This Event Marks the Launch of the Feed the Future Accelerator in Sub-Saharan Africa — Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), in conjunction with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) hosted more than 150 public and private sector leaders to launch the Feed the Future Accelerator, an innovative effort to promote global food security and strengthen national security.

Compounding crises continue to drive acute and chronic food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa, where over 260 million people are chronically hungry. Through Feed the Future, the United States has identified unique potential within Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia to become new regional breadbaskets. This new “Feed the Future Accelerator” will fight hunger, poverty, and malnutrition across Africa and around the world while advancing America’s own security, prosperity, and values.

The event featured remarks from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Chris Coons (D-DE), U.S. Representatives Tracey Mann (R-KS-01) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY-05), Ambassador Hilda Suka-Mafudze, African Union Ambassador to the United States, and Dina Esposito, Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security at USAID. There was also a panel discussion with Governor David Beasley, Former Executive Director of UN World Food Programme, Matthias Berninger, Executive Vice President and Head of Public Affairs for Sustainability and Safety at Bayer, and Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

“It’s been a bipartisan effort… it goes to show you that this is something that doesn’t see politics or party,”said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. “The fight to end global hunger… is truly something that we all hold together as Americans.”

“Together, we will create an engine that can help feed hungry people, not just in these three countries, but across Africa and that is the kind of long-term resilience that will reduce pressure on the U.S. taxpayers to fund constant emergency responses,” said USAID Administrator Samantha Power. “This new individual, accelerated strategy is the product of serious reflection and rigorous analysis…it could mark a turning point in our fight against global hunger.”

“The concept of a renewed breadbasket for Southern and Eastern Africa and these three focused countries [Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia] excites me,” said Senator Chris Coons (D-DE). “The prospects for this Accelerator demonstrating what is possible in food security excites me even more.”

“Food security is national security,” said Senator John Boozman (R-AR). “You look at the Arab Spring, that was about hungry people…. [And] I appreciate the fact that you are working really hard to be innovative… in a changing world.”

“I’ve never met a farmer in Kansas that doesn’t wake up in the morning and has a sense that what they are doing feeds their neighbors, the rest of the country, and the hungry,” said U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (R-KS-01). “Also, I can tell you we cannot overlook the power of one major breakthrough…or the impact one person can have on global hunger around the world.”

“Food security also equals economic success… no one wants to be dependent upon food aid to live,” said U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY-05). “Food insecurity fuels more instability when desperate people are exploited by bad actors… and that’s why Feed the Future’s upswing approach is so critical.”

“Food security brings everyone together, it’s unbelievable,” said Governor David Beasley, Former Executive Director of UN World Food Programme. “The American people, the people of the world… need to understand that we are facing a global food crisis and it’s not just for the next 10, 15 years, it’s the next couple hundred years.”

“I’m impressed and excited about this new innovative and targeted “accelerator” approach to Feed the Future to combat the global hunger crisis,” said USGLC President & CEO Liz Schrayer. “I remember the game-changing impact Feed the Future made when it was launched 15 years ago, now having moved millions of people out of poverty, and this new chapter of this signature initiative, partnering with the private sector and targeting the creation of a “regional breadbasket” is exactly how government can be a force multiplier in the fight against food insecurity.”