Yesterday, President Trump signed into law the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act, sponsored by Senators Isakson and Casey, and Representatives Smith and McCollum, with the strong support of Senators Corker and Menendez and Representatives Royce and Engel. This reauthorization is a powerful reaffirmation of the United States' commitment to ending global poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.

The global food-price spikes of 2007-2008 - the sharpest ever recorded - pushed a billion people into a state of hunger. Since then, the U.S. Government's Feed the Future initiative has made an incredible impact in reducing poverty and hunger.

Today, as a result of Feed the Future, a projected 23.4 million more people are living above the poverty line, 3.4 million more children are living free of stunting, and 5.2 million more families do not go hungry in the countries in which we work.

Feed the Future is helping governments in our partner countries create better policies and systems for food security and to ultimately help them move from vulnerability to self-reliance. To date, Feed the Future partner countries in Africa have outpaced their neighbors' domestic investments in agriculture: they have increased spending by an average of 25 percent, or a total of an additional $719 million per year.

However, this progress is under increasing threat. More than 800 million people still live with food insecurity looming over them on a daily basis, and hunger is on the rise. Drought, conflict, and other shocks are disrupting and unravelling hard-won development gains. The passage of the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act through both chambers of Congress, with overwhelming bipartisan support, demonstrates the United States' strong commitment to empowering smallholder farmers and strengthening communities and economies to protect and accelerate their progress on their journey to self-reliance. We appreciate the role of our partners throughout the U.S. government, as well as the U.S. university, civil society, and private sector communities, in elevating the importance of global food security and cementing the position of the United States as a leader in ending hunger worldwide.