WASHINGTON -- As part of a move to increase the U.S. role in agricultural development in poor countries, the Senate is considering a modification of the Bumpers Amendment, the 1986 measure that forbids the U.S. government from using taxpayer dollars to help develop crops in other countries that could compete with U.S. production.
The amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act was named for former Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., and passed at the urging of the American Soybean Association after the U.S. Agency for International Development helped Brazil develop its soybean industry.
The amendment specifically forbids the use of USAID money for development of any crop if it "would compete in world markets with a similar commodity grown or produced in the United States."
A Senate Agriculture Committee aide told the American Soybean Association July 23 that the Senate Agriculture and Foreign Relations committee staffs are trying to write a modification of the Bumpers amendment that would allow USAID to help develop crops in the poorest countries as identified by the World Bank, but would require that the aid stop if the country becomes a commercially competitive exporter in that crop.
Farm leaders have indicated they will not oppose the modification as long as the aid goes to the poorest countries. American Soybean Association Chairman John Hoffman said ASA would take the proposal "under advisement" until it sees legislation, but that it is open to supporting it. National Cotton Council lobbyist John Maguire said the idea "should continue to be discussed, not shot down."
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Pledges
At President Obama's urging, the eight richest countries have pledged $20 billion for agricultural development in the coming years. Both the House and the Senate appear headed to increase U.S. aid for agricultural development to at least $1 billion per year.
Earlier this year, a Chicago Council on Global Affairs report called for the repeal of the Bumpers Amendment. That study was funded by the Seattle-based Gates Foundation. Dr. Rajiv Shah, who was the head of agriculture at the Gates Foundation, is the agriculture undersecretary for research, science and economics. Former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and former World Food Program executive director Catherine Bertini chaired the study. Glickman and Bertini said the amendment was constraining USAID from providing assistance to some of the world's poorest farmers.
The Bumpers Amendment modification has not yet been attached to a bill, but one possibility would be the global food security bills introduced in the Senate by Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and in the House by Reps. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and others. Those bills call for the creation of a White House food security office and a new program to engage land grant colleges and universities in educational programs in developing countries.
