WASHINGTON (June 3, 2013) – ONE congratulates the Senate for passing the bipartisan Coons-Johanns Amendment to the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (S.954).

Jay Heimbach, ONE Senior U.S. Senior Director of Government Relations, says:

“Thanks to Senators Coons and Johanns, this measure will enable the U.S. to put more food on the table faster and at lower cost to American taxpayers.

It allows the government to buy food stuffs from local and regional economies nearer to the places where hunger crises are taking place around the world.

Such flexibility in the way we deliver food assistance is long overdue.”

Analyses of the Local and Regional Procurement (LRP) pilot program in the 2008 Farm Bill by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and academic institutions such as Cornell University clearly demonstrate that this approach is a triple win.

When market conditions are favorable, LRP can save time and money in getting life-saving assistance to hungry people while also investing in the capacity of developing country farmers to feed their own communities by supporting the local agriculture sector.

The Coons-Johanns amendment is an improvement for food aid programs. Expanding the LRP program will boost the flexibility to use local and regional purchase to deliver food aid, which is a critical component of U.S. food assistance.

ONE looks forward to working with Congress on addressing the pressing need for larger and more comprehensive reforms to the existing food aid system to enable us to reach 2 to 4 million more people each year, consistent with President Obama’s proposal.

ABOUT ONE
ONE is a global advocacy and campaigning organization co-founded by Bono and backed by more than 3 million people from around the world dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. For more information visit ONE.org.