Today, the House 2024 Farm Bill draft was released, containing provisions to cut funding for Food for Peace – a longstanding international food assistance program that provides both humanitarian and long-term development support to frontline communities experiencing food insecurity. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘G.T.’ Thompson had previewed a high-level overview of the draft last week, which outlined these worrying provisions incorporated from the American Farmer’s Feed the World Act.
Reacting to the text, Gina Cummings, Oxfam’s Vice President for Advocacy, Alliances and Policy, said:
“At a time when over 281 million people are suffering from acute hunger, any proposal to undercut crucial international food assistance programs is damaging. The resilience-building programs housed in Food for Peace are vital to preparing frontline communities for future shocks that could impact their food security – whether it be from climate change, conflict, or economic downturns.
“Oxfam has raised concerns about the American Farmers Feed the World Act, which is where many of the cuts to Food for Peace originate from -- since its introduction last summer. The bill has proposed gutting funding for resilience-building activities that ensure communities can build up their local markets, withstand the next drought, flood, or conflict and not go hungry. The House Farm Bill as it is currently written includes some of the most concerning provisions of the bill and would render these vital interventions inoperable, resulting in as many as 3 million fewer people being reached by these programs based on their current scale.
“The House must reject must reject the provisions of the American Farmers Feed the World Act included in the House Farm Bill draft as the bill goes for markup. The inclusion of such provisions is a threat to global food security and a shift towards a less-efficient model of international aid by the United States.”