LegiStorm

Summary:

U.S. international food assistance programs provide food, or the means to purchase food, to people around the world at risk of hunger. Congress funds these programs through two appropriations bills: the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act—also known as the Agriculture appropriations bill—and the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Appropriations Act. The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. The SFOPS appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other non-defense foreign policy agencies. Both bills provide funding for U.S. international food assistance programs. Appropriations for agricultural development programs, such as Feed the Future or international agricultural exchange programs, are not considered part of food assistance spending. Appropriations for U.S. International Food Assistance, FY2015-FY2020 (in billions of current U.S. dollars) / Source: Compiled by CRS, using enacted appropriations acts and FY2020 House and Senate Agriculture and SFOPS appropriations bills. Notes: FFP=Food for Peace; EFSP=Emergency Food Security Program; CDF=Community Development Fund. Other includes FFP Title I Administration and Food for Progress. Congress funds EFSP within the International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account, but does not designate a specific amount for EFSP. FY2015-FY2019 EFSP amounts are actuals from USAID. The FY2020 EFSP amount is a CRS estimate based on the average IDA allocation to EFSP. For FY2020, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94), provided an estimated $4.091 billion in funding for U.S. international food assistance programs. This was an 11% decrease from the $4.581 billion provided in FY2019. Division B of the act provided $1.945 billion in agriculture appropriations for international food assistance programs, including $1.725 billion for the Food for Peace (FFP) Title II program and $220 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. Division G of the act provided an estimated $2.146 billion for international food assistance in SFOPS appropriations. This included $80 million in the Community Development Fund and an estimated $2.066 billion for the Emergency Food Security Program (EFSP). Congress funds EFSP within the International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account but does not designate a specific amount for the program. USAID allocates IDA funds to EFSP and other non-food humanitarian response programs. The estimated FY2020 EFSP appropriation is a CRS calculation based on a five-year average of the percentage of IDA funds allocated to EFSP. In its FY2020 budget request, the Trump Administration proposed to eliminate the FFP Title II, McGovern-Dole, and Food for Progress programs, which Congress funds within Agriculture appropriations. The Administration proposed to consolidate multiple accounts, including accounts within Agriculture and SFOPS appropriations that fund international food assistance and other humanitarian assistance, into a new International Humanitarian Assistance account. Congress did not adopt these proposals. In addition to funding U.S. international food assistance programs, the FY2020 Agriculture appropriations bill included policy-related provisions that directed the executive branch how to carry out certain appropriations. The Explanatory Statement accompanying P.L. 116-94, as well as committee reports accompanying the House and Senate Agriculture and SFOPS appropriations bills, also included policy provisions related to international food assistance. For example, one provision directed that a certain amount of the funds appropriated for the McGovern-Dole Program be used for local and regional procurement—food assistance purchased in the country or region where it is to be distributed rather than purchased in the United States.