The idea is straightforward: an expanded CTC would put more money in the pockets of working parents who are struggling to put food on the table.  

We have solid evidence that a permanent expansion of the CTC could significantly reduce the rate of childhood hunger in the United States. This evidence can be summed up as the results of a similar but temporary CTC expansion just three years ago. The American Rescue Plan of 2021 increased the amount of the CTC and made payments monthly rather than structuring the benefit as a lump sum paid as a federal tax refund. For six months, from July 2021 through December 2021, millions of additional families with children received monthly benefits of $250 for each of their children ages 6 to 17 and $300 for each child under 6. 

For our country’s lowest-income families, an even more important provision of the CTC expansion was that all families with children, including households whose taxable incomes had previously been too low to be eligible, could now qualify for the full CTC amounts. As recently as 2018 (latest data available), an estimated 27 million children lived in these households. 

The impact was immediate: a steep decline in parents reporting that their families did not have enough food. On August 16, 2021, 25 percent fewer parents reported food insecurity than on July 5, 2021. 

In addition to its essential role of enabling more families to meet their immediate needs, an expanded CTC has a second important long-term benefit: contributing to racial, gender, and class equity in our country. As Bread has discussed, equity requires making conditions fair for all. Policies that promote equity help to move everyone closer to a “starting point,” whether they started out or continued being “left behind” because of disability, poverty, racial or gender discrimination, or a combination of these and other factors. 

Most people realize that raising children is expensive. As a group, families with children are more likely to be food insecure than families without children. But the risks are even higher for some demographic groups and family structures, including Black families, Latino/a families, Native American families, and families with single mothers, among others. (Other families with higher rates of food insecurity include, for example, families with single fathers and families with parents living with a disability).  

When all families with children are eligible for the same CTC amounts, there is a greater benefit for families at higher risk of hunger, because these dollars make up a larger part of their total income. This is even more likely to be the case for families who belong to more than one marginalized group—perhaps a family whose single mother is Black or Native American or biracial. 

Researchers projected that children from groups with disproportionately high poverty rates would benefit most from the 2021 expansion. Poverty rates would be cut by 62 percent, 52 percent, and 45 percent among Native American children, Latino children, and Black children, respectively. The children of single mothers have very high poverty rates. At the height of the pandemic in 2021, for example, the national poverty rate for households with single mothers was 31.3 percent. Mothers of color and their children had even higher poverty rates: 37.4 percent of Black families, 35.9 percent of Hispanic/Latina families, and 42.6 percent of Native American families with single mothers.

We sometimes think or talk about the CTC as a program for low-income people, but this is not the case. Almost all families with children except the very poorest are eligible. The gap between the lowest-income families with children and other families with children will widen if all families except the poorest receive the CTC benefit. 

The CTC’s restrictions on high-income families–$200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for married couples—exclude just a small percentage of families. A single parent with an income of $200,000 is at the 95th percentile of individual income earners, so only the 5 percent whose incomes are higher than hers would be ineligible for the benefit. 

Bread is deeply disappointed that a bipartisan version of the CTC expansion stalled in the U.S. Senate. Passage of this expansion would make more grocery money available to millions of parents whose jobs do not pay enough to make ends meet. Even when Congress does not act, children still need to eat.

Yet, that proposed expansion would include not all low-income families with children, but, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, only those with incomes of about $16,000 or more per year. Such a policy excludes millions of families who work full-time but are paid less. For example, a family might be composed of a woman who lives with her two children in Georgia, Wyoming, or Tennessee. She works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, at the federal minimum wage. Her annual income is $15,080 before taxes. 

Georgia, Wyoming, and Tennessee are three of the seven states whose minimum wage is the same as the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. It has been $7.25 an hour, with no adjustments for inflation, for 15 years now – since 2009. A CTC that does not exclude the lowest-wage workers would make a big difference in the lives of children whose parents belong to a group often referred to as “the working poor.”

Michele Learner is managing editor, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

The post Child Tax Credit Expansion: A Matter of Equity  appeared first on Bread for the World.

The people of Venezuela, despite their country’s significant oil resources, are now struggling through a second decade of economic and humanitarian crisis. A drastic drop in oil prices and oil production caused the economy to shrink by an estimated 75 percent in just seven years, between 2014 and 2021.

In the 1920s, when oil was discovered in Venezuela, it was heralded as the  “black gold” that would supply a pipeline to economic prosperity. But in the century since, Venezuela has confronted a myriad of difficulties: corruption, authoritarian government, economic downturns, hyperinflation, civil unrest, and later climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Oil exports dominated the economy, leading to acute vulnerability to changes in the energy market and dependence on food imports. 

In 2014, the main government policy response to the contraction of the oil economy was to print more money. The resulting hyperinflation made food and health care increasingly unaffordable, while unemployment and debt soared. During the peak of the hyperinflation crisis of 2018, inflation reached 63,000 percent. For 2025, the inflation rate is projected to be about 150 percent. 

The continuing economic crisis has severely damaged the nation’s food security. Venezuela struggles to meet its nutritional needs with a non-diversified economy heavily reliant on imports. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Food Programme found that more than 9 million people, about 32 percent of Venezuela’s population, faced food insecurity. 

As many members of Bread for the World are aware, babies and toddlers are more vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition. In 2019, Bread called attention to the grim toll of the economic crisis on children. For example, the data showed a 30 percent increase in infant mortality—deaths among children before their first birthday—in 2016 over the previous year.

Climate change is an increasing factor in worsening food security and driving people to leave Venezuela. Severe and prolonged drought and soaring temperatures have led to a sharp decline in rainfall and depleted water levels in critical hydroelectric installations like the Guri Dam. This has disrupted agricultural production and triggered rolling blackouts and water rationing, compounding the country’s economic woes. Venezuela’s dependency on oil exacerbates its vulnerability to climate change.

The desperate economic circumstances, aggravated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused a surge in extreme poverty and violent crime. Armed groups such as the “sindicatos” and “pranes” wield significant power in resource-rich areas of the country, often supported by local elites. 

In April 2024, the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR) identified the main drivers of emigration as widespread crime, inflation, and shortages of food, medicine, and essential services. Since 2014, an estimated 7.7 million people have fled their homeland–one of the world’s largest migrations. About 6.5 million of them migrated within the Latin America/Caribbean region.

Migration has touched the lives of almost everyone over the past decade. Caracas resident Iraida Piñero, interviewed in March 2023, said she misses her daughter and grandchildren, who moved to Colombia several years ago. Her job as a housekeeper in a public hospital pays only about $5 a month plus some bonuses—not enough to buy even a day’s worth of food for a family of four. She gets by largely on money sent by her daughter, who has a small business. Piñero said that people without the help of such “remittances,” as money sent home by family members is called, struggle to afford necessities. 

Venezuela has traditionally been a generous host to refugees from other countries, but it needs the support of other nations now. A significant piece of good news came in February 2021, when the government of Colombia created the Temporary Protection Status (TPS), which grants a 10-year period of “protected status” to all Venezuelans in the country—estimated to number nearly 3 million people. Protected status allows people access to identification documents, formal sector employment, essential services, health care, and more.  

The creation of TPS was a first in the history of the region. It is a life-changing opportunity for undocumented people, strengthens Colombia’s economy, and, by enabling Venezuelan immigrants to earn more money for remittances, helps support people struggling in the economic crisis back home.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, described Colombia’s decision as a “bold humanitarian gesture” that “serves as an example to the world.”

Richa Bakhshi is an international hunger intern, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

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At the end of February 2024, the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Somalia projected that of Somalia’s 17 million people, 4.3 million children and 2.1 million women will need lifesaving humanitarian assistance in 2024. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) is seeking support for its 2024 plan to target assistance to those most in need, which will cost $1.6 billion. As of March 10, 2024, only 8.2 percent of the needed funding had been received. 

Approximately 1.7 million children aged 6 months to 5 years may face acute malnutrition before the end of the year. A shocking number of young children in this group—430,000—are at high risk of developing Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), which is fatal if not treated in time. 

Somalia’s recent history of hunger crises, near-famine conditions, and famine makes this estimate truly frightening. In 2011, the world’s first famine of the 21st century occurred in Somalia. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net), the death toll was approximately 260,000, of whom half were children younger than 5. Researchers found that in the central and southern parts of the country, 10 percent of all children under 5 died. In the hardest-hit areas, the death rate rose as high as 18 percent. 

The last time regions of Somalia were united under a central government was in 1991.Thereafter, residents suffered through years of conflict among many armed factions. The fighting has forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes to avoid being trapped behind one of the front lines, unable to access food. Most of the displaced people—80 percent—are women and children. They face what the United Nations calls “significant protection risks,” which others may call the constant fear of attacks from armed men who perpetrate physical violence, sexual assault, and/or murder. 

Qumaan, a resident of Kaharey camp in Doolow District, expressed her concern about the risk of crocodile attacks while she and her companions fetched water from the river. The country’s ongoing severe drought forced Qumaan to leave her home in Wajiid District in Bakool, southern Somalia, and come to the displaced persons’ camp for assistance. Flooding as well as drought has affected her home region. Many wells are now contaminated as a result of the flooding. 

In the Fragile States Index (FSI)’s 2023 analysis, Somalia was ranked the most fragile state in the world. The tool uses twelve indicators to measure a country’s fragility, ranging from whether the government exercises control over its territory to its capacity to provide public services, to demographic pressures. Some of the indicators of fragility are similar to aspects of two of the main causes of hunger—climate change and conflict. 

Analysts who monitor hunger crises to help humanitarian organizations prepare their responses noted, “Despite funding constraints and scaling down, humanitarian assistance has continued to play a critical role in preventing the worsening of food security and nutrition outcomes in many areas throughout 2023. However, high levels of food insecurity and acute malnutrition will persist through at least mid-2024 if additional funding is not secured to scale up and sustain humanitarian assistance.” 

Despite the many problems the country has faced, Somalia has had successes as well. In December 2023, the country completed its Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative process. The creditor nations, including the United States, Japan, and Russia, cancelled more than $2 billion of Somalia’s debt, which equates to 99% of the total amount owed. 

“Through our enabling reforms, we have consistently raised domestic revenue, strengthened public financial management, improved good governance and central banking operations, and enhanced the capacity of our national institutions. We will build on these successes going forward.”- Somalia’s Minister of Finance, H.E. Bihi Iman Egeh

Somalia has also been accepted into the East African Community (EAC) after years of advocating. The EAC’s eight member states are Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania. One-fourth of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa now lives in the EAC, which has established a free trade zone and promotes economic development.   

Bread for the World hosts a Hunger Hotspots Briefing Series as part of its education and advocacy to end hunger. The series enables participants to hear directly from humanitarian assistance workers in some of the countries hit hardest by the global hunger crisis, as well as to learn more about the root causes of hunger. In September 2024, UNICEF will discuss its work in Somalia and describe some of its successes and challenges. Please stay tuned for more information on the briefing. 

Syeda Lamia Hossain is a global hunger fellow, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

The post Somalia Confronts Food Security Challenges, But Builds Resilience Through Debt Relief and Partnerships   appeared first on Bread for the World.

Hunger in the United States is primarily caused by economic inequality, which is a driver of poverty, and the lowest-paid American workers are far more likely to face food insecurity than those who are paid more. 

Over the past few years, Bread for the World’s U.S. anti-hunger advocacy has included support for several policies that would help lower poverty among specific groups of workers. For example, Bread called for an end to the “tipped minimum wage,” which allows employers to pay workers such as restaurant servers as little as $2.13 an hour with the expectation that tips would bring the hourly wage up to the standard minimum wage. Under federal law, employers are responsible for making up the difference if tips alone do not, but workers report that this does not always happen. 

Tipped workers are disproportionately women, especially women of color. Bread has also been working to promote racial and gender equity in the workplace. Restaurant servers and cashiers are among the lower-paid workers who would benefit from stricter enforcement of existing laws against pay discrimination on the basis of race or sex. But racial and gender inequities are very broad causes of poverty that affect millions of people around the country. These forms of inequities are tied to essentially permanent aspects of people’s identities, such as race, gender, and age, rather than to factors such as occupation or level of education that are easier to change. 

Pay disparities based on race and/or gender are entrenched in the American economy. They are one of many visible signs of long-term societal ills such as racism and sexism. But this does not mean we have to accept that poverty, or the idea that racism and/or sexism, will inevitably be present. In fact, we cannot accept these things, because doing so means giving up on Bread’s mission of ending hunger in this country.

The changes needed to make lasting progress on pay disparities, let alone the deep-seated biases that cause the disparities, call for proactive leadership. Leaders can be almost anyone who is committed to finding ways of achieving part or all of the goal. Local community groups and organizations like Bread have been able to get proven policy improvements enacted into law. 

Landmark legislation often requires an “all hands on deck” approach, with members of Congress, the administration, and the courts working to get something completely finished. One such critically important achievement was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Another was the Equal Pay Act of 1963. It was the first federal legislation that specifically prohibited pay discrimination based on gender—an important step along the path to gender equality that had also featured, not so long before, thousands of women mobilizing for decades to secure the right to vote.

Data for 1963 indicate that the Equal Pay Act was undoubtedly needed: women who worked full-time year-round were paid 59 cents for every dollar paid to men. 

Nearly 60 years later, in 2022, women who worked full-time year-round were paid 84 cents for every $1 paid to men. The next part of this series will assess how significant the progress has been and consider next steps.

Michele Learner is managing editor, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

The post Reducing U.S. Hunger by Closing the Gender Pay Gap appeared first on Bread for the World.

The proof is apparent via some depressing news, unfortunately. In 2022, the Census report shows, the child poverty rate more than doubled, rising to 12.4 percent, compared to 5.2 percent in 2021. The increase in child poverty was caused mostly by the expiration of improvements to the Child Tax Credit made in 2021 in the American Rescue Plan. As many of our supporters know Bread for the World has been a persistent advocate for these improvements.

Between July and December of 2021, the Child Tax Credit increased from a maximum of $2,000 per child to $3,600 for children under age six, and to $3,000 for children between ages six and 17. Moreover, the credit was restructured to be delivered in monthly installments, rather than a lump sum payment during tax season: $300 per month to the families with children under age 6 and $250 to those with children 6 to 17. Hard to overstate this improvement to what resulted in similar dramatic progress against child hunger in 2021. 

But the most important improvement of all was that the credit was made refundable, allowing it to become available to millions of families who previously earned too little income to qualify. It meant some 18 million children were newly eligible for the full tax credit, including 40 percent of all Black and Latino children, nearly half of all children in single-parent households, and more than one-third of rural children.

As a result of these changes, the Child Tax Credit became a form of universal basic income. You can call it anything you want; universal basic income is simply a recurrent payment—often delivered monthly—and is available to all members of a community with no work requirements or other conditions imposed on the recipients. That’s worth noting because work requirements became the main sticking point in negotiations to extend the improvements to Child Tax Credit beyond 2021.

Hence, it was a short-lived experiment, lasting only six months during the second half of 2021, but it led to an unprecedented reduction in child poverty and child hunger. And then it ended. What members of Congress giveth in 2021, they voted to taketh away in 2022—not all of them, but a majority was all it took to undo. Those 18 million children who benefited in 2021 were no longer eligible for the full tax credit in 2022. 

The postmortems following release of the report emphasized how policies can make a difference in achieving progress against poverty and other hardships. In an op-ed published by Religion News Service, David Beckmann, Bread for the World’s president emeritus, lays this out as well as anybody has. 

Another outcome revealed by the Census report also merits attention. It used to seem axiomatic to call “a job” the best anti-poverty program. (We don’t want to understate the value of steady employment. Earnings make up most of household resources, including for families that are in poverty). Jobs remain necessary to escaping poverty, but they clearly are not always sufficient—and haven’t been for some time. No year tests that theory better than 2022, when the unemployment rate was near historically low levels. Yes, inflation took a bite out of paychecks, but wages were rising for workers at the bottom of the income ladder faster than for workers on rungs higher up. 

It is sad that policymakers for whom work requirements dominate their thinking about addressing child poverty won’t do more to improve jobs for parents who clearly want to provide for their kids. Here are a few examples of policy inaction: The federal minimum wage hasn’t received a raise since 2009, childcare policy lags behind other wealthy countries, and there remains no federal law guaranteeing a right to paid family and medical leave. There are many others, but those alone are enough for an evidence-based indictment of inaction.

So then, it’s not just that policies matter in addressing child poverty. It’s a very particular policy: a form of universal basic income delivered through the Child Tax Credit. 

Public outrage over harmful government actions has a fleeting half-life. The best time to make an issue of the harm done to children by reversing improvements made to the Child Tax Credit is now.

Todd Post is senior domestic policy advisor, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

The post The Best Anti-Poverty Program: Give Them Money appeared first on Bread for the World.

It is becoming increasingly clear to national governments, civil society organizations, and—most importantly—those experiencing hunger and poverty that today’s global financial system is not working. The system should help resolve the root causes of food insecurity and improve the lives of people who face hunger and malnutrition. Since both of these are essential parts of Bread for the World’s mission of ending hunger, Bread members have been drawing the attention of other stakeholders to the evidence that the system needs to be improved, which includes rising hunger, extreme poverty, and debt distress. 

The Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, held last month in Paris, aimed to identify reforms to the global financial system to make it a larger part of the solution. This entails providing better support to countries most affected by today’s humanitarian crises and stalled economic development.

Recognizing and naming the financial system’s failures are essential to improving it. Compared to anti-hunger advocates’ hopes, however, the summit’s immediate outcomes were a mixed bag.  

In one of Ajay Banga’s first public appearances as the new president of the World Bank Group, he announced a new toolkit to support countries in recovering from natural disasters. Among the new elements is a program to pause debt repayments to the World Bank for low-income countries that experience crises or catastrophes. 

The United States joined others in calling on additional creditors to offer a similar payment suspension plan by 2025. Former Malawian president Joyce Banda pointed out that significant debt means countries often cannot invest in their own food systems or poverty alleviation. Initiatives like suspending debt-service payments will help countries focus on the needs of their citizens in crisis rather than paying interest to their creditors.

Important progress was made at the Summit on debt relief for low-income countries. Three years after defaulting on its debt, Zambia reached a debt relief deal with its creditors. This will allow the country to receive additional financing to support its economic recovery from the pandemic and provide its citizens with critical basic services. It also serves as a sign that other indebted countries can make progress on debt relief.

Despite these positive steps, the Summit offered little detail on other critical issues in the global financing system—most importantly, on providing additional grants or low-cost financing for countries to adapt to climate change and pursue other development goals like ending hunger. Little progress was made on the earlier pledge to double financing for climate adaptation in low-income countries by 2025. 

Disappointingly, only three heads of state from Europe and none from North America attended a Summit that was intended to advance solidarity between the Global North and the Global South. In contrast, 37 heads of state from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean were among the 300 governments, international institutions, and civil society organizations represented. 

Real solutions to the aspects of global structures, forces, and attitudes that keep hundreds of millions of people living with needless hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty will require leadership and commitment at the highest levels of the global community. We must change how the global community treats “have-nots.” We can’t afford not to.

Jordan Teague Jacobs is co-director, Policy & Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

The post Strengthening global financing to help end hunger appeared first on Bread for the World.

• The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported in October 2022 that humanitarian actions are critical to “prevent further starvation and death” in six countries of highest concern—Afghanistan, Yemen, Nigeria,  Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia.
• People in each of these six countries are either already facing starvation, or living with crisis-level food insecurity in situations likely to worsen further.
• The most recent WFP-FAO humanitarian outlook indicates that globally, about 45 million people are living in areas with high levels of severe hunger and malnutrition, levels signaling that there is a risk that conditions will worsen to the point of famine. People on the verge of famine can be found in 37 countries around the world.
• Bread has previously written about the hunger crises in Ethiopia and Nigeria. Bread also has more information on other areas where hundreds of thousands of people are living on the verge of famine. These include countries in the Sahel region just south of Africa’s Sahara Desert, Kenya, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• Among these 45 million people are nearly 1 million people who are projected to face famine if they do not receive additional assistance in time. These groups live in the highest-priority countries, which again are Afghanistan, Yemen, Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia.

Causes:

• Armed conflict, notably in Ethiopia, Yemen, and South Sudan.
• Climate impacts, particularly sustained severe drought in East Africa. Somalia is projected to face an unprecedented fifth consecutive year of insufficient rainfall. 
• High food prices due to worldwide inflation and the impact of the war in Ukraine, which has significantly reduced the availability of imported grain.

Humanitarian assistance:

• High-income countries have significantly increased their investments in emergency humanitarian assistance because of the multiple hunger crises. This includes the United States, which allocated $5 billion for emergency food, nutritional support, and humanitarian assistance.
• However, the problem is that the needs are rising even more quickly than the assistance available.  According to the WFP/FAO humanitarian assessment, “Funding shortfalls and rising operational costs have reduced humanitarian assistance across many of these hunger hotspots.”
• The report continues: “Without additional funding, humanitarian assistance is likely to be further reduced across the board” between now and January 2023.  

How Bread Is Helping

Bread’s ongoing advocacy for robust humanitarian food and nutrition assistance is essential to an effective response to countries with famine or near-famine conditions. Bread for the World members are longtime faithful advocates for people in hunger emergencies and have already helped to win additional humanitarian funding this year. This is part of Bread’s efforts to persuade Congress to allocate funds that save lives, prevent irreparable harm from early childhood malnutrition, and ease suffering. Bread members also champion U.S. development assistance, which helps prevent hunger emergencies by enabling and equipping people to build resilient communities.

The post Hunger Hotspots: Famine and Near-Famine appeared first on Bread for the World.

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We usually think of U.S. development assistance as funding that the United States sends directly to another country. Bread advocacy generally focuses on winning policy improvements and budget increases for this country-to-country assistance, often called bilateral assistance. Over the years, Bread has worked with Congress and the administration to ensure that projects supported by bilateral assistance include ending hunger and malnutrition as a top priority.

In addition to legislative successes such as the passage and reauthorization of the Global Food Security Act (GFSA), which created Feed the Future, and winning funding increases for important development initiatives such as Child Survival, Bread advocates have lhelped create change within the executive branch. For example, the U.S. government adopted a “whole of government” nutrition strategy after Bread advocates and our partners made the case that early childhood nutrition impacts the entire course of a person’s life.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) manages most bilateral funding, allocating resources to projects in health, nutrition, education, and other sectors. These programs and funds are vital to Bread’s mission of ending hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty. In addition, the United States is a key donor and a leader in encouraging other countries to contribute bilateral assistance.

There is another, lower-profile type of U.S. development assistance that also advances Bread’s mission–“multilateral” assistance. Since bilateral assistance is between two countries, you might guess that multilateral assistance is among several countries, and you would be right. The United States is a member of several international financial institutions, usually called simply IFIs.

IFIs include, among others, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The United States and other donors invest funds in these institutions that are then pooled and made available to low- and middle-income countries in the form of grants or low-interest loans.

IFIs are important to the effort to end hunger since they are the largest source of international finance for many countries. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, IFIs have mobilized record levels of resources to support countries in responding to the health and economic consequences of the pandemic. As Bread has pointed out, surges in global hunger and malnutrition are among the pandemic’s most devastating impacts.

The World Bank, through its International Development Association (IDA), has the largest amount of lower-cost financin available to low-income countries. Since the food price crisis of 2008, IDA has more than tripled its annual financing for food security, from $2 billion to $6.8 billion in fiscal year 2020. Since the pandemic began, IDA has made new commitments of $5.3 billion for food security initiatives, and an additional $6.6 billion for food security is planned for this year.

Notably, half of these new resources will help meet immediate food needs, and half will go to efforts to build more lasting food security. If you’ve followed along with us at Bread for the World, you know that we believe both are necessary and we advocate for both.

IDA has also made available $500 million in “crisis response” funding, intended to help countries prepare for and respond to crises that develop more slowly than a sudden disaster. Hunger emergencies are usually crises that develop over time, not overnight. Hopefully, the funding will enable countries to respond to some crises in the making and thus avoid major catastrophes.

In addition to IDA, the World Bank also houses the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, known by the acronym GAFSP. Established in response to the 2008 food price crisis, GAFSP pools donor resources for programs in food security, nutrition, and agriculture. The funding is in the form of either grants or low-cost loans made to governments, producer organizations, and civil society organizations. The U.S. component of GAFSP is Feed the Future. Since 2010, GAFSP has invested more than $1.6 billion in 39 countries. Since the global pandemic began, GAFSP has allocated nearly $60 million in additional funding to 15 countries to help them respond to hunger crises caused or exacerbated by the pandemic.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), mentioned earlier, is a specialized agency of the United Nations. IFAD was established in the 1970s in response to that decade’s episodes of food shortages, malnutrition, and famine. IFAD is the only IFI devoted exclusively to transforming agriculture, including rural economies, and food systems. It works to make these sectors more inclusive, productive, resilient, and sustainable.

In 2020, IFAD launched a multi-donor COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility. Begun with $40 million in seed funding, the facility is expected to raise at least $200 million from other donors. The funding will be used to help preserve the livelihoods and jobs of low-income, vulnerable rural people or, failing that, to enable them to recover more quickly. It does this by supporting agricultural production, access to financial and agricultural markets, and access to new jobs.

Two other important IFIs are the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Each has increased its funding commitments to respond to the pandemic. Along with the IFIs mentioned earlier, the two regional banks have invested in food security initiatives such as providing support for farmers to purchase seeds, livestock, and other necessities; giving families cash assistance to purchase food; distributing packages of food; and supporting food banks.

As the United States and other high-income countries with access to COVID-19 vaccines begin to emerge from the pandemic, Bread emphasizes the importance of global vaccine equity. The International Monetary Fund noted recently that recovery paths are starkly divergent for lower-income countries and households compared with wealthier nations. The IFIs need continued support from donors so they can continue to provide urgently-needed assistance to low- and middle-income countries. Such support is essential to preventing even higher levels of hunger and malnutrition, saving the lives of young children, and enabling countries to begin to recover from the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.

Jordan Teague is interim co-director, policy analysis and coalition building, with Bread for the World.

The post Supporting hungry people through international financial institutions appeared first on Bread for the World.

This story is part of the July 2020 issue of Institute Insights

The slaying of Black bodies is not new. The recent lynchings of Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many more holds up a mirror to our nation’s original sin. But it also reinforces the reality that much has not changed—rather the forms they take on have only mildly shifted.

I have many words to say—more than what my lifetime’s worth or 400 years of racial oppression can fit onto a page. But nonetheless, I will attempt to start.

As a Black woman, I know firsthand that the racism I experience is different than the racism faced by other people of color. Unfortunately, this truth is no longer surprising to me. Looking at the history allows me to make sense of why this is the case and how this is still full-strength reality, functioning more than 600 years after Europeans first set foot on the continent of Africa to profit from the exclusive chattel slavery of Black bodies.

What I find surprising is that many white people and other people of color have not yet understood that this is the reality. That as a result of my Blackness, the racism I experience will also be different, and in many ways worse, than the racism that other communities of color encounter.

The reason for this is anti-Black racism.

Anti-Black racism is the name of the specific kind of racial prejudice directed towards Black people. Anti-Blackness devalues Blackness, while systematically marginalizing Black people, the issues that affect us, and the institutions created to support us. The first form of anti-Blackness is overt racism, which is upheld by covert structural and systemic racism that categorically predetermines the socioeconomic status of Blacks in this country. The second form of anti-Blackness is unethical disregard for Black people, as seen in the cases of police, or civilian, brutality against Black bodies.

Back in the 1400s when the Portuguese enslaved only Africans, they coined the term “Negro.” This word was translated as “Black” and used to describe the people living in Africa. At that time, people did not see themselves as belonging to the same race as all others in the sub-Saharan region. Of course, they also did not see themselves as belonging to an inferior social group. The Portuguese, however, described the people living on the continent as “uncivilized” and attempted to map this lie to the physical attributes of their Blackness. And while the term “white” was not formally named at that time, the Portuguese and other European colonizers later became identified under the umbrella of “white” and “civilized” by virtue of not being labeled “Black” and “uncivilized.” This justified the transatlantic slave trade of Black people, a history that is still with us today.

In short, Blackness is the antithesis of whiteness. The definition of “white” during the period of U.S. chattel slavery went so far as to specify that a white person did not have a drop of Black blood. So, it would make sense then that the direct opposite of whiteness is Blackness, and the policies designed to uphold white supremacy have also been the very policies that sought, and in many ways still seek, to harm Blackness. The suppression of Black people directly maintains the privilege, “purity,” and power of white people. This is one of the reasons that, on a spectrum of white to Black, people generally experience more power and privilege the closer in proximity to whiteness they are, and less power and privilege the closer in proximity to Blackness they are.

This is also seen in the construction of systemic racism, whereby policies were deliberately designed to oppress Black people while centering and upholding whiteness. This was the case with U.S. chattel slavery, sharecropping, Jim Crow policies, New Deal legislation, redlining, the separate but equal doctrine, over-policing and mass incarceration, employment discrimination, voter disenfranchisement, and many others. These policies were anti-Black, meaning that they were designed to target the Black community and center whiteness. And while they certainly negatively impacted all communities of color, it makes sense that the people hurt most by these policies are Black—at their core, these policies were anti-Black.

More than 400 years of unresolved anti-Black policies is the reason we see the Black community experiencing the highest levels of police brutality. Perhaps the most brutal form of anti-Black racism is the historical lynching. Lynching is defined as someone being put to death without court or legal sanction. As I sit here writing this, I acknowledge that my own body, a product of Blackness, is all too susceptible to this very same violence in this country today. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, lynchings were violent and public acts of torture that traumatized Black people throughout the country. Lynching took place in the United States well before the Emancipation Proclamation, but it increased sharply during the period 1880 to 1940 as African Americans sought freedom. It was largely tolerated by state and federal officials. Historically, police were complicit with lynching, whether by participating themselves or by allowing the violence to take place. In fact, as many as 75 percent of lynchings have had the direct or indirect assistance of law enforcement. And we see police involvement and complicity in killings today.

Perhaps the main difference today is that a fraction of these injustices has been filmed and posted on social media for millions to see. Per the definition of lynching, none of the killings were connected with a judicial proceeding or court order. They were examples of public acts of torture of Black bodies. This shows that anti-Blackness is not simply the racist actions of a white person, nor is it systemic racism alone. As scholar Nicholas Brady explains, it is also “the paradigm that binds Blackness and death” where “one cannot think of one without the other.”

What should be next…

What the recent protests and conversations have taught me is that many people and institutions don’t yet understand these realities. Many people, even those with good intentions, are perpetuating the same non-acknowledgement of anti-Blackness, which only reinforces the denial of my lived truth and my community’s historic reality.

1. We must center Blackness and Anti-Black Racism. Everyone must lift up anti-Blackness, because it is a specific type of racism that must be centered if racism is ever to be defeated.
2. Once we center Black people and the anti-Black racism they experience in our analysis and our decisions, then our goal for every policy and program will, by definition, require us to dismantle white supremacy and the policies, practices, and cultures that uphold it.
3. We can no longer afford to say only “racism.” Instead, we must specify “anti-Back racism,” to acknowledge the difference that holds Black people in oppression. We must say it, we must name it, and we must walk in boldness to address it.
4. We can no longer afford to say only “people of color,” which is too general and doesn’t center anti-Blackness. We must name Black people. One phrase that does this is “Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color.” This is the only way our orientation to racial justice can change.
5. Lastly, this commitment to Black lives and Black bodies cannot be just another fad. There has been a concerted effort to oppress Black people in this country for more than 400 years. There needs to be an equally concerted effort to redress this oppression of Black bodies—for the next 400 years if necessary. This will require a genuine commitment from everyone in every sector and at every level, if we are serious about Black lives and reversing the anti-Back racism that is experienced by those of us who proudly wear Black skin.

Marlysa D. Gamblin is senior policy advisor, racial and gender divides, with Bread for the World Institute.

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“We thank Congress and the Trump administration for coming together on this substantial economic stimulus package,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “CARES will help millions of people affected by the health and economic consequences of COVID-19 – both in the U.S. and around the world. However, Congress must do more to help families who were already on the economic margins.”  

CARES gives immediate cash assistance to low- and middle-income households and expands unemployment insurance. Internationally, it provides funding for global disease detection and prevention, as well as growing international humanitarian needs. 

Bread developed recommendations for CARES, many of which were incorporated into the final legislation. Bread will continue to advocate for the recommendations that did not make it in this round, including a 15 percent increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) maximum benefit. Congress must also address the needs of immigrant families, including many with children who are U.S. citizens.

“A significant increase for SNAP food assistance is needed to prevent a hunger crisis,” said Beckmann.  

SNAP is vital to helping people receive the nutrition they need. Before COVID-19 hit, 37 million Americans struggled with hunger. This number will rise substantially in the coming weeks and months. SNAP also has a strong economic impact: every $1 increase in SNAP generates more than $1.50 in additional economic activity.  

“Now is the time to heed God’s call to care for the ‘least among us’ (Matthew 25:40). CARES will help a lot of people,” added Beckmann. “But Congress must ensure that struggling families do not fall between the cracks – increasing SNAP benefits must be included in the next package.”  

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“Bread for the World urges Congress not to shortchange low-income families in the reported $1 trillion ‘phase three’ COVID-19 economic stimulus package. These families are likely to suffer the greatest health and economic impacts from COVID-19. Any stimulus package must ensure that all families, and especially the most vulnerable, receive the support they need.

“The proposal currently supported by the Administration and Senator McConnell would result in less cash assistance to families in poverty than to the rest of the population. We should instead give more help to people who will be hardest hit by this crisis. Economic studies show that assistance to low-income people gets spent and helps to stimulate the economy especially quickly.”

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For many, the back-to-school season is a source of pride. It serves as a reminder of our historic national commitment to education for all. This commitment has contributed to the vision of a civil democracy that advances moral leadership and civility.

The great African American educator and faith leader Nannie Helen Burroughs said, “Education and justice are democracy’s only life insurance.” It was with this in mind that Burroughs, with support of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., began creating a trade school for black high school- and junior college-aged girls.

While African Americans leaders like Burroughs were advancing education for all, they were also directly affected by a contradictory policy of “separate but equal,” which was, in reality, an inequitable system that prevented African Americans from an education. This policy limited job choices and the ability of African Americans to put food on the table.

This month’s Pan African devotional by Heather L. Taylor reminds us of this policy. She writes that the policy was a part of the disenfranchisement that was done through a discriminatory legal system. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jim Crow laws of the south mandated racial segregation thereby laying the foundation for institutionalizing separate and drastically unequal public-school facilities and other resources for black Americans.

This was true even after the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy vs. Ferguson that public facilities and services may remain separate but equal. The advocacy of our ancestors finally ended racial segregation in public schools in the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.

The long-term effect of this court case has been mixed. Today, many students find themselves in schools that are re-segregated and unequal despite the hard-fought battles to not only integrate schools but to appropriate equitable resources to insure an education.

In a recent Atlantic article Will Stancil pointed out that “racially divided schools are a major and intensifying problem for American education—maybe even a crisis.” The article cites the National Center on Education Statistics, which discovered that the number of segregated schools approximately doubled between 1996 and 2016. During the same time, the number of children of color attending such a school rose from 59 to 66 percent. For black students, it rose even higher: 59 to 71 percent.

The past and present failure to end “separate but equal” in practice, rather than only in law, has led to today’s cycle of underinvestment in many students of color. The devotional points out that higher school spending is associated with a significantly lower risk of students facing hunger and poverty when they become adults.

In a rapidly changing information-based economy, education is more important than ever to students’ ability to compete for jobs that will support a family.

Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan-African and Orthodox Church engagement at Bread for the World.

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The Raise the Wage Act (S.150/H.R.582) was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and in the House of Representatives by Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.-03), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.-02), and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.-07).

The bill would raise the federal minimum wage to $8.55 in 2019 and increase it over the next five years until it reaches $15 an hour in 2024.

After 2024, the minimum wage would adjust each year to keep pace with inflation. If passed, the bill would phase out the tipped minimum wage and sunset the ability of employers to pay workers with disabilities a subminimum wage. The bill would also phase out the subminimum wage for workers under the age of 20.

Background

In the United States, the preferred way of ending hunger is by ensuring that everyone who wants a job can get one and that it pays a sufficient wage. The bare minimum that defines a “decent” job is a living wage, which should provide families with the means to put food on the table. For those who are raising children, a decent job should allow them to balance their responsibilities as an employee and parent.

The work people do is a source of dignity in their lives, or at least that is how it should be. It is dehumanizing when wages are not sufficient to provide for basic living costs. Millions of working families have little left after paying for housing and transportation, health care, and child care. Food is the most flexible item in a household budget, which is why hunger is usually episodic.

We cannot end hunger in the United States without raising the minimum wage. We urge all members of Congress to co-sponsor the Raise the Wage Act of 2019.

“The laborer deserves to be paid”

— 1 Timothy 5:18

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May 25 is an annual holiday recognizing the leadership of African peoples wherever they may be live.

Led by the African Union (AU) which recognizes the diversity of Africans and African nation-states, Africans including Africans in diaspora who may be citizens or residents in countries outside the African continent, join in this celebration.

The following are some of the primary tenets of Africa Day:

• Common African Unity and Identity
• The Developments of the African Union and the Agenda 2063 (defined below)
• Women’s Empowerment in the African Union
• Continent-wide Disease Control and Prevention
• Africa Day as a Public Holiday
• Africa Day Celebration

This year the AU theme is “Healthy Lifestyle Prolongs Life.” The tenets of Africa Day and this theme complement the mission of Bread for the World to end hunger and address poverty. The AU Agenda 2063 is a strategic roadmap aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the legislative agenda of Bread for the World, especially on matters related to global nutrition and immigration. Bread for the World is committed to partnering with African peoples everywhere to create and execute equitable strategies for rooting out hunger and poverty, as well as the historic and present scourge of systems and attitudes that fail to advance progress for all to be fed and live lives of dignity.

The AU Agenda 2063, along with the following facts and advances on the African continent, are critical to ensuring the success of our equitable partnership:

• The Christian Church has been continuously present on the African continent since the days of Christ and one out of four Christians in the world is an African. The Pew Research Center estimates this number will grow to 40 percent by 2030.
• The Continental Free Trade Area Agreement is an agreement among 52 out of 55 states to promote free trade throughout the continent of Africa.  This trade agreement is the largest since the formation of the World Trade Organization in 1995.
• Africa has six of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies this year, according to the World Bank.
• Africa’s 1.2 billion population is expected to double in 2050 and comprise 60-70 percent youth.
• Africa has made great progress in the fight against malnutrition. Between 2000 and 2016 Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Togo, Cameroon and Angola reduced malnutrition, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality by 42-56 percent.
• 40 African countries are Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) members.
• Country-led plans, strategies and policies in place – mostly multisectoral and led by Heads of State or Heads of Government.

Join us in celebrating the faith and resilience of African peoples wherever they are and our common vision of ending hunger for all.

Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church Engagement at Bread for the World.

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If enacted, this legislation would raise the federal minimum wage this year and increase it annually until it reaches $15 an hour in 2024. Thereafter, the minimum wage will be adjusted each year to keep pace with inflation. This would lift wages for 41 million American workers and significantly decrease poverty and hunger in the United States.

At Bread for the World, we believe that the preferred way to end hunger is to ensure that everyone who wants a job can get one and that it pays a living wage. Wages have been stagnant for decades – meaning that workers are earning less, inequality is rising, and families can’t make ends meet.

The “Raise the Wage Act” would, for the first time ever, bring full-time minimum-wage earnings above the poverty line for a family of four. The Bible is clear, ‘The laborer deserves to be paid’ (1 Timothy 5:18).

We urge Republicans and Democrats in Congress to co-sponsor and pass this bill.

“The laborer deserves to be paid”

1 Timothy 5:18

The post Bread for the World Statement on the Introduction of the “Raise the Wage Act of 2019” appeared first on Bread for the World.

Bread for the World Institute

Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation

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The 2020 Hunger Report, Better Nutrition, Better Tomorrow is available!

2018 Hunger Report

The Jobs Challenge:
Working to End Hunger by 2030

Ending global hunger and extreme poverty is within our grasp. Incomes are rising even in countries once thought to be facing insurmountable challenges, showing that progress is possible anywhere when barriers are removed. A global consensus has now formed that 2030 is an ambitious but attainable target date.

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“What most concerns many of the nation’s church leaders is the resurgence of racism and the neglect of poverty. That was the message of the statement that 80 Christian leaders issued this week. But the State of the Union address failed to mention racism and offered only passing attention to measures that would address poverty.

“We were grateful that President Trump didn’t mention cuts to programs that help people in poverty. Instead he talked about job training, paid family leave, and reforming prisons so that inmates will to have a second chance at life when they are released. We hope that congressional Republicans and Democrats, as they meet in their party retreats over the coming days, will develop these ideas into legislative action- such as passing the bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S.1917).

“We join the president in celebrating the economy. Because of economic growth, poverty continues to decline in our country and worldwide. But the tax cut bill, which benefits mainly high-income people, has so far had limited impact on the economy, and tax cuts for high-income people are clearly not the best way to improve job opportunities for low- and middle-income workers. 

“We welcome President Trump’s support for a path to citizenship for Dreamers and for a bipartisan compromise on immigration policy. The president’s proposal is a starting point for negotiation. We take issue with the President’s heavy emphasis on violent criminals among our immigrant population. America is better and stronger when we work together and rise above the rhetoric of division. As Christians, we are called by our faith to protect the sanctity of families and provide welcome to immigrants.

“We disagree with the president’s negative comments about aid to reduce hunger and poverty around the world. The United States and the world have made tremendous progress against hunger and poverty – so much so that we could see the virtual end to hunger within our lifetimes. Foreign aid is good for our economy, good for our security, and good for our soul.” 

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“This tax bill is part of a 1-2 punch,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “President Trump and congressional leaders have already announced plans to follow this tax cut, mainly for high-income people, with a big push to cut more than $2 trillion from social programs for low-and middle-income people.”

The bill is projected to add at least $1.5 trillion to the deficit. Congressional leaders will likely cite federal deficits as a reason for deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other crucial programs that keep people out of hunger and poverty.

The bill also raises taxes on the lowest earners, those making between $10,000 and $30,000, starting in 2021. Tax cuts for all individuals and families expire at the end of 2027, and millions earning less than $75,000 would then see a significant net increase in taxes. The corporate tax cuts in the bill are permanent.

“Tax cuts for corporations and high-income people are not the best way to expand job opportunities for low- and middle-income people,” Beckmann said.

In addition, the bill repeals the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Without the mandate, 5 million of the most vulnerable Americans could lose their Medicaid coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“Christmas is supposed to be a time when we celebrate the birth of our Savior by giving to those who are less fortunate,” Beckmann noted. “But Congress just gave away a lot of money in a way that only harms and threatens needy people.”

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“The tax bill passed by the Senate will hurt millions of low-income and working families. The tax cuts passed in this bill, which largely benefit high-income individuals and large corporations, will almost certainly lead to deep cuts in Medicaid, SNAP, and other programs that help people experiencing hunger and living in poverty.

“The bill also repeals the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Without this mandate, 5 million of the most vulnerable Americans could lose their Medicaid coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“The direct impact on middle-income families will be mixed, with most of the benefits phasing out after a few years.  The bill’s proponents argue that it will create jobs, but a tax cut that goes disproportionately to high-income people is not the best way to improve the job market for low-income and working families.

“Our country has made substantial progress against hunger and poverty in recent decades.  But this tax legislation, in both its House and Senate versions, is a major threat to continued progress against hunger.”

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“This bill isn’t a tax cut – it’s a tax hike on working- and middle-class Americans,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “We should not be raising taxes on low-income and middle-class families to pay for tax cuts for companies and for high-income people.”

The Senate bill will significantly raise taxes on the lowest earners, those making between $10,000 and $30,000, starting in 2021, according to an analysis released by the Joint Committee on Taxation, which provides Congress with nonpartisan analysis on tax legislation. In 2027, everyone earning less than $75,000 would see a significant net increase in taxes.

“If this bill passes tens of millions of Americans would see their taxes go up,” Beckmann said.

The tax bill does nothing to help working Americans and their families. It fails to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit, and would end the CTC for some immigrant families.

Bread is also concerned that the bill would repeal the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Repealing the mandate would increase the number of people without health insurance by 13 million, including 5 million on Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

The budget resolution that permits $1.5 trillion in deficit spending for this tax bill also outlines more than $2 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other vital safety-net programs.

“Cutting taxes for high-income people by running up the deficit will almost certainly lead to deep cuts in programs that are important to hungry and poor people,” Beckmann said.

“Thanksgiving is a time of sharing,” Beckmann noted. “One way to get ready for Thanksgiving is to urge senators to vote against this bill.”

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“Tax policy is clearly a hunger issue,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “The big changes to tax policy that are being considered will significantly impact Americans who are struggling with hunger and poverty.”

Bread’s priorities for tax reform legislation are: increase equity and fairness in the tax code; maintain and strengthen tax credits for low-income workers; do not finance tax cuts for high-income people by cutting programs that help low-income people; and encourage work and allow new markets to flourish.

The tax code can be changed to benefit low-income families. The child tax credit (CTC) and the earned income tax credit (EITC) combined do more to encourage work and reduce hunger and poverty than any other government program. Increasing eligibility for the CTC and EITC would help move millions more Americans out of hunger and poverty.

The New Market Tax Credit has done more to reduce the number of food deserts than any other program to date, and has created up to 750,000 jobs.

Funding tax cuts by increasing deficit spending will almost certainly lead to cuts in low-income programs, such as SNAP and Medicaid. In fact, the budget resolution proposed $1.5 trillion in deficit spending for the cuts also outlined more than $2 trillion in cuts to low-income programs.

“We urge lawmakers to pass tax policies that expand opportunity for, rather that harm, low-income Americans,” Beckmann said.

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The causes and consequences of fragility do not have national borders, and can even have global dimensions. IDA’s increased focus on fragility will allow the global community to both respond to fragility, conflict, and violence, and to mitigate these risks.

IDA also takes an integrated approach to development in the countries in which it invests. For example, in recent years, 38 percent of IDA’s commitments were focused on developing the private sector to facilitate broad, inclusive growth in countries and create resilient economies.

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“There is no way our country’s 350,000 religious congregations can make up for the cuts in the services that help hungry, poor, and other vulnerable people,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “Congress should not justify budget cuts by saying that churches and charities can pick up the slack. They cannot.”

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the more than half — or $2.5 trillion over 10 years — of the Trump administration’s proposed fiscal year 2018 cuts will come from programs that help low- and moderate-income Americans.   

“President Trump has proposed a budget that includes the largest cuts ever to programs assisting struggling American families,” Beckmann said. “The healthcare cuts and the fiscal year 2018 budget cuts – both of which are being negotiated in Congress — are a double whammy for America’s struggling families.”

Bread for the World estimates that the healthcare cuts alone under the American Health Care Act will take away $2,000 a year in healthcare services from every man, woman, and child in or near poverty for the next 10 years.

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“The budget cuts proposed by President Trump would be absolutely devastating to struggling families both in the U.S. and around the world,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “Our members are here to voice their opposition to these cuts and urge their members of Congress to fully fund programs that help people living in hunger and poverty.” 

Widespread opposition to these budget cuts resulted in one of Bread’s largest Lobby Day turnouts in years. The activists’ visits are supported by hundreds of Bread members personally calling their members of Congress.

President Trump’s budget proposes drastic cuts to programs critical to helping people living in hunger and poverty in the U.S. It cuts billions from SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), refundable tax credits for low-income working families, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Medicaid would face hundreds of billions in additional cuts above the $834 billion that would already be taken from the program by the American Health Care Act.

The budget also makes severe cuts to international programs during a time of unprecedented need, when more than 20 million people are at risk of starvation in famine or near-famine conditions in South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen.

The House of Representatives is expected to introduce a budget resolution that also includes significant cuts to domestic safety-net and international development programs.

“We believe the overwhelming turnout for today’s Lobby Day proves that the American people oppose these kind of shameful, short-sighted cuts,” Beckmann said. “Bread for the World members will work tirelessly to ensure Congress passes a responsible budget that adheres to the values of our Christian faith.”  

Later today, Bread for the World will honor Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.) for their outstanding leadership toward ending hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. 

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“President Trump’s budget robs the poor to pay the rich,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “More than half of the spending cuts come from programs focused on ending hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world.”

The budget proposes drastic cuts to programs that are critical to helping people living in hunger and poverty in the U.S. It cuts SNAP (food stamps) by $193 billion, refundable tax credits for low-income working families by more than $40 billion, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) by more than $21 billion. Medicaid would receive an additional $610 billion cut above the $880 billion already taken from the program in the American Health Care Act, which passed the House earlier this month.

“The proposed cuts are a double whammy for the 1 in 8 families in the United States who are at risk of hunger,” Beckmann said. “Millions of working families struggling to make ends meet would be pushed into hunger and poverty by this budget. Millions more who are already living in hunger and poverty would find themselves with nowhere to turn.”

The budget also makes severe cuts to international programs during a time of unprecedented need. It eliminates funding for International Food Aid, the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program, and Development Assistance. Global nutrition programs are cut by almost half. Currently, 20 million people are at risk of starvation in famine or near-famine conditions in Africa and the Middle East.

“The U.S. must continue its leadership during times of global crisis,” Beckmann said. “I urge people of conscience to contact their members of Congress and tell them to vigorously resist these budget cuts.”

In response to Trump’s budget, Bread and its faith partners have launched a nationwide, monthly fast to ask God’s help with their advocacy for hungry and poor people. 

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“There are no two ways about it. President Trump’s budget is an unprecedented assault on people living in hunger and poverty,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “Together with his recent health care cuts, especially to Medicaid, this is a double whammy on vulnerable people.”

President Trump is expected to release his fiscal year 2018 budget tomorrow.  The budget is said to contain massive cuts to or completely defund programs that help poor and hungry people in the United States and around the world.

According to reports, Trump’s budget drastically cuts funding for global nutrition and food security assistance programs in a time of unprecedented crisis. Twenty million people, including 1.4 million children, are at risk of starvation in famine or near-famine conditions in Africa and the Middle East.

“This is a time for the United States to show its global leadership,” Beckmann said, “But Trump’s unconscionable budget eliminates funding for global maternal and child nutrition, such as McGovern-Dole, Food for Peace, and most of Feed the Future, among other lifesaving programs.”

Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget also contains $800 billion in cuts to programs that are critical to helping poor and hungry people in the U.S. These include SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), refundable tax credits, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid, which would get even deeper cuts beyond the $880 billion axed in the American Health Care Act. Deeper Medicaid cuts would add many more millions to the 14 million men, women, and children who would lose their Medicaid coverage under the American Health Care Act.

“Candidate Trump talked about the ‘forgotten man and woman,’ but President Trump’s policies are a huge threat to struggling people in our country and around the world,” Beckmann said. “I urge all people of conscience to call on their members of Congress to vigorously resist these cuts.”

Yesterday, Bread and its faith partners launched a nationwide, monthly fast to ask God’s help with their advocacy for hungry and poor people. 

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“From leaked reports we know President Trump’s budget is continuing his big push for unprecedented cuts to programs that are important to hungry people in our country and around the world,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “Like Esther in the Bible, we are well positioned for such a time as this. Fasting together in faith, we ask for God’s help and guidance in challenging attacks on poor, hungry, and vulnerable people.” 

The fast, called For Such a Time as This, begins today with a 3-day fast by Beckmann and other local and national faith leaders. It continues with prayer and fasting every 21st day of the month through December 2018, the last month of the 115th Congress.

On May 23, President Donald Trump will release his budget for fiscal year 2018. The budget is expected to contain unprecedented cuts to programs that help poor and hungry people in the United States and around the world. This is on top of the American Health Care Act’s $880 billion cut to Medicaid for low-income people. 

“The cuts to Medicaid and the proposed budget cuts to social safety net programs such as SNAP are a double whammy for people who struggle to feed their families,” Beckmann said. “We hope the fast spreads widely, with many people and organizations finding this a helpful way to deepen and intensify our commitment to advocacy. 

For Such a Time as This recalls the biblical story of Esther. Esther used her access to the Persian emperor to save her people, the Jews, from destruction. She and her community fasted and prayed to strengthen her commitment to advocacy.

Other leaders of this national fast include: Arturo Chavez, president & CEO, Mexican American Catholic College; Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, presiding bishop and primate, Episcopal Church; Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Tony Hall, executive director emeritus, Alliance to End Hunger; Anwar Khan, CEO, Islamic Relief USA; The Honorable Barbara Lee, member, U.S. House of Representatives; Rev. Carlos Malavé, executive director, Christian Churches Together in the USA; Most Reverend Richard E. Pates, Roman Catholic Bishop of Des Moines; Senior Bishop Lawrence Reddick III, presiding bishop, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; Dr. Barbara Williams Skinner, co-chair, National African American Clergy Network; and Jim Wallis, president and founder, Sojourners.

More information about the fast can be found at: 

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Un presupuesto es más que un documento financiero — es a la vez un documento moral. Es una declaración de las prioridades y los valores de nuestra nación. Nuestro presupuesto federal se debe medir por cómo trata a los más vulnerables entre nosotros.

Al establecer un presupuesto, los legisladores en el Congreso pueden cambiar las políticas, los programas y las condiciones que permiten que persistan el hambre y la pobreza. Con solo un plumazo al aprobar un presupuesto federal, se crean políticas que pueden reorientar millones de dólares y afectar a millones de vidas.

The post Fundamentos del presupuesto: El Hambre y el presupuesto nacional appeared first on Bread for the World.

This guide answers the questions:

• How is the federal government’s budget put together?
• Why is it an important tool and place for advocacy to end hunger?

In simple terms, this fact sheet and our corresponding infographic explain the often complex process of developing a budget for the federal government.

The post Budget 101 appeared first on Bread for the World.

Reconciliation bills have special fast-track privileges that allow them to more easily pass through Congress. They cannot be filibustered in the Senate, and there’s limited opportunity for amendment.

The post Budget Reconciliation 101 appeared first on Bread for the World.

The bipartisan budget deal provides more than $1 billion for famine relief in parts of Africa and the Middle East. It also protects domestic and international poverty-focused programs from budget cuts proposed by Trump. 

“Bread for the World congratulates budget negotiators for including funding for famine relief in the 2017 appropriations bill,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “In addition to providing lifesaving famine relief, the bill protects programs that help poor and hungry people in the United States and developing countries – a clear victory for those who rely on these programs. We thank the negotiators for their work and urge lawmakers to support this bill.” 

In addition to funding famine relief, the bill keeps funding flat for international maternal and child nutrition programs, including the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. The bill also increases funding for global health programs and development assistance.    

On the domestic side, the bill funds WIC and summer meals for children at the same levels as last year. It increases funding for Head Start, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and nutrition programs for senior citizens.

“The Trump administration is also proposing steep cuts to foreign aid and domestic hunger and poverty programs in the fiscal year 2018 budget. We hope that lawmakers do the right thing and reject the proposed cuts and fully fund these vital programs,” Beckmann added. 

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“The Trump administration’s plan to gut foreign aid would have catastrophic consequences world-wide,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “The proposed cuts would result in the deaths of millions of people, especially children, from famine and malnutrition. These cuts would roll back the tremendous progress we’ve made against hunger.”   

The Trump administration would cut foreign aid by more than one third, according to the White House’s ‘skinny budget’ released in March and a detailed State Department budget document obtained exclusively by Foreign Policy.

The cuts would zero out or gut many key programs, like Feed the Future. The administration is also considering plans to fold USAID into the State Department, likely redefining its core mission. USAID currently operates as a separate government agency.

U.S. foreign assistance has saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. It has enabled countries to become more stable and self-sufficient, creating new trading partners and allies. In addition, it has also brought new farming techniques to regions experiencing climate change; immunized tens of millions of children; and helped reduce childhood stunting through proven nutritional interventions.

“While lawmakers and others from both sides of the aisle have spoken out against many of the administration’s proposed cuts, it is our fear that we will still see sizable reductions to development assistance programs,” Beckmann said. “Any significant funding cuts Congress makes to development programs will be devastating not only now, but also for the future.”

The administration is proposing these cuts as the world is experiencing the worst famine crisis in a decade. More than 20 million people in four countries are at risk.    

“Hunger and poverty provide fertile ground for terrorists and others who would do us harm,” Beckmann added. “It would do the administration well to look more closely into the important role U.S. foreign assistance plays in our national security. This includes an independent USAID that is focused, evidence-based and results oriented with strong technical expertise and adequate resources.”    

The post Trump’s Foreign Aid Cuts Would Be ‘Catastrophic’ appeared first on Bread for the World.

Although full budget details are still to come, there is enough top-line information to assess the impact of the #skinnybudget on mothers, children, the elderly, and other vulnerable people.

The first two infographics focus on taxpayers’ costs for President Trump’s weekend trips to his exclusive Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, since becoming president, and how that money could be used to help seniors receive meals and school children receive after-school snacks.

It costs taxpayers approximately $3.5 million every time Trump spends a weekend in Mar-a-Lago, according to news reports. Since he became president, this has reached $16.5 million which is enough to provide 114,583 poor children with after-school snacks for one year. It is also equivalent to feeding up to 6,000 seniors for a year in the Meals on Wheels program.

The memes can be downloaded from Bread for the World’s Flickr page at:

School snacks infographic: https://bit.ly/2nGL6TK

Meals on Wheels infographic: https://bit.ly/2mp9V6o

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“President Trump and our new Congress have this week started to slash programs that help hungry people. Their actions don’t square with the lofty rhetoric of the president’s first speech to Congress.

“President Trump promised a better future for all Americans, but the day before his speech he began a process of deep funding cuts to many domestic programs. While the president spoke about making sure that no one is dropped from Medicaid, the House of Representatives is moving forward with plans to cut Medicaid.

“The president promised to create jobs through infrastructure and tax cuts, including tax cuts for the middle class. But Trump has yet to translate his campaign rhetoric on these issues into specific proposals. Fulfilling all the big promises in his speech to Congress will require funding cuts, and the cuts are likely to fall heavily on programs that help struggling Americans.

“President Trump’s speech ended with hopes for a world of justice and peace. Yet he is deporting many immigrants who are living and working peaceably in this country, and the White House just announced that the president wants to cut U.S. assistance to hungry and poor people around the world by 30 percent.

“Bread for the World welcomes President Trump’s new appeal for unity in our badly divided nation. But the president’s newly positive tone is in tension with the cuts that he and Congress are making in programs that help families who are struggling with hunger and poverty.”

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“President Trump is proposing slashing programs that help hungry and poor people,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “These programs include nutrition assistance in the U.S. and aid to poor and hungry people around the world. This comes when 20 million people are at risk of famine in South Sudan and elsewhere in Africa. Everyone should be alarmed by these cuts.”     

According to the Office of Management and Budget, the State Department should expect significant budget cuts. Funding for foreign aid and nutrition and development programs comes from the State Department’s budget. These programs help reduce malnutrition and significantly improve the lives of mothers and children.  

In his draft budget outline released today, Trump proposes a 15 percent cut across all non-defense discretionary spending. Selected programs are slated for significantly higher cuts. Currently, the US spends less than 1 cent per dollar on foreign aid, but even this could be cut by 30 percent. The Department of Defense would get a $54 billion boost.

“Last year, we saw the number of people suffering from hunger and poverty in this country fall,” said Beckmann. “Cutting funding for anti-poverty programs will increase hunger and poverty. We cannot let poor and hungry people suffer further. Americans need to contact their members of Congress and tell them to stop this madness.” 

While an outline of the budget was released today, the full details are slated to be available on March 14. 

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“Peaceful, inclusive, and well-governed societ[ies]” as described in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 are a necessary condition for countries seeking to end hunger and extreme poverty by 2030. States that build inclusive institutions are more likely to provide social safety nets and achieve the broadly-shared economic growth needed to lift people out of poverty. Low tax revenues, illicit financial flows out of the country, and corruption pose barriers to such institutional development.

While U.S. assistance in countries that are low-income, fragile, or both should aim to help them overcome any of these barriers to DRM, this paper focuses primarily on taxation. Effective tax systems can help strengthen institutions by encouraging citizens to monitor their governments and insist on social services. Yet many fragile and/or low-income countries need support for broader capacity building before they can benefit from tax reform.

Download Briefing Paper 29 using the link under Downloads below:

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Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise…
— Isaiah 54:11 (NIV)

(Jesus) got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’
— Mark 4:39-41 (NIV)

These Scriptures were shared at an interfaith prayer service at the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis in New Orleans, La., earlier this week in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

These verses invite us to ask important questions. Is New Orleans beyond the affliction of Hurricane Katrina? Are the people of New Orleans comforted by signs of progress? What about the rebuilding of the city? What about the faith of the people? Leaders from many sectors in New Orleans and nationally agree that New Orleanians have been a resilient people, both before and after the storm.  

At a national forum in New Orleans this week, speakers pointed to the development of a regional economy that is more diverse and infused by an entrepreneurial spirit, confirmed by a recent report by The Data Center concerning New Orleans’ progress since the storm. There are other positive trends too, including better-quality public schools, the decline of incarceration rates by nearly half, and a surge in youth investments, according to those who spoke at the forum.

Still, racial disparities, poverty, and environmental trends continue to challenge the gains. The Data Center reports that poverty rates in New Orleans have risen to pre-Katrina levels at “a now crushingly high 27 percent.” The disparity in incomes between black and white households was 54 percent, compared to 40 percent nationally in 2013, with only 57 percent of black men employed in New Orleans.

But the most concerning issue that New Orleans faces is environmental in nature, specifically, coastal erosion and sea level rise. Since Katrina, four more hurricanes have hit New Orleans, causing extensive flooding and wind damage. “Since 1932, the New Orleans region has lost nearly 30 percent of the land that forms its protective buffer from hurricane storm surge, and saltwater is increasingly infiltrating groundwater within the levee walls,” according to a report by The Data Center.

While Hurricane Katrina occurred in a specific region, the lessons learned are for all of us today. Climate change is national and global. Our infrastructure, much of which was built 50 years ago, needs more systematic attention. Movements like Black Lives Matter point to the perpetual challenges of race, hunger, and poverty.

Nevertheless, New Orleanians have proven they are resilient. The 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is a rallying call to all of us to name the afflictions in our communities, comfort and encourage all of God’s people, identify and implement strategies of empowerment for all, and to be proactive about rebuilding our infrastructure to help protect our environment.

Doing this will require a spirit of resilience that leads us to step out in faith, engage our imagination, and thereby create new possibilities in the midst of challenges. New Orleanians are leading and teaching us anew about how to do this. May all of us find ways to do likewise.

Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith is Bread for the World’s national senior associate for African-American and African church engagement.

Photo: The Lower Ninth Ward sustained catastrophic flooding following Hurricane Katrina. Ten years later, the neighborhood has not fully recovered. In the background are houses being built in the area by actor Brad Pitt’s nonprofit foundation. Wikimedia Commons.

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Nearly two hours. The Senate Finance Committee on July 21 spent nearly two hours talking about expired tax benefits. Many items came up during those two hours: biodiesel, conservation easements, stationary fuel cells, bonus depreciation, how much extending tax credits retroactively actually incentivizes behavior, and the need to make many of these tax credits permanent.

What didn’t come up? The two tax credits that prevent more people from falling into poverty than any other program in the United States, outside of Social Security. The only two tax credits that specifically benefit low-income working families. The two tax credits that have been proven to get more parents into the workforce, improve test scores among children, and help families move into the middle class.

What tax credits didn’t come up in those two hours? The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC).

Just like the other tax breaks discussed during the committee’s markup of a bill to extend certain expired tax provisions, Congress must act to prevent key provisions of the EITC and CTC from expiring. Just like some of the other tax breaks discussed during the markup, these credits — with their recent improvements — should be made permanent.

True, these improvements don’t expire until 2017, but senators repeatedly spoke up about how certain credits should become permanent. They talked eloquently about how businesses need certainty. But no one said a peep about making the current EITC and CTC benefits permanent. No one talked about certainty for low-income working families, struggling to put food on the table and making ends meet.

Unlike the other tax credits that were discussed, the EITC and CTC don’t affect foreign pensions. They don’t affect fisheries in the American Samoa. And they don’t reward companies for capital investment.

Many of the tax benefits in the markup bill are good.  But this is about priorities. And as long as we’re talking about prioritizing bonus depreciation for capital investment, then we also should prioritize preventing 16.4 million people, including 7.7 million children, from falling into or deeper into poverty. We should prioritize preventing 50 million Americans from losing some or all of their EITC or CTC. This is what will happen if Congress fails to continue the EITC and CTC improvements.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a real EITC and CTC champion (and Bread for the World Lobby Day award recipient), got called away during the bill’s markup. He planned to introduce an amendment to make the 2009 EITC and CTC improvements permanent. But with his absence, no other senator raised the subject.

Are you outraged over the silence around the EITC and CTC? Then take a moment to email your senators.

Take Action on this Issue      Learn more

Amelia Kegan is deputy director of government relations at Bread for the World.

Photo: Heather Rude-Turner, reading to her son Isaac, depends on the Earned Income Tax Credit to help support her family. Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World.

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Ending global hunger requires enabling and equipping all people — all 7 billion and counting — to feed themselves and their families, no matter where they live. As the world makes steady progress against hunger, one inconvenient truth is that the people and communities still living with hunger become harder and harder to reach. This is, after all, why many have not benefited from the progress made so far.

Many of the “last miles” in building food security are in the world’s 50 identified fragile and conflict-affected states. It’s not hard to understand why conflict-affected countries have high rates of hunger. The main aim of conflict — destruction — is directly at odds with what’s needed for sustainable development. Peace is a precondition for lasting progress on hunger. In its absence, local, national, and international humanitarian relief efforts are saving countless lives, but they can at best hold the line on hunger. They can’t enable nations, communities, or individuals to move forward.

What makes a country “fragile”? In its June 2015 report, States of Fragility, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), one of the main sources of information and analysis on fragile states, argues that fragility can apply to some degree in any country.

The report identifies five factors, based on indicators in the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that help determine a country’s degree of fragility. These are:  

• peaceful and inclusive societies
• access to justice
• accountable and inclusive institutions
• economic inclusion and stability
• capacities to prevent and adapt to social, economic, and environmental shocks and disasters

Unsurprisingly, the countries identified as weak in all five clusters form a very similar list of countries as earlier lists of fragile states. These are the Central African Republic (CAR),  Guinea, Chad, Swaziland, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Yemen, and Sudan.

But countries that are vulnerable based on just a couple of the five areas include some that have not traditionally been considered fragile — for example, Venezuela, Fiji, and Kenya. In fact, the report says, 12 countries on the OECD “50 most fragile” have never appeared on a list of fragile states.

States that have a significant degree of fragility thus vary widely — in size, location, income level, specific challenges, and more. The world’s remaining 795 million hungry people have not yet all been “mapped” precisely, but we know that a large number of them live in fragile and conflict-affected states.

This blog post has only just begun to consider where to start in the world’s difficult but essential task of reaching hungry people in such a variety of difficult situations. Future posts will consider some examples of countries where hungry people are concentrated and look at research on policy improvements that could better enable them to feed themselves and their families. 

Michele Learner is Associate Editor for Bread for the World Institute, the policy research arm of Bread for the World. Bread for the World Institute is a 501(c)3 organization.

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“We welcome the G-7’s decision to continue its focus on food security by committing to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030,” said Asma Lateef, director of the Bread for the World Institute. “It builds on previous G-7 commitments on hunger and nutrition, specifically the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, and ensures these actions continue to empower women, smallholder and family farmers.”

The G-7 leaders made this commitment at the end of their annual summit in Schloss Elmau, Krun, Germany, June 7-8. The G-7 is composed of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In advance of the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on all G-7 countries to end hunger and absolute poverty by 2030.

One of the ways the United States can support this commitment is through the passage of the Global Food Security Act. It authorizes and improves the government’s Feed the Future program. The program, which Bread for the World has supported, works hand-in-hand with partner countries to develop their agriculture sectors and break the cycles of hunger, poverty, and malnutrition.

“The United States’ leadership has been important in focusing global attention on hunger and malnutrition. Congress should demonstrate similar leadership by passing the Global Food Security Act,” said Eric Mitchell, director of government relations at Bread for the World. “This legislation has strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, and we urge congressional leaders to move this legislation forward and support its passage.”

Last month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization announced that world hunger had dropped by 167 million in the previous decade, to 795 million. This was due in part to programs like Feed the Future, which are investing in small farmers in developing countries, increasing their productivity and their incomes.

The post Bread for the World Applauds G-7’s Commitment to Lift 500 Million Out of Hunger,Urges Congress to Pass the Global Food Security Act appeared first on Bread for the World.

This report identifies challenges for small immigrant entrepreneurs and promising practices to better support them in three case study sites: Miami, Florida; Des Moines, Iowa; and Salt Lake City, Utah. President Obama’s November 2014 executive action granting deferred deportation and work permits to millions of unauthorized immigrants offers a unique opportunity to expand the power of immigrant small entrepreneurship to boost local economic growth. But to realize this potential, immigrants need better access to finance, culturally relevant business training, and a path to permanent legalization.

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“As African-Americans, we still suffer from some of the highest rates of hunger and poverty in the country despite the growth of our country’s economy since 2008,” said Eric Mitchell, director of government relations at Bread for the World. “The lack of jobs that pay fair wages is preventing people of color from moving out of poverty and the recession.”

The median income for African-Americans in 2013 (latest available data) was $24,864, significantly lower than the median for all Americans. Poverty affected nearly three out of ten African-Americans or nearly twice the average rate for the general population. The same rates hold in terms of their ability to feed their families.

The problem is worsened by the effects of mass incarceration; currently the United States holds the highest number of people in prison in the world. “Incarceration for non-violent criminal offenses aggravates the situation for black people in America since these laws, time and again, put people of color behind bars at a higher rate than white people for the same offense,” said Mitchell.

African-Americans constitute nearly half of the total 2.3 million prison population in the country. Once a person has a criminal record, the act of providing for one’s self and family becomes exponentially harder. Many states deny returning citizens access to such programs as SNAP, even while they look for work. For those who are lucky to land a job, their yearly earnings are reduced by as much as 40 percent. “The best way to combat hunger and poverty in the African-American community is through jobs that pay fair wages, strong safety-net programs, and by ensuring laws are in place to protect people and not further marginalize them from society,” Mitchell added.

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Immigrants — including lower-skilled immigrants — help generate jobs and economic growth for U.S.-born workers. Immigrants are a disproportionate number of our country’s entrepreneurs. This is particularly true in Rust Belt cities, where immigrants are more likely to be entrepreneurs than they are in more traditional immigrant gateways. But to make their full potential economic impact in the Rust Belt, unauthorized immigrants need a path to citizenship.

The post A Tale of Two Cities (and a Town): Immigrants in the Rust Belt appeared first on Bread for the World.

In spite of the role they play in U.S. agriculture, unauthorized immigrant farm workers labor under increasingly hostile conditions. The Agricultural Job Opportunity, B enefits and Security bill (AgJOBS)  as developed by farmers and farmworker advocates to regularize the status of workers in the agriculture sector. Public concern about unauthorized immigration has held up prospects of enacting the bill into law. Farm workers should be legalized so they can work without fear of deportation and so that farmers have access to workers they need. Immigrant agricultural workers can also support human capital renewal on farms struggling to recruit the next generation of farm operators. Rural communities in Mexico — where immigrant farm workers originate — should be integrated into a U.S. agricultural guest worker program that benefits U.S. and Mexican farmers.

The post Farm Workers and Immigration Policy appeared first on Bread for the World.

Over the past decade, the MDGs have become in many ways the most accessible set of global benchmarks — embraced by governments, civil society actors, grassroots and youth-focused groups, and celebrities alike.

However, progress on the MDGs as a whole is a mixed bag, particularly in Africa, where many of the MDG targets will not be met. For most of the past decade, global hunger has steadily increased, particularly in 2008-2009 as a food price crisis emerged in tandem with the global economic downturn. One of the most important requirements for progress on the MDGs is clear leadership at the country level, including the integration of the goals into national planning.

With a focused strategy, based on measurable results, the United States can redouble its efforts to accelerate progress on the MDGs.

The post The MDG Summit: Strengthening the U.S. Role in Accelerating Progress appeared first on Bread for the World.

The U.S. strategy in Haiti must strengthen Haitian government capacity at each stage of the recovery process, focus on poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth, and make long-term development the primary objective. We need a strong development agency to carry out our objectives in supporting Haiti’s long-term reconstruction; USAID should be fully equipped to lead U.S. government efforts in Haiti. Our work in Haiti should ultimately result in concrete, measurable, and sustainable outcomes on the ground for Haitian people.

The post Rebuilding Haiti: Making Aid Work for the Haitian People appeared first on Bread for the World.

Developed countries have agreed to establish a policy environment that does not undermine efforts for developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Goal Eight calls for developed countries to ensure greater coherence among an array of policies critical to achieving the MDGs. On policies related to trade, migration, and intellectual property rights, the United States and other rich countries are not living up to this agreement.

Improving its policies in trade, migration, and intellectual property rights would not only prove that the United States is fully committed to global development, but also would increase the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance.

The post More Than Aid: Partnership for Development appeared first on Bread for the World.

Effective aid includes clear objectives, host-country “ownership,” accountability and flexibility, longterm commitments, integrated approaches, and adequate and reliable resources. In working toward a more effective development assistance program, nothing less than a comprehensive reauthorization of the Foreign Assistance Act is required, and this should include a cabinet-level department for global development.

The United States must provide leadership commensurate with its resources and values. Reforming foreign assistance would strengthen the U.S. reputation around the world, and beyond that, it would be part of a more sophisticated and realistic approach to national security.

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Of the 862 million poor people around the world who are chronically hungry, 75 percent live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their earnings. Increasing agricultural productivity in poor countries is critical to reducing hunger. It increases food supply, which lowers food prices.

Poor people benefit the most because they spend a much greater share of their income on food. Increasing the productivity of smallholder farmers also raises their incomes, improving their ability to cope.

Over the last twenty years, donors have been partners in a progressive decline in support for agriculture and rural development. A substantial increase in funding for agriculture is needed but aid by itself won’t be enough. Reforming trade distorting policies in rich countries is also necessary. In addition, developing countries themselves have to provide supportive policies, along with additional investments, for donor resources to be effective.

The post Ending Hunger: The Role of Agriculture appeared first on Bread for the World.

Developing nations face many barriers to achieving the MDGs, some unique and country-specific, others broadly shared. Common problems faced by fragile nations can be grouped into four areas: poor starting conditions; weak governance and institutions; conflict and instability; and environmental degradation.

To meet the MDGs and create a sustainable path to development, countries must adopt policies and programs to overcome these problems. Developed countries have a role to play in overcoming these barriers. Aid donors, particularly the United States, must ensure that development assistance is flexible enough to help countries address these challenges and meet the MDGs.

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