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Alliance to End Hunger: A coalition of anti-hunger activists whose mission is to engage diverse institutions more deeply in an effort to win the shifts in U.S. public opinion, institutions and policy that could dramatically reduce hunger in the United States and internationally.
Camp David Accord: The 1978 peace agreement between Israel and Egypt signed at Camp David, Maryland, in which the United States played a key role in leading the two countries to agreement.
Chicago Board of Trade: The world’s oldest commodity futures and options exchange board, where buyers and sellers can make deals on different types of commodities, including agricultural commodities.
Commitment to Development Index (CDI): A rating system developed by the Center for Global Development to present a comprehensive picture of how 21 rich countries are helping poor countries build prosperity, good government, and security.
Debt relief: Measures to reduce the debt owed by developing country governments to either private lenders, governments or international financial institutions.
Developed countries: Another way of describing highly industrialized nations such as the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany and Japan.
Developing countries: Countries with a low per capita income. Terms such as less developed country, least developed country, underdeveloped country, poor, southern or third world have also been used to describe developing countries.
Doctor’s Without Borders: see Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF)--.
Doha Development Round: The name given to the current round of multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (see below). The name derives from the launch of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at a ministerial conference held in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.
Earmarks: Funds set aside within a piece of legislation for individual projects, locations or institutions, sometimes referred to disparagingly as pork-barrel projects.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): A U.S. federal government program that provides a cash benefit to low-income working people by refunding a portion of their income taxes.
Famine: An extreme collapse in local availability and access to food that causes a widespread rise in deaths from outright starvation or hunger-related illnesses.
Farm bill: A multi-year, omnibus law that contains federal commodity and farm support policies, as well as other farm-related provisions.
Food aid: The distribution of food commodities to support development projects and emergency food assistance in situations of natural and man-made disasters.
Food insecurity: A condition of uncertain availability of or ability to acquire safe, nutritious food in socially acceptable ways.
Food security: Assured access to enough nutritious food to sustain an active and healthy life with dignity.
Foreign assistance: See Official Development Assistance.
Foreign Assistance Act: Established in 1961 to distinguish military assistance from non-military assistance, designating the United States Agency for International Development (see below) as the primary government body responsible for overseas development.
Free trade agreements: Agreements between two countries (bilateral), or among several countries (multilateral), to eliminate or reduce practices that distort trade. These may include tariffs (taxes on traded goods and services) and/or nontariff barriers such as quotas (limits on the amount traded).
Green Revolution: Modification of agriculture in the 1960s and 1970s to improve agricultural production of high-yielding varieties of grains (such as rice, wheat and corn) through the use of new technologies, including new machines, fertilizer, pesticides, irrigation and cultivation methods.
Gross domestic product (GDP): The value of all goods and services produced within a nation during a specified period, usually a year.
Gross national product (GNP): The value of all goods and services produced by a country’s citizens, wherever they are located.
Group of 8: The wealthiest industrial countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States (formerly the Group of 7, excluding Russia).
HELP Commission: A government appointed group of experts whose mission is to develop and deliver actionable proposals to the President, Secretary of State and Congress to enhance and leverage the efficiency and effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance programs.
Human Development Index (HDI): A measure of well-being based on economic growth, educational attainment and health.
Hunger: A condition in which people do not get enough food to provide the nutrients (carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water) for fully productive, active and healthy lives.
Infrastructure: The basic facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society such as transportation, communications, financial, educational and health care systems.
International Monetary Fund (IMF): An international organization that makes loans to countries with short-term foreign exchange and monetary problems.
Intellectual property rights: Guarantees to individuals, businesses or organizations of exclusive rights for their creations, such as an invention, an industrial process or an artistic work.
International Center for Research on Women (ICRW): Through its research demonstrates that a focus on women and gender is necessary for lasting social and economic change.
International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI): One of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations.
International Panel on Climate Change: A scientific panel of experts established in 1988 to continually assess the impact of human-related activities on global climate change.
Malnutrition: A condition resulting from inadequate consumption (undernutrition) or excessive consumption of a nutrient, which can impair physical and mental health, and can be the cause or result of infectious diseases.
Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF): An international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 70 countries.
Microcredit: Small, short-term loans to low-income people, who are too poor to borrow from commercial banks, to help them start their own businesses, generate income and raise their standard of living.
Multilateral aid: Financial or material assistance channeled to developing countries via international organizations such as the World Bank, the European Union or UN agencies (as distinguished from bilateral aid).
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs): Groups and institutions that are entirely or largely independent of government and that have primarily humanitarian or cooperative rather than commercial objectives.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): An agreement between Canada, Mexico and the Untied States that led to the reduction of tariffs (see below) and other trade barriers between the three countries. NAFTA also led to significantly more displacement of U.S. jobs than was expected when the agreement was signed in 1993, and led to increasing flows of undocumented immigrants from Mexico into the United States.
Nutrition Assistance Program: A government program designed to provide access to food. In the United States, examples include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and the National School Lunch Program.
Official development assistance (ODA): The term used by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (see below) for grants and loans to developing countries undertaken by governments to pursue economic development at concessional financial terms.
ONE Campaign: A U.S.-based nongovernmental organization promoting public awareness about global poverty, hunger and disease. The ONE Campaign supports scaling up development assistance by donors to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): A group of 30 industrialized countries that pursue economic development while fostering good governance in the public sector and in corporate activity.
Political will: The impetus or motivation by political leaders to pass legislation or measures that create change or political movement on an issue.
Poverty: The lack of sufficient money or resources to provide the basic needs of survival for oneself and one’s family.
Private investment: Commitment of funds by private individuals or corporations.
Productivity: A measure of technical efficiency, typically expressed as the added output for an additional unit of input or the average output per unit of input, i.e., labor, land, capital productivity.
Protectionism: Trade policy that protects domestic products or industries by limiting imports, as with tariffs or quotas.
Public investment: Investment of funds by governments and intergovernmental organizations.
Recession: Two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, using several key indicators, including employment.
Smallholder farmer: A farmer who works a small plot of land, generally less than five acres. The greatest number of people living in extreme poverty consists of smallholder farmers and their families.
Social safety nets: Government and private charitable programs to meet the basic human needs (i.e., health, education, nutrition) of low-income, disabled and other vulnerable people.
Special and Differential Treatment: World Trade Organization (see below) agreements that allow developing countries exemptions from rules that apply to developed countries. An example would include phasing in rules over a longer time period.
Staple foods: A basic food, particularly one that is widely consumed by poor people. Staple foods vary from place to place, but are usually cereals, pulses, corn, rice, millets and plants growing from starchy foods.
Subsidy: A direct or indirect benefit granted by a government for the production or distribution (including export) of a good or to supplement other services.
Tariff: A tariff is a list or schedule of taxes. In international trade, these taxes must be paid to a government on selected imported or sometimes exported goods.
Tied Aid: Aid that must be spent in the country that is providing it.
Undernutrition: A condition resulting from inadequate consumption of calories, protein and/or nutrients to meet the basic physical requirements for an active and healthy life.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): The U.N. agency responsible for programs to aid education and the health of children and mothers in developing countries.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): U.N. agency specializing in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development. FAO was founded with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity and better the condition of rural populations.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID): The federal agency primarily responsible for supporting long-term and equitable economic growth in developing countries while advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives.
War on Poverty: A specific piece of legislation introduced by President Johnson in 1964 that has come to stand more broadly for a large increase in government resources on new and existing social safety-net programs during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
World Bank: An intergovernmental agency that makes long-term loans to the governments of developing nations. Formally called the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
World Food Program (WFP): The U.N. agency providing logistical support necessary to get food to the right people at the right time in response to emergency food shortages and in development work.
World Health Organization (WHO): The U.N. special agency for health that strives to attain the highest possible level of health for all people.
World Trade Organization (WTO): The international organization established to oversee international trade agreements and settle disputes between member countries. Currently there are 149 member countries.
