five countries. Feed the Future is currently planning, designing or implementing nearly 40 impact evaluations that will help us test new innovations, learn lessons, adapt development practices, and improve effectiveness.
  • Twenty-five individual cost-benefit analyses in 13 different focus countries found that Feed the Future investments will achieve an average economic internal rate of return of 30 percent.
  • Global Learning and Evidence Exchanges organized by Feed the Future provide regular opportunities for development practitioners to discuss successes, challenges and best practices, and identify new tools and resources to improve programming.
  • To address the challenges of varying quality and availability of data across countries, Feed the Future works alongside other donor organizations to help developing countries improve their agriculture data systems and equip them with the tools to effectively track the performance of their agriculture and health sectors.

Snapshots of Progress: The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index

Credit: Fintrac Inc.

The  Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index was launched in February 2012, a first-of-its-kind tool that tracks women's engagement in agriculture in five areas and measures women's empowerment relative to men within households. Throughout 2012, Feed the Future collected baseline data for the Index through population-based surveys in focus countries, and Feed the Future will track progress against these baselines in future years. Data analysis has already begun to better understand constraints to progress in each country and how programs are addressing them.

 

Last year, Index partners produced several new training materials to teach development practitioners to use the tool and started a Resource Center at the International Food Policy Research Institute, which offers users assistance to fine-tune and utilize the Index to make it as practical and broadly useful as possible.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
How Will You Feed the Future? Special Event on Global Food Security and NutritionEvent
Credit: Morgana Wingard / ONE

This Thursday, July 25, the Co-Chairs of the Senate Hunger Caucus, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and USAID through Feed the Future will host an event to celebrate advancements in global food security as highlighted in the new Feed the Future Progress Report and during President Obama's recent visit to Africa.

 

During the event, U.S. Government representatives and global food security experts will discuss successes, challenges, and the need for continued engagement to end hunger, poverty and undernutrition.

 

Special Guests:

  • Sen. John Boozman (R-AR)
  • Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)
  • Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator
  • Dan Glickman, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • Carolyn Miles, President and CEO, Save the Children
  • Brady Deaton, Chancellor, University of Missouri
  • Rita Mirondo, Feed the Future-supported iAGRI research fellow, The Ohio State University

Click here for more information or visit the event registration page.

 

Join us online as we live-tweet the event on Twitter at 1:00 p.m. Follow @FeedtheFuture, @USAID and @GlobalAgDev for updates throughout the day using the hashtag #feedthefuture. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Want to Learn More?
  • Read new blogs on FeedtheFuture.gov:
  • Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook and tell us what you are doing to #feedthefuture!
ABOUT TATNHIS NEWSLETTER
This newsletter is intended to enhance collaboration and information-sharing
about implementation of Feed the Future. To subscribe or to find out more
information about Feed the Future, please visit our website. 
In This Issue
DELIVERING RESULTS
New Feed the Future Progress Report Shows Increased Reach and Impact

INNOVATION FOR IMPACT
Supporting Country-Led Development
Bringing Innovation to Scale
Embracing Innovative Partnerships

INTELLECTUAL RIGOR IN FOOD SECURITY
Did You Know?

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
How Will You Feed the Future? Special Event on Global Food Security and Nutrition

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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