press release
For Immediate Release
Wednesday 21 September 2022
President Joseph R. Biden Jr., speaking today at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, announced that the U.S. government is committing more than $2.9 billion in new aid, including $2.14 billion -Dollars in new USAID pledges to address the immediate and long-term long-term impact of the global food security crisis.
Food systems and global food security are at a critical juncture. The amplified impact of the global pandemic, mounting pressures from the deepening climate crisis, high energy, food and fertilizer costs, and protracted conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have disrupted global food systems and dramatically increased global food insecurity, particularly for most marginalized communities in the Global South. The Horn of Africa is currently facing the world’s worst food crisis due to unprecedented drought. In Somalia, more than 7 million people are at risk of starvation, and many of them are on the verge of starvation. The country is on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade.
Global Humanitarian Aid
To address and mitigate further impacts on global food security, the US government will continue to expand programs to meet these growing needs and mobilize additional financial commitments. President Biden announced an additional $2 billion in emergency assistance that will help save lives in countries facing food crises, including through food and nutritional assistance, health care, clean drinking water, protection of the most vulnerable and others vital relief efforts. These funds will be used to improve food security programs in the countries most affected by the global pandemic, the climate crisis and the rise in food prices and supply chain restrictions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Global development aid
President Biden also announced $140 million in new development funding, subject to Congressional notification, to accelerate the deployment of last-mile agricultural tools, technology and production methods that will help smallholder farmers increase their productivity, efficiency and income to increase. These funds will go to the US government’s Feed the Future initiative to provide rapid response to smallholder systems in sub-Saharan Africa through the new Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative. This will support small farmers, small and medium-sized agribusinesses and national partners to sustain food production in the face of volatile global commodity prices and disrupted supply chains. These investments come on top of the $2.76 billion in support President Biden announced at the G7 summit in Germany earlier this year to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations from the escalating global food security crisis.
Minister Blinken convened a Global Food Security Summit with world leaders during the UN General Assembly high-level week to reaffirm our shared commitment to act with urgency, at scale and collectively, to respond to the rising needs for food security and nutrition of hundreds of people to respond millions of people around the world.
