Remarks by the President at Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security

And you see our new approach in our food security initiative, Feed the Future. Instead of simply handing out food, we’ve partnered with countries in pursuit of ambitious goals: better nutrition to prevent the stunting and the death of millions of children, and raising the incomes of millions of people, most of them farmers. The good news is we’re on track to meet our goals. 

As President, I consider this a moral imperative. As the wealthiest nation on Earth, I believe the United States has a moral obligation to lead the fight against hunger and malnutrition, and to partner with others. 

So we take pride in the fact that, because of smart investments in nutrition and agriculture and safety nets, millions of people in Kenya and Ethiopia did not need emergency aid in the recent drought. 

But whentens of thousands of children die from the agony of starvation, as in Somalia, that sends us a message we’ve still got a lot of work to do.  It’s unacceptable. It’s an outrage. It’s an affront to who we are.