The Hill: Global development initiatives — why it matters
Sylvain Roy, president and CEO of Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA)

“…[W]hy should the United States invest in supporting global development while we are facing many urgent needs domestically? How do we justify spending money abroad to address the world’s food security needs when so many pressing issues need to be addressed within our own country? The answer is simple. … First, in the most pragmatic sense, helping others in the world to produce a dependable supply of food enhances America’s national security. … Second … improving the ability of smallholder farmers to move beyond subsistence farming helps elevate whole communities. … Third, helping to fund the training of farmers to adopt better agricultural practices … helps improve quality along the food value chain … Fourth, providing agricultural technical assistance … creates a two-way exchange. … Finally, there is the matter of our moral responsibility. … Those are only five reasons. But there are many more. That is why it is imperative to continue to include international development efforts — like those the Global Food Security Act will fund — as a ‘key pillar of American foreign policy’…” (8/9).