Lambers: Eisenhower's Food for Peace vital during Ukraine crisis
In the movie "Jaws" there is the famous scene where Chief Brody sees how large the great white shark is and tells Quint, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." That is how humanitarian agencies feel when they see how large the hunger emergencies around the world are becoming.
There needs to be a bigger boat, bigger funding, for the U.S. Food for Peace program. Food for Peace has been our main tool for fighting world hunger since President Dwight Eisenhower started the program in 1954.
Eisenhower sought a way to move U.S. surplus food out of storage and to countries that needed it. Our experience with World War II showed us how important food was for stability and building peace. Eisenhower made fighting hunger overseas an important part of his foreign policy. Whether funding CARE’s school feeding and refugee programs or emergency aid to Hungary or India, Food for Peace made a big difference during the Cold War.
With hunger escalating around the globe today, it's imperative Congress increase funding for Food for Peace. There should be flexibility in how the funds are used to allow for their most efficient use in obtaining and distributing food to the hungry. It's urgent we reach as many people as possible with life-saving food aid. Look at what’s happened in recent years.
Long wars in Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, the Sahel and D.R. Congo have led to severe hunger. The COVID-19 pandemic further escalated hunger across the globe. Now the war in Ukraine is worsening hunger for the millions inside the country and refugees. The hunger is also extending far beyond its borders.
Ukraine is a large supplier of wheat. With the fighting disrupting the wheat supply, food prices are higher. This makes it harder for poor countries to obtain food and for relief agencies to help. The war in Ukraine could lead to famine in Yemen and Ethiopia.
With the number of people facing severe hunger, relief agencies like the World Food Program (WFP) are having a tough time keeping up. Before the Ukraine war, WFP even had to reduce rations for 8 million war victims in Yemen because of low funding. In other countries more cuts are on the horizon if new funding is not found. The relief operation in Afghanistan has grown significantly in the last year because of political instability and drought.
Catholic Relief Services wants Congress to increase Food for Peace to at least $2 billion in funding a year, up from $1.74 billion. Congress did include an extra $100 million for Food for Peace donations for Ukraine. This was a positive step by Congress and should be the first in Food for Peace additional funding.
Congress will need to boost Food for Peace funding to keep up with the worst global hunger crisis since World War II. As Eisenhower once said, "No element is as important in preserving the peace of the world as food.”
William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book "Ending World Hunger."
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: William Lambers Eisenhower's Food for Peace huge during Ukraine crisis
