Administrator Samantha Power’s Trip to Iowa Highlights Strategy to Fight Global Hunger | Press Release

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Jessica Jennings:‎

Today, Administrator Samantha Power traveled to Des Moines, Iowa in a visit highlighting the U.S. government’s efforts to fight the global food security crisis and showcase innovative public-private partnerships that are helping to feed the world. 

During a keynote address at the World Food Prize Foundation’s annual Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, the Administrator called for an acceleration and expansion of agricultural innovation and investment as a critical pillar of addressing current and future global food crises, and announced new USAID initiatives to improve agricultural production around the world, strengthen resilience, and address the root causes of hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Speaking before foreign agriculture ministers, past World Food Prize Laureates, and representatives from across the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and academia, Administrator Power announced new initiatives that USAID is undertaking to boost food production and productivity in a way that protects our food, farmers, and the planet. These include new funding to increase large-scale food fortification efforts, accelerate the latest seed breeding technologies, and expand an initiative to improve efficient fertilizer application. The Administrator also highlighted USAID and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s co-launch of the Global Food Security Research Strategy. The research strategy underpins the United States Global Food Security Strategy (2022-2026), an integrated whole-of-government approach that aims to end global hunger, poverty, and malnutrition through the Feed the Future initiative. 

On the sidelines of the Dialogue, Administrator Power met with Nate Clark, President of the John Deere Foundation, to discuss partnership opportunities to enhance and expand agriculture mechanization in countries with USAID agriculture investments. The Administrator also met with Geoff Graham, Vice President of Seed Product Development at Corteva, to discuss current and future partnerships on transformative new breeding technologies that tackle food security challenges in developing countries. Administrator Power saw how genetic engineering can help farmers grow their crops more efficiently during a site visit to Corteva, a partner with USAID in more than 12 countries. Administrator Power witnessed firsthand the full cycle of seed development.

USAID’s work to fight global hunger has deep roots in Iowa, with Iowa State University serving as a critical collaborator with the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, which are committed to developing and scaling the best of U.S. agricultural ingenuity and expertise. Through USAID’s Farmer to Farmer program, Iowans from U.S. farms, universities, cooperatives, private agribusinesses, and nonprofit farm organizations have volunteered their expertise at more than 17 host-county assignments in the last two years.

Since the start of Putin’s brutal war, the U.S. government has committed more than $11 billion to fight the global food insecurity crisis, including nearly $8.4 billion in immediate humanitarian assistance to address food insecurity, including through direct food assistance and vital complementary assistance like safe drinking water, health care, and protection for the most vulnerable.