--Lobbying: organize lobby visits and delegations; maintain positive, familiar relationships with appropriate staffer; report all legistlative activity to OA staff
--Actions to legislators: convey specific strategic details of actions to volunteers
--Follow policy updates; maintain message discipline among group
Current focus- food aid reform:
What's wrong with the current system? Despite the best of intentions, American food aid is too often slow reaching people in need, inefficient, and wastes money:
- Inefficient Procurement: delivery of U.S.-grown emergency food aid takes an average of 130 days, while local procurement of emergency food aid takes an average of 56 days.
- High Transportation Costs: Transportation and other overhead costs can eat up as much as 53 cents for every dollar of grains shipped.
- 'Monetization' of Aid: "Monetization" is a means by which NGOs translate food aid into funds by selling the aid in local markets. It's 2% less efficient and undercuts local farmers. The U.S. should end monetization and fund valuable NGO projects directly.
The Proposal:
The President's proposal would shift food aid funding from the Department of Agriculture to USAID, end monetization, and provide flexibility to respond to hunger needs around the world. In FY2012, Food for Peace funding was $1.466 billion; while final FY2013 figures are not yet available, it is estimated that the funding level will be $1.359 billion. For FY2014, funds would be re-allocated as proposed:
- $1.1 billion in International Disaster Assistance (IDA) funds to respond to emergencies. When added to the $300 million already in the IDA account, a total of $1.4 billion would be available for emergency food aid.
- $250 million for a Community Development and Resilience Fund in the Development Assistance (DA) account. When added to $80 million already in DA to address chronic poverty, build resilience, and help prevent food crises, a total of $330 million would be available for these important programs, which have been funded through monetization of aid.
- $75 million for a new Emergency Food Assistance Contingency Fund for unexpected needs worldwide.
