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The United States as a donor
In 2003, the United States of America contributed some US$16.25 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA) to help the world’s poor – more than any other country. Since 1961, when President John F. Kennedy put his signature to the Foreign Assistance Act, the greater part of US development aid has been administered through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Of the four US agencies dedicated to development, USAID is by far the largest and today works in more than 100 countries. Because 75 per cent of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas, USAID gives high priority to increased agricultural productivity in the countries in which it works. It is currently revitalizing its agriculture programmes. In 2002 the regional Initiative to End Hunger in Africa was launched. It was designed to help fulfil the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. The Initiative is an effort over several years that aims to increase agricultural growth and rural incomes. Food aid is an important ingredient of US foreign assistance. Each year USAID and the Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service help provide millions of tons of US agricultural commodities to feed hungry people in poor countries through direct donations or concessional programmes. The United States is the number one provider of food aid to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), contributing more than US$1.0 billion in 2004. The Millennium Challenge Account The US Congress subsequently authorized a new government corporation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, to administer the account, and provided US$1.0 billion in initial funding for Fiscal Year 2004. It subsequently voted an additional US$1.5 billion for Fiscal Year 2005. The President has pledged to increase funding for the MCA to US$5.0 billion in the future. Read more:
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