In keeping with the idea of country-led programs, the United States is also
supporting multilateral initiatives created by developing countries. One of the
strongest is the Comprehensive All Africa Development Program (CAADP),
an entirely African-led effort to significantly reduce chronic hunger, malnutrition, and poverty through coordinated work in agriculture. The pillars of
CAADP’s work include supporting agricultural research in Africa and extending the area under sustainable land management.
CAADP member countries recently set the goal of a 6 percent average annual growth rate in agriculture. Since CAADP’s inception, development partners have worked together closely to facilitate its policies and programs. The
New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the African Union, other multilateral organizations, and a number of individual donor and African governments
continue to work to coordinate support and identify funding gaps.
Another example of American support for partnerships with developing countries and communities is the Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC), a U.S. government agency established in 2004. This was the first U.S.
development program to use a country-led approach; partner governments propose projects that reflect their needs to the MCC. To
receive funding, governments must consult with key stakeholders
in their country, including civil society groups, the private sector, and beneficiary communities. Early signs of progress in MCC
projects led the administration to adopt a country-led approach
for its Feed the Future global food security initiative as well.
Richard Leonardi/Bread for the World
A Wider Influence
Agricultural assistance programs that
help improve soil, irrigation, storage,
and access to markets often benefit two
generations, including Pedro and his
daughter Eloisa in Nicaragua.
18 Essay 3
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Bread for the World Institute
U.S. leadership has proven essential to global action on food
security. When the United States cut back on its support for
agricultural development at the end of the 1980s, the efforts of
most other developed countries waned as well. This was then
followed by reduced investments in agriculture by developing
countries themselves—after all, the international community did
not consider it a high priority and advised aid recipients to develop
manufacturing and other sectors.
On the flip side, U.S. action persuades others to act. For example, from the Green Revolution’s beginnings in the 1960s, the
United States supported this key effort—generating momentum
that over a few years ended hunger for millions of people in Asia.
The U.S. proposal to invest significantly more resources in agriculture made in L’Aquila, mentioned earlier, won support from
other G-8 members, who committed to providing $22 billion in
financing for agricultural productivity over three years.
The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP)
grew out of this U.S.-led multilateral initiative. GAFSP supplies
funding for country and regional agriculture and food security
strategic plans. Since it began in April 2010, the effort has received about
$1 billion in pledges and continues to attract new donors. The U.S. Treasury
Department called it a “compelling example of how the United States can