Reset the Table Essay Series

The challenges of meeting future food needs will require a concerted effort from governments to improve the functioning of food and agricultural markets. The United States has the responsibility to lead the world to a more open and fair trading system.

There is a unique opportunity for the United States to set a new standard for engagement with Africa on trade, with food security as a natural focal point. And deeper U.S.-African trade ties could pave the way for a global approach on trade and food security.

The global poverty line is $1.90 per person per day. It costs $3.75 per day, at minimum, to meet baseline dietary requirements for health. What needs to shift?

Adequate nutrition is not only a product of nutritious foods, but also of well-functioning food systems. Food-systems inequities stand in the way of achieving global food security in 2020—and beyond.

Expanding food production is critical to sustaining human health, economic productivity, and overall peace and security. How can the U.S. government integrate water into all our efforts to ensure food security?

New data fills a gap in our understanding of water and food—the relationship of water security to food security at the household level. How are they linked, and how should this inform U.S. policies and programs?

The vulnerability of cities is front and center during the pandemic. How can companies, governments, and the nonprofit sector work together to improve food security in urban areas?

The unique characteristics of life in urban areas make the urban poor particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and require programs and policies tailored to their specific needs.

Food safety threatens nutrition for millions in low- and middle-income countries. How can individuals, markets, and governments help make food safe?

We need to reframe the zoonotic disease problem as a food system problem and invest in better means to segregate high-risk animals from humans and human food.

The major challenge, today and always, is funding. In 2020, the world’s food needs have outstripped the World Food Programme’s resources due to “the three Cs”—conflict, Covid-19, and climate.

With mounting famine concerns in Nigeria, Yemen, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and parts of the Sahel, the United States must make policy and programmatic changes—and elevate peacebuilding alongside development and relief efforts.

Agriculture can contribute to climate change, but it can be a part of the solution if we act now to shift how we produce, transport, market, and consume food.

President-elect Biden could build a coalition around a comprehensive and bipartisan “Green New Plan.” This policy for climate and agri-food systems would have domestic and international applications.

With bipartisan support in Congress, the United States led the global response to the 2007-08 food security crisis. Today’s global food crisis is even deeper, requiring leadership and creativity to wage the next phase of the global fight against hunger and malnutrition.

U.S. global food security programming helps advance core U.S. values, strengthen U.S. alliances, and build new economic partnerships—key U.S. national security objectives that are increasingly important in the face of China’s growing influence in the developing world.