In her address to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Chiefs of Defense (CHOD) Conference in Fiji on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power said, “Investments we make in one country can often yield benefits in others.
“Take food security. In India, starting in the 1960s, we worked with scientists and local farmers to develop and distribute high yield, resilient seeds.
“Over the next two decades, those seeds helped to increase rice production in India by 50 percent and wheat production by 230 percent, ending a cycle of recurring famine and helping kick off a Green Revolution that boosted agricultural yields in other parts of the world.
“Now India is expanding efforts to extend insights from its remarkable development progress to countries well beyond its borders.”
India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, accounted for nearly 40% of global rice trade in 2022, exporting 22 million tons worth over $9 billion to 140 countries. On July 20 this year, India banned the export of white rice (excluding basmati rice) to boost domestic supply during the country’s festive season and to keep retail prices under check. This type of rice constitutes close to 25 percent of total rice exported from the country.
The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, that includes the Indian Ocean, and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.
Power said that the U.S. has deepened its commitment to security in this strategic region, and is expanding its investments. She added, “USAID provides its assistance in the form of grants, not loans. Our goal is not to create dependence on the United States, but to help communities build their own power and self-reliance.”
