Credit: Wasif Hasan / USAID

Feed the Future's research strategy emphasizes a unique approach called "sustainable intensification," which focuses on growing greater amounts of more nutritious food using fewer resources. The framework has since paved the way for scientific breakthroughs in agriculture, such as the sequencing of the wheat genome and the release of new, high-yielding and climate-resilient seed varieties.

Three years later, Feed the Future is taking these and other innovations to scale, translating the power of agricultural science into better food security, nutrition and incomes for millions of smallholder farmers. This work is made possible through strong partnerships with international agricultural research centers, pioneering commercial ventures in the agriculture sector and U.S. universities that are delivering on the promise of the research strategy through 23 Feed the Future Innovation Labs made up of 70 of the United States' top academic research institutions.

Learn more about how Feed the Future is scaling up to improve food security.

Credit: Valerie Caldas / Suaahara

Under-nutrition costs low- and middle-income countries up to eight percent of their potential economic growth. Since 1990, the world has seen a 37 percent drop in stunting, or chronic malnutrition. We need to improve this progress, which can be done in part by focusing on the critical 1,000 days from pregnancy through a child's second birthday.

Last year, Feed the Future, in collaboration with the Global Health Initiative, reached more than 12.5 million children abroad with nutrition interventions and supported nearly 91,000 women farmers in homestead gardening, improving incomes and access to nutrient-dense foods.

At the London G-8 Summit in June 2013, the U.S. Government reaffirmed its commitment to nutrition when it signed the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact, which aims to improve the nutrition of 500 million pregnant women and young children; reduce by an additional 20 million the number of children under the age of five who are stunted; and save the lives of at least 1.7 million children.

Read the new USAID Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy.

Credit: Megan Johnson / USAID

Partnerships are one of the keys to Feed the Future's new model for development. The fight against poverty and hunger cannot by won without the commitment of both American and local civil society in the countries where Feed the Future works, as well as the leadership and innovation of the private sector.

• The new Feed the Future Civil Society Action Plan outlines concrete actions the initiative will take, such as providing training, field guidance and coordinated messaging, and further promoting country ownership in food security in order to advance food security with our civil society partners.

• In a landmark agreement with InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international organizations working with the world's poor, 32 organizations have committed to spend $1.5 billion in support of food security and nutrition efforts worldwide. This pledge of private funding will help leverage Feed the Future's resources for even greater impact.

• Last year, Feed the Future assistance created 1,175 public-private partnerships, up from 600 the previous year; more than 80 percent of these involved local small and medium-sized firms, including farmer-owned businesses.

• GAFSP's Private Sector Window provides a mix of loans, credit guarantees and equity to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the agriculture sector. Last year, the Private Sector Window invested $45 million and provided an additional $4 million in advisory services support for agribusinesses in 14 countries.