Newsletter #1 – Sustainable Development International, Inc.

In the News

USAID Administrator Samantha Power addresses Global Food Crisis

On Monday, in partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Eleanor Crook Foundation, USAID Administrator Samantha Power gave an address on the state of global food security and nutrition. In her opening remarks, Administrator Power revealed that today nearly 828 million people are hungry, and a record 193 million people are in the third crisis phase of hunger (as defined by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification).

In order to combat this sharp rise in food insecurity, Administrator Power announced the mobilization of millions of dollars, including a surge of nearly $1.2 billion in funding that will be used to address food insecurity in the Horn of Africa. Additionally, USAID has launched a GoFundMe – The Global Food Fund – in order to mobilize contributions for food security nonprofits through private citizens.

President Biden Announces $1 Billion in Food Security Assistance

President Biden is currently in the Middle East meeting with regional leaders to address the United States’ future role in the development of the Gulf States. Over more than four hours of meetings, President Biden covered several issues, including a lack of regional food security. To this end, Biden announced $1 billion for food security assistance for the Middle East and North Africa, citing the war in Ukraine as the primary reason for food insecurity in the region.

This is not the only commitment that the Biden-Harris administration has made in a time of crisis. Last week, President Biden reemphasized the United States’ commitment to African nations, citing over $7 billion that has been set aside in humanitarian and food assistance since October. This week, on a call with President Ali of Guyana, the administration committed $28 million for food security assistance to Caribbean nations.

Trends in Development Funding

These announcements regarding increased funding for global food security are not random – in fact, the number of USAID contracts directly related to Agriculture and Food Security has been steadily increasing. Between 2019 and 2021, the average number of Agriculture and Food Security contracts per fiscal quarter was approximately 13. In the most recent USAID Business Forecast (Q2_2022), there were 23 Agriculture and Food Security contracts listed, ranging from $1M to $99.99M in estimated cost. Currently, there are 15 available funding opportunities in Agriculture and Food Security, which can be viewed here.

Incumbents that have been recognized as securing Agriculture and Food Security contracts over the past three years include: Chemonics, FINTRAC, ACDI/VOCA, University of California Davis, University of Rhode Island, DAI, and Winrock International.

Meet Our Experts

Kevin Murphy, Chairman
Sustainable Development International, Inc.

Kevin Murphy has supervised the successful implementation of over 650 projects in 127 countries with a focus on agriculture, value chains, and economic growth, including the use of carbon swaps for forest preservation in the Choco province of Colombia. He served for 5 years on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Competitiveness including advising the Forum on including indicators related to social and environmental sustainability in the annual Global Competitiveness Index. He has developed a framework for combining national economic competitiveness with social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Mr. Murphy has supervised the initiative to strengthen environmentally responsible ecotourism in Guyana at the request of the President of Guyana for the Guyana Development Initiative. Mr. Murphy has worked with 5 current or former heads of state. He holds a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an MBA and MPA from Harvard University. Read more about his commitment to sustainable development here.

Recent and Upcoming Events

SID-Washington Event (7/28)

The Devastating and Enormous Impact of the Food Security Crisis: Looking at an Urgent Need for Solutions Across Sectors

Speakers Maura Barry Boyle (USAID), Paul A. Dorosh (International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Joanna Veltri (International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), discuss what the international community, must do in order to mitigate the growing food security crisis. Some highlights of the event include:

By the end of 2021, the number of people living in food insecurity was more than 828 million – a number which is set to keep increasing. “This is a historic crisis … we need to meet it with an equally historic response.”
The focus right now is on the Horn of Africa. With regards to food security in the region, more than $90 million is currently subject to Congressional approval.
The estimated effects of shocks related to the war in Ukraine in the absence of policy interventions are significant – the combined effect for food, fertilizer, and fuel price shocks on poverty ranges from 1-3 percentage points for each country IFPRI has evaluated.
“The lesson that we, the international community, should be learning is that these crises and shocks are increasingly frequent and increasingly severe because of their compounding nature.”