This report provides highlights of trends and activities in food assistance for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. Since the enactment of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 and the Food Security Act of 1985, which established the Food for Progress Program (FFPr), and the creation of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (McGovern-Dole) in 2002, the United States has been the global leader in the world promoting food security worldwide. In 2016, Congress passed the Global Food Security Act (GFSA, PL 114-195).

In FY 2016, the U.S. Government once again visibly demonstrated the compassion and generosity of the American people through provisions of nearly $2.2 billion in food assistance (see Table 1). These contributions not only put food in the mouths of the world’s most vulnerable citizens, but also rebuilt livelihoods, generated income, increased literacy, improved nutrition, strengthened resilience, and mitigated the impacts of future crises by strengthening countries’ disaster risk-reduction- capacity. While we have made progress, the world currently faces unprecedented levels of humanitarian need, generating the highest number of refugees and displaced persons – over 65 million – in modern history. Nearly 800 million people live in chronic hunger.