Rev. David Beckmann and Michelle Nunn

Register Opinion contributors

The world has made remarkable progress against hunger. Between 1990 and 2015, the world hunger rate was cut in half. Ending hunger is truly within our reach.

However, a report released last month by the United Nations gives us pause.

The report, "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World," found that in 2016, the world saw its first increase in the number of people experiencing hunger and malnutrition in almost a decade – a number now totaling 815 million people.

According to the report, this increase, fueled by conflict and climate change, comes at a time when the Trump Administration and some in Congress are calling for deep, unprecedented cuts to the U.S. foreign assistance budget. If Congress approves these cuts, it could be devastating and deadly to millions of women and children around the world.

As we celebrate the World Food Prize awards this week, it’s important to take stock of the accomplishments of U.S. foreign assistance over the past several decades. We call on our leaders to continue prioritizing these investments – in FY18 and beyond – especially for those who depend on it for their daily survival.

Right now, near famine conditions continue to threaten at least 20 million people in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and northeast Nigeria.

Hunger is increasing in places experiencing the greatest turmoil and conflict. These areas, referred to as “fragile states,” are difficult places to work, and in some instances, have been highly vulnerable to the rise of extremism. But as the U.N. report makes clear, the international community must continue humanitarian relief and, as much as possible, help people in these countries maintain their livelihoods.

For example, in 2016, Ethiopia was in the midst of a food crisis. But unlike a generation earlier, the country didn’t see widespread starvation and instability. America’s smart foreign assistance is a major reason why.

In 2011, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) began implementing a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded program called GRAD (Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development). It helped 63,000 of Ethiopia’s poorest families climb out of poverty for good.

It includes the family of Admasu and Melkam. They couldn’t harvest enough food from their farm, even though it was the size of three soccer fields. With the help of the project, they harvested nearly 4,000 pounds of potatoes and sold the spuds for a $525 profit.

But the success didn’t end there. With the help of their village savings group, Admasu and Melkam invested their earnings in drought-resistant barley seeds. It yielded another successful crop. The profit helped to triple the family’s income. It enabled them to provide more nutritious meals for their families and improve their children’s health.

Currently, the U.S. spends roughly one percent of the federal budget on foreign assistance. It is a good investment of our tax dollars in terms of lives saved, the development outcomes achieved, and for our national security.

We know smart investments now will pay off in the future. The world is safer and stronger because of the progress we have made against hunger together. Now is not the time to pull back on our investments in development and diplomacy. We must continue to invest in the resilience of poor people in the most troubled countries in the world, even as we seek to address the underlying causes of the conflicts that are making them more vulnerable – for their sakes, as well as our own.

Rev. David Beckmann, a World Food Prize laureate, is president of Bread for the World.

Michelle Nunn is president and CEO of CARE USA.