Food+Aid

= //__Food Aid__// = =Food is the most vital thing in human nature. Its is necessary to do every task in life. In many regions of the world, food is scarce. This is a major concern in the international community and is a pressing issue with all politicians and non-governmental organizations. There are many opportunities and challenges that can come from supplying food aid to nations that need it. Yet many nations do not do anything to help nations in their times of need. Food aid is driven by four major factors, drought, civil chaos, natural disasters, and poverty. A globalized world is thought to help cause civil chaos like in Somalia or poverty which can be attributed to the major wealth gap between nations.=

How does a globalized world contribute to food aid? With food aid, what are the challenges and opportunities presented? As an international community, what types of policies should be implemented in order to maximize the opportunities and limit the challenges?



**Focus Questions:**
locally? Currently foreign products are being brought in which cost more.
 * What would be the outcome of the U.S. making food aid more efficient by sourcing food


 * How will reducing maternal malnutrition support progress against global starvation and poverty?


 * How does food aid help foreign relations between countries grow?

what can we as a globalized community due to fix this?
 * Today in the world there are 925 million people suffering from malnutrition and hunger,

=__Opportunities Position Paper:__=

**Enhancing global nutrition, decreasing poverty and starvation:** Every country in the world is different and has its own culture. Today many countries prosper while others suffer through tragedies such as poverty and starvation. In the modern world countries that require assistance feeding their people can do so with the help of food aid. When one country is struggling it is up to the Global community to provide aid, and in this situation specifically food aid. Food aid brings countries together to form a more closely connected global community.  Food aid provides many opportunities to improve the relations between nations and to improve both global health and welfare. In some cases it is used as a bargaining chip to convince hostile nations to agree to peace in order to feed their people. In others it helps to provide a base for improving the living conditions of people around the world. By improving food aid there is the opportunity to reduce malnutrition in both adults, especially mothers, and in children. [|“Malnutrition remains a leading cause of death of young children throughout the world.”] Preventing malnutrition with the help of food aid yields many benefits for developing nations. Malnutrition causes [|“low birth weight, stunting, poor school attendance and learning, chronic illness, and lifelong reductions in economic activity.”] Through more efficient managing of Food Aid more people can be provided for. The global community as a whole can improve Food Aid management through passing legislation to change how Food aid is bought and distributed. Currently in the United States there are negotiations being carried out in Congress over the U.S. Farm Bill. This bill creates an opportunity for us to provide 17 million people with life-saving food aid without it costing U.S. taxpayers. This Bill would also make food aid programs significantly more effective and cost efficient. Still another benefit is allowing the U.S. to respond to hunger crises up to 14 weeks faster. Officials such as Paul O’Brien, vice-president of policy and campaigns at Oxfam America, says, “How often do we have the chance to reach millions more people with life-saving assistance without asking taxpayers for a dime? Save lives. Save tax dollars. This is a no-brainer.” Other reactions include Timi Gerson, director of advocacy at AJWS, who says, [|"Our one-size-fits-all food aid system is outdated, but Congress has the opportunity to fix it with this year's farm bill reauthorization."] The bill proposes sourcing food locally, which is cheaper, has less of a negative impact on local markets, and will allow 17.4 million more people to gain Food aid. Sourcing food locally in countries closer to its recipients is much more beneficial. Currently U.S. food aid must be purchased domestically and then distributed abroad by U.S. law, which supports jobs in the farm-to-market supply chain. The opportunity here is for the federal government to buy food from foreign providers that are geographically closer to recipient countries. For example the U.S. has recently made a deal with North Korean in regards to providing them with food aid. If the U.S. bought their food aid for North Korea from China, and then had it shipped from China it would be more cost-efficient. Most importantly food aid provides numerous opportunities for the global community, as well as both global health and welfare, to improve.

Kerri- Haya Bint Al Hussein

=__Complexity of providing Food Aid on a Globalized scale:__= ====One of the biggest problems in the world is a lack of food. It is estimated that 95 million people suffer from malnutrition and hunger around the world. Countries in every part of the world have people that suffer from food shortages. The problem is how to get food to everyone and how to afford it. The United States provides food aid to countries all over the world and this helps foreign relations but they can also hurt them. If a country receives foreign aid from a country and they have an enemy, the country that provided that aid might have just gained an enemy. Also if a country provides food aid, that country might expect food aid for a long time and if they cannot be provided for anymore, they could become angry. In the case of the United States and North Korea, the U.S. provides food aid to North Korea and by doing so, they expect North Korea to do as they say. However, North Korea did not do this when they launched missiles that basically show that they are trying to get nuclear capabilities even though we told them to stop. Since they launched these missiles it would not surprise anybody if the United States stopped providing food aid to North Korea.==== ====Somalia is another country that is in need of food aid. Unfortunetly for them their country is ruled by rebels and no country can safely get into Somalia to provide the aid to the people. Also if they were to be able to provide the aid then the rebels would just steal it.==== ====As members of U.S. government and the private sector, it is our duty to try and figure out a solution to the food shortages throughout the world. It is our theory that we need to become a more unified global community. We believe that in the international community their should be a food aid treaty in which countries can not receive retribution from other countries because they gave a different country food aid.==== Danny- David Backmann Ryan- Rajiv Shah

=**Challenge Sources:**= [] . “//The U.S. Food Aid and Security website is a resource for the policy community and development practitioners to learn about U.S. food assistance programs////.” We gained information from this website regarding the challenges of providing food aid.// []. //This organizations website is providing information about many topics that affect us every day, one of those is food aid. We gained some knowledge from this website.// []. //This website provided us information on food aid and how much is given out around the world.// []. //This is a transcript of a speech given by Rajiv Shah. It provides insight into food aid and where it goes.//

=**Oppurtunity Sources:**= [] [] [] Gave us information about food aid and it helped us make questions. [] [] [] [] []