President George W. Bush last week urged Congress to provide an additional $770 million for use in increasing food and agricultural development aid provided by the U.S. to the world’s hungry. Soaring food prices in recent months reduced the volume of food aid sent abroad by donor countries and threatened to push millions of people who previously were able to feed their families into the ranks of the hungry and malnourished.

The Bush administration earlier announced it would raise $200 million for additional international food aid by selling wheat held in the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust onto the domestic market. A recent sale of 9.6 million bus of wheat from the trust raised $79.2 million for the effort. Between the two initiatives, the Bush administration proposed to increase the U.S. commitment to international food aid by nearly $1 billion.

"With other food security assistance programs already in place, we’re now projecting to spend nearly $5 billion in 2008 and 2009 to fight global hunger," President Bush declared.

President Bush said as the U.S. increases its food assistance, it was important to change the way food aid is delivered. He restated his proposal that 25% of food aid funding be allocated to purchasing food from developing nation farmers closer to the emergencies. He said such purchases would help break the cycle of famine by bolstering the agriculture sector in poor countries. "It’s a commonsense way to help deal with food emergencies around the world."

President Bush said other developed nations must increase their food aid as well and those nations that recently placed restrictions on agricultural exports should lift them "to help ease the suffering of those who aren’t getting food."

The president said to address world hunger it was also essential to achieve a successful conclusion to the Doha round of trade negotiations and secure acceptance of advanced crops developed through biotechnology that "hold the promise of producing more food for more people."

Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian agency, said, "We thank the President of the United States for his urgent call to action to combat the advance of hunger among the world’s most vulnerable. His call for $770 million for food aid and developmental support will continue America’s leadership in the fight against hunger. Urgent consideration by the U.S. Congress will help prevent wide-scale human suffering due to soaring food prices…Today, for those living on less than $1 a day, the impact of soaring food prices is catastrophic."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California, said, "The Congress will respond rapidly to the growing urgent need for international food assistance. This is not only a humanitarian issue, it is a matter of national security as well. From Bangladesh to Haiti, this food crisis is contributing to international instability by adversely affecting tens of millions of people, including the poorest people in the world. We must take action to address this critical problem and demonstrate to the world the generosity and compassion of the American people."