With $2 billion annual commodity purchases on the line, farm-state Republicans in Congress are rallying around an effort to protect an international food-aid program that had been operated by the now seemingly defunct U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID).
A group of Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would move the Food for Peace program over to the USDA. The move would help ensure the continuity of that food aid.
The bill is led by Reps. Tracey Mann of Kansas, Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Dan Newhouse of Washington, David Rouzer of North Carolina, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson of Pennsylvania, along with Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and John Hoeven of North Dakota.
Currently, USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) provides $2 billion or so annually to buy commodity products through the P.L. 480 “Food for Peace” program. Those funds are often used to buy grain and oilseed commodities such as wheat, rice, sorghum, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas, vegetable oil, corn meal, navy beans, pinto beans, kidney beans and the like.
Elon Musk and his federal cost-cutting initiative essentially dissolved USAID, though there are now court battles over that situation.
Lawmakers have noted millions of dollars in Food for Peace commodity purchases are sitting in storage or docks waiting to be shipped.
The USAID inspector general issued a report Monday, Feb. 11 pointing out $489 million of food assistance “at ports, in transit, and in warehouses at risk of spoilage, unanticipated storage needs, and diversion.” The report cited details about food stored at warehouses in Texas, East Africa and South Africa. USAID staff cited more than 500,000 tons of U.S. food aid either on ships or at ports. That food aid was at risk of spoilage or storage needs.
USAID Inspector General Paul Martin was fired by Trent Morse, deputy director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, on Tuesday evening, according to multiple reports.
“For 70 years, Kansas and American farmers have played an active role in sending their commodities to feed malnourished and starving populations around the world. This free gift from the American people is more than food,” Mann said. “It’s diplomacy and feeds the most vulnerable communities while helping them recognize the freedom, prosperity, and good America can establish across the globe.
Mann continued, “By moving Food for Peace to USDA, the program can continue to equip American producers to serve hungry people while providing more transparency and efficiency as to how taxpayer dollars are stewarded.”
Mann also added more than 50 organizations support the bill.
“U.S. soybeans play an important role in addressing global hunger,” said Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association and a soybean farmer from Kentucky. “Soybeans are the only plant-based protein that provides all nine amino acids essential for human health, and our farmers have been proud to support international food assistance programs.”
The National Association of What Growers (NAWG) and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) also declared their support for the bill. The groups also complained that food-assistance programs have too often relied on cash donations to buy local food products rather than U.S. commodities.
“NAWG welcomes this legislation that supports American farmers while working to address hunger around the world,” said NAWG CEO Chandler Goule. “Each year, the Food for Peace program buys more than 1 million metric tons of food, including wheat, to feed millions of starving people in the poorest countries around the world.
“Under USDA, Food for Peace, this 71-year-old program will feed more people more efficiently and effectively without losing track of starting American foreign policy at home with American farmers.”
USDA late Friday, Feb. 7 issued a short statement declaring that its food aid programs run through the Foreign Agricultural Service, The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Childhood Nutrition Program and the Food for Progress Programs. The McGovern-Dole Program spends about $240 million a year and the Food for Progress program spends about $180 million a year. — Chris Clayton, DTN ag policy editor
