Introduction
The United States will be debating and authorizing a new
farm bill in the coming year, and food aid quality is likely to
be addressed. Much has changed since the last farm bill that
underscores the urgency and opportunity of reforming food
aid to make it a more effective tool in reducing hunger and
malnutrition. The continued volatility in the prices of basic
foods, combined with rounds of sudden price spikes in 2008
and 2010-2011, pushed tens of millions of additional people
into hunger or food insecurity. In Somalia, drought, violent
conflict, and lack of a functioning government led to the 2011
famine that killed tens of thousands of young children and
forced many other malnourished people to walk hundreds of
kilometers in search of food assistance. In the United States,
concern over budget deficits has led to efforts to cut spending
and to find program efficiencies.
problems. In developing countries, one-third of children are
stunted (too short for their age) or underweight. The first
U.N. Millennium Development Goal2 —to eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger—has a target of reducing by half the
number of hungry people in the world by 2015 (using 1990
figures as a baseline). Hunger and the effects of malnutrition
contribute to shortened life spans, increased susceptibility to
disease, and threatened livelihoods.
During hunger emergencies, pregnant and lactating
women and very young children are most at risk of
malnutrition. Because of the urgency of preventing
malnutrition during the 1,000-day window, food aid donors
must ensure that this vulnerable group receives the right food
assistance that includes the proper nutrition. For people in
chronic food-deficit countries, food aid may be their primary,
if not their only, source of sustenance. The types of food aid
provided by the United States and other donors in general
distribution do address hunger by providing needed calories.
But ensuring good nutrition to vulnerable populations has
not been a high priority—at least partly because it is seen to
address short-term food emergencies.
UN Photo/Kate Holt
Nutrition, the Critical Role of Women, and the
1,000-Day Window
A Somali mother and her children in a refugee camp in Kenya
Experts now agree that the most critical period in
human development is the 1,000 days from pregnancy to a
child’s second birthday.1 Malnutrition is uniquely harmful
during this period; research shows that the damage it
causes to physical and cognitive development is lifelong
and irreversible. New knowledge of food aid products that
deliver improved nutrition is available. Feed the Future
and the Global Health Initiative, major U.S. development
programs, are prioritizing maternal and child nutrition.
Malnutr