With the imminent reduction of foreign aid and the proposed elimination of U.S. Agency for International Development, I offer a first-person account of my experience with U.S.A.I.D. through my previous experience as a board member (2004-10) and chief executive officer of Catholic Relief Services (2012-16).
C.R.S. is governed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with the mission to serve the poorest and most vulnerable overseas. In 2023, it worked in about 120 countries serving over 200 million people through 1,000 projects. It serves people on the basis of need, not creed. U.S.A.I.D. has provided funding and non-financial support to C.R.S. for decades, accounting for about 50 to 60 percent of its budget, or between $500 million and $700 million per year. C.R.S. works with and through 2,000 field partners, about half of which include local Catholic parishes and dioceses. U.S.A.I.D. has been a significant and longtime partner of the U.S. and global Catholic Church.
U.S.A.I.D. grants enable C.R.S. to undertake emergency assistance and long-term transformational development. The work covers and integrates multiple areas for human flourishing: food, health, livelihoods, agriculture, education, water and sanitation, child development, access to capital and peace-building. The C.R.S. signature is recognizable in its regard for local culture, engagement of community members (providing a “seat at the table”), accountability and deep respect for the human person.
One example of a U.S.A.I.D.-funded project in agriculture comes immediately to mind: I recall the personal story of Ernesto, a corn farmer whose assets were decimated because the return on his corn harvest no longer covered his costs. Contributing to his farm’s demise were eroded soil, temperature changes, unreliable rainfall patterns, pests and limited market demand. He would hide whenever he heard the roar of the motorcycle driven by the debt collector. His ancestral farming plot was nearly repossessed. In desperation, Ernesto took a chance on a U.S.A.I.D.-funded program to transition to growing passion fruit, which has become a popular staple in smoothies all over the United States. He was guided by C.R.S colleagues providing seeds, training and problem diagnoses.
Ernesto earned enough from the first harvest to buy his own seeds for the next crop; he gained an understanding of organic fertilizer and helped to create what is now a local, women-owned business to cultivate the fertilizer. He discontinued the use of the highly expensive chemical fertilizers that leached the soil; he obtained capital to build a greenhouse that increased his yield from 70 percent to 90 percent, and he rented excess greenhouse space to his neighbors. Within a few years, he was teaching other farmers and saved enough to send his children to college to study agricultural economics.
Implemented on a large-scale, regional basis, these interventions not only spell better economic outcomes but also greater literacy in finance, seeds, soil science, irrigation and markets. C.R.S. helps enable technological applications such as satellite mapping of soil condition and crop progress, as well as the use of cellphones for education, information sharing and problem solving.
Communities form savings groups that build up the capital pool, offering more favorable loan terms to members. Subsequent investments in water infrastructure support greater output and improve the lives of women and girls. Such infrastructure means that instead of walking miles for water, women can begin small business ventures (selling chickens, eggs, pastries, etc.), and young girls can go to school. The internal savings group often becomes the collective unit for learning about nutrition, maternal care, cooking methods, water filter options, household budgeting and more. In the most successful cases, external investors become interested in funding higher outputs, new kinds of produce or value-added processing (refrigeration, canning, milling, washing, etc.).
Grant proposals for projects like these are reviewed by U.S.A.I.D. on a competitive and comprehensive basis. Clear delineation of goals, plans of action, structures of implementation, budget details, timelines and outcomes is required. Larger projects must measure impact over time. Other grant applicants can call for a review of award decisions. Reviews and assessments are systematic, and U.S.A.I.D. can deploy auditors to our offices with short notice to examine our books.
Especially in the midst of today’s widespread conversation about government budgets and efficiency, some have claimed that foreign aid is a waste of money. Yet the benefits are demonstrable: Over the last 30 years, the collective work of development actors has contributed to a global reduction in poverty—from one-third of the population to one-tenth. Both maternal and infant-child mortality rates have dropped by 50 percent; smallpox and polio have been almost eradicated; and most girls now have access to education.
How does this benefit the United States? The benefits are many. They have included the purchasing of American commodities and the use of American shipping, the development of markets that open up opportunities for American interests, and the cultivation of good will, friendship and soft power as an element of our national security. All this is achieved for less than one percent of our national budget.
Most importantly, foreign aid honors our commitment to compassion. It is an assertion of our own humanity, our reverence for the sacredness of all people as God’s children, and the sincere expression of our Christian faith in action.
In the culling of foreign aid and U.S.A.I.D., we ask that due diligence be undertaken to protect and support human flourishing in the spirit of advancing the United States’ role as a force for good.
