Intern Blog Series – Kansas Feeds the World: How Agricultural Partnerships Strengthen U.S. Global Leadership

During a Senate floor speech in May, Senator Jerry Moran emphasized Kansas’s legacy of global agricultural leadership: “A call to feed the world has been answered by many Kansans, and farmers, and ranchers.” This observation reflects a broader strategic reality: since the 1950s, Kansas has played an integral role in the United States’ efforts to provide life-saving food to communities around the world. For over seven decades, Kansas has played a vital role in the United States’ efforts to provide life-saving food to communities around the world. The state’s production of grains has helped open new markets for America’s farmers while contributing to the peace and stability of regions worldwide.

Farmer to Food Aid Connection

U.S. food aid programs originated from a national emergency turned economic opportunity. In the aftermath of World War II, agricultural surpluses in the U.S. overwhelmed farmers and presented a challenge to lawmakers. Storing the surpluses would have cost the government millions of dollars, all for the food itself to expire. At a Farm Bureau meeting in Cheyenne County, Kansas, a local wheat farmer named Peter O’Brien suggested that the surpluses could be packaged and sent to countries facing food insecurity. Former Kansas Senator Andy Schoeppel introduced the legislation that became the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, the official installation of U.S. global food programs. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a fellow Kansan, signed the Act into law. Driven by Kansan leadership, American food aid programs were thus born.

Today, U.S. international food aid programs have fulfilled Peter O’Brien’s vision of feeding the world. By 2020, the Feed the Future Program had reduced hunger for 5.2 million families, averted stunting caused by nutrition in 3.4 million children, and lifted 23.4 million individuals out of poverty. The McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program has provided more than 5.5 billion school meals to 44 million children from 48 countries since its founding in 2002. And as of February 2025, the Food for Peace Program had fed 4 billion people in 150 countries.

Economic Returns for the U.S.

Food aid programs demonstrate measurable returns on investment for American agriculture, with government contracts supporting both humanitarian goals and domestic economic growth. In 2020 alone, the U.S. government purchased nearly $2 billion in surplus agricultural commodities from American farmers to support global food aid programs. The programs’ funding has bolstered American leadership in food assistance. Around 40% of all global food assistance is supplied by American farmers, which promotes a high global demand for American crops. Farmers’ partnerships with food aid programs helped U.S. agricultural exports reach record levels in 2021 and 2022. Increased exports translate to increased economic activity for American farmers, as well. 8,619 full-time American jobs are sustained by every $1 billion in U.S. agricultural exports, while every dollar from the exports stimulates an added $1.87 in U.S. business activity. The income generated by global food aid contracts helps fund schools, healthcare systems, and infrastructure projects in rural areas where farming serves as the economic lifeline of the community.

In Kansas, international food assistance programs have allowed farmers to build relationships with communities thousands of miles away. The World Food Program (WFP), a global food aid program funded by the U.S., utilizes hard red winter wheat as one of its primary grains for refugees and other vulnerable populations. Kansas farmers produce nearly a quarter of America’s wheat supply. WFP rations, supported by Kansas crops, helped the majority of the 300,000 residents in the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya prevent starvation. Doug Keesling, a Kansan wheat farmer, has travelled to every African country and witnessed firsthand how food aid programs not only help communities survive but provide support in building agricultural self-reliance. “Africa has always been a love for me – trying to understand the continent and how African farmers can succeed,” says Keesling. “I’ve seen from my travels that when you give food, you give hope. And when you have hope, you find ways to fix things.”

Kansas Answering the Call: Continued U.S. Agricultural Leadership

When international food assistance programs are fully funded, both American farmers and global communities benefit – strengthening regional stability and long-term market relationships.

At a Kansas agriculture roundtable in February, the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, affirmed the state’s lasting impact on U.S. farming: “Kansas is at the heart of American agriculture, and its farmers and ranchers play a critical role in feeding the world.”  The accomplishments of Food for Peace, McGovern-Dole, and other global food aid programs show how Kansas farmers not only strengthen America’s agricultural leadership but also help communities worldwide achieve greater food security. Their success stories underscore the importance of continuing investments that connect American producers to global partners, ensuring America’s farmers remain at the forefront of feeding the world.

“Farmers in the Midwest always have the heart of helping their neighbor out – and we view ‘neighbor’ as someone who is not restricted by miles,” Doug Keesling says. International food assistance remains an essential nexus between America and its global partners, or as Keesling would refer to them, our neighbors.