What’s in a Label?

At the risk of sounding like the sky is falling, I am becoming very concerned that the genetically modified (GM) food labeling war at home jeopardizes food security for millions living far from our shores. This is particularly disturbing when there is an existing USDA label that excludes genetically engineered ingredients.... Read More

Last week, MFAN and AidData, in cooperation with the State Department and USAID, hosted Do More with Data: Moving U.S. Government Aid Transparency Forward, an event that brought together internal and external drivers of U.S. government foreign assistance transparency to explore ongoing and new efforts for making data more readily available for more people. Following the event, we asked three of MFAN’s leading thinkers on transparency and accountability to share their takeaways from the event.... Read More

This week one of the federal government’s youngest agencies, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), will once again demonstrate its leadership and forward thinking on accountability and transparency.  After ten years of experience, and with a new Chief Executive Officer at its helm, the MCC is launching a series of events examining what it has learned and what it has accomplished.  This period of reflection will help MCC seize the opportunity to consolidate its gains and stake out the vanguard in data-driven, locally-owned and self-sustaining development.... Read More

Bill and Melinda Gates recently released their annual letter. This one makes a bet that the cycle of poverty in developing countries can be broken by 2030. One reason for this wager is founded on the contributions of agriculture and nutrition to improve peoples’ lives, a cause we at The Lugar Center heartily endorse. Our bet is that we can beat hunger and malnutrition by 2030 by better linking agriculture and nutrition.... Read More

The Feed the Future initiative and authorizing bills introduced in Congress last year endorse a “whole of government” approach. But in fact, the extent that Feed the Future capitalizes on the expertise and budgetary resources of a wide array of U.S. government agencies remains largely in doubt or at best in the dark.... Read More