WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure that the life-saving food security programs managed under the Feed the Future Initiative will continue for another five years.

Isakson introduced the bipartisan Global Food Security Act reauthorization legislation with U.S. Senator Bob Casey, D-Pa., with whom he introduced the original Global Food Security Act that was signed into law in 2016. The legislation reauthorizes the program for five years and is crucial to ensuring the success of the program beyond next year.

“The Global Food Security Act has not only helped our neighbors abroad, but also has been an investment in our own national security,” said Senator Isakson, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. “The strategy helps ensure that every dollar that’s invested in our foreign assistance is getting a maximum return for the American taxpayer, including Georgia’s farmers. I’m proud to introduce legislation to reauthorize this program that has already saved lives.”

Specifically, the Global Food Security Act:

• Requires the administration to develop a whole-of-government strategy to address global food insecurity and hunger. The strategy would emphasize agricultural development, improving maternal and child nutrition, building the resilience of communities, and civil society engagement.
• Ensures the alignment of U.S. assistance with country-owned strategies to enhance agricultural productivity, household income, local economies, and food and nutrition security to work toward the ultimate goal of transitioning countries and communities away from the need for U.S. assistance under this act.
• Improves upon existing monitoring and evaluation practices to ensure the effective use of U.S. taxpayer dollars. This includes a requirement for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to issue a report in 2019.
• Requires that the administration report to Congress and to the American people annually about the strategy, its results, and the use of foreign assistance funds.
• Authorizes appropriations through 2021 to carry out international development assistance programs and activities under the strategy.

This five-year reauthorization would ensure that these oversight measures are authorized through 2023.

In August, Isakson and U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga.-08, hosted a roundtable conversation in Tifton, Ga., engaging food security experts about research, programs and future opportunities to continue improving and implementing the U.S. global food security strategy. It also highlighted the work of Georgia agriculture and researchers in our nation’s global food security strategy.

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