united states department of agriculture foreign agricultural service overview of usda nutrition and...

United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture

ForeignAgriculturalService

Overview of USDA Nutrition and Overview of USDA Nutrition and Quality Improvement EffortsQuality Improvement Efforts

Roger P. MirelesRoger P. Mireles

Assistant Deputy AdministratorAssistant Deputy Administrator

Office of Capacity Building and DevelopmentOffice of Capacity Building and Development

Foreign Agricultural Service/USDAForeign Agricultural Service/USDA

June 28, 2011June 28, 2011



• GAO Report Foreign Assistance: Multiple Challenges Hinder the Efficiency and Effectiveness of U.S. Food Aid (2007)

• SUSTAIN Food Aid Quality Project (2008)

• GAO Report International Food Assistance: A U.S. Government wide Strategy Could Accelerate Progress toward Global Food Security (2009)

• GAO Report Better Nutrition and Quality Control Can Further Improve U.S. Food Aid (2011)

• Tufts University Food Aid Quality Review: Delivering Improved Nutrition (2011)

Recent studies on the efficiency Recent studies on the efficiency and effectiveness of U.S. food aidand effectiveness of U.S. food aid



• In FY 2010, $14 M allocated to develop more nutritious and micornutrient-fortified food aid products

– Food Aid Nutritional Education Program ($3.8 M)

– Micronutrient-Fortified Food Aid Products Pilot ($10 M)

Focus on MicronutrientsFocus on Micronutrients



Food Aid Nutritional Food Aid Nutritional Education ProgramEducation Program

• Supports the development and field testing of new ready-to-use foods

•fortified blended foods•high-energy foods•micronutrient powders

• Johns Hopkins University received a $2.7 M grant to address childhood stunting and severe wasting in Bangladesh

• PATH was awarded a $1 M grant in Burundi to help in the development of iron-fortified Ultra Rice



Micronutrient-Fortified Micronutrient-Fortified Food Aid Products PilotFood Aid Products Pilot

• Aimed at development and field testing of new or improved

micronutrient- fortified food aid products

• Identify new products that could be provided through McGovern-Dole programs globally

• First award $1.5 M to IPHD to test new micronutrient-rich

ready-to-use supplementary food



• USG reviewing whether additional tests for mycotoxins are needed for food aid products

Testing for Mycotoxins inTesting for Mycotoxins inFood Aid CommoditiesFood Aid Commodities

• How?

– USDA has been soliciting input from the commercial sector to have a better understanding of the presence of mycotoxins in food products and the practicality of testing

• Why?

– 4.5 billion people in are chronically

exposed to dangerous levels of

aflatoxin

– recognize the importance of food aid

quality and safety in humanitarian assistance



• U.S. committed $12 million to support the Partnership on Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA)

U.S. Supports AflatoxinU.S. Supports AflatoxinControl EffortsControl Efforts

• The PACA is committed to a holistic approach to aflatoxin control

• USDA is collaborating closely with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

• Links with country-driven priorities to help sustainably transform agricultural systems



• Currently rely solely on the quality control systems of blended/fortified product vendors

• Only Corn Soy Blend and Wheat Soy Blend have mandatory USG sampling and testing

• USDA in the process of moving toward sampling and testing on all other blended/fortified commodities

Improvements to the Testing Improvements to the Testing and Sampling of Commoditiesand Sampling of Commodities



New Commodity New Commodity Procurement GuidelinesProcurement Guidelines

• USDA is transitioning from sealed bid procurement to negotiated procurement through Requests for Proposals (RFP)

• Allows for the use of technical evaluation factors such as past performance, quality control and price when making contract award decisions

• FSA currently has two RFPs issued covering Corn Soy Blend and Corn Soy Blend Plus, and Emergency Food Products

• USDA received responses to both RFPs and is evaluating these proposals



• 2009 – Vegetable oil specifications changed to enhance the closure and durability of cans

• 2011 – Increased utilization of “best if used by dates”

Packaging ImprovementsPackaging Improvements



Thank you…

united states department of agriculture foreign agricultural service overview of usda nutrition and...

Documents

food aid slide

food products

food aid commodities

food aid quality project

importance of food aid

supplementary food slide

global food security

agricultural systems