Due to technical difficulties with our electronic mail system, the links contained in the Impact Newsletter distributed yesterday did not function correctly. The following is a corrected version of the newsletter. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
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Dear Friends,
I am pleased to share our Agency's fourth Annual Letter that describes our work to engage the brightest minds and scale the best ideas to end extreme poverty. By harnessing the power of business and science in development, we can unlock human potential on an unimaginable scale.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the fight to eradicate hunger and malnutrition. This month, we hosted our first-ever global Feed the Future forum to reflect on four years of extraordinary results and chart our path forward. Instead of merely providing food aid in times of crisis, we are transforming agriculture into a profitable business for smallholder farmers from Senegal to Nepal.
In Honduras, daily per capita income of poor smallholder farmers has shot up 237 percent--from $0.71 to $2.39. In Haiti, where children once ate mudcakes to ease their hungry pains, Feed the Future has helped increase rice yields by 129 percent and corn by 340 percent. All told, in the last year alone, we have improved nutrition for 12 million children and empowered nearly 7 million farmers with climate-smart tools they need to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
I also wanted to share an inspiring new video. I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch it, because all of its footage was taken in just the last six months. This isn't a video that focuses on our past; it is one that captures the impact we are having right now.
As you read the letter, I encourage you to think how we can further push the boundaries of science and innovation--ensuring the United States continues to lead the world in bringing new technologies, business models, and talent to our shared mission of ending extreme poverty.
Best,
Raj Shah
USAID Administrator
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USAID In the News
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"Governments and development groups have been at this for years and it hasn't worked," said Cargill Executive chairman of the board Gregory R. Page. "The only way that this is going to succeed is if we treat agriculture production as a business, not as aid. Feed the Future is the perfect example of this."
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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Coffee fungus raising prices for high-end blends: "The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to help Central American farmers fight a devastating coffee disease � and hold down the price of your morning cup."
(WASHINGTON POST)
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"The U.S. Agency for International Development also announced an initiative to help improve the nutrition of mothers and children in developing nations. It's part of a broader program called Feed the Future that aims to help alleviate hunger by helping farmers grow more and better crops across the developing world." (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)
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"Coffee prices around the world could be on the rise due to a devastating coffee disease, called coffee fungus, in Latin America that has already done $1 billion in damage."
(CBS NIGHTLY NEWS)
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"It's a 360 degree approach, combining our interests in food security, health, water, hygiene and sanitation into an ambitious plan to reduce child stunting by 20 percent in five years," U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice said. "That's two million children that will get a stronger, healthier start in life."
(INTER PRESS SERVICES)
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"This orange colored fungus is called coffee rust, and it's eating away at coffee crop across America. Now USAID is announcing a $5 million dollar investment and partnership with Texas A&M University to fight the problem plaguing the coffee industry." (REUTERS TV)
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"Former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, said the priority in the United States should be on improving congressional support for Feed the Future and for global food security more broadly. 'The prospects of any unauthorized program become uncertain with a change of administrations,' he said. 'More importantly we have seen in recent congressional actions how vulnerable food security can be.'"
(REUTERS TV)
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"By focusing on agricultural innovation, Feed the Future's vision and activities are aligned with African aspirations. This policy congruence offers Africa and the U.S. the opportunity to sow the seeds of new agricultural diplomacy that is guided by mutual interest," said Calestous Juma, Professor of International Development at Harvard Kennedy School.
(HOOSIER AG TODAY)
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"Biotechnology, including genetically engineered seed, will be absolutely indispensable in the long run for feeding people in a changing climate," former Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar said. "Without a broad application of this technology around the world, our ability to expand food production to required levels will be seriously handicapped."
(AGRI-PULSE)
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"Simply working with several communities isn�t going to save the world, but trying to come up with innovative management practices and technologies that can, that could then be scaled up and integrated (into larger programs) � the intent certainly is to be able to do things that eventually can have significant development impact."
(AMES TRIBUNE)
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"The 33 NGOs participating in this agreement announced at the same time a collective pledge to spend $1.5 billion of their own private funds from 2013 to 2015 to advance food security, nutrition and resilience"
(GLOBAL FOOD FOR THOUGHT)
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