Erwin Milton Tiffany, author of the Future Farmers of America’s creed wrote, “I believe in the future of agriculture… with the promise of better days through better ways.” Growing up on a small family farm in rural Minnesota taught me how to live with, as well as, off of the land that provides my family’s livelihood and has granted me many educational experiences through organizations that assist young farmers such as FFA and 4-H. Fortunately, it is not merely young American agriculturalists, but also developing countries who have reason to believe in what they can garner from the future and the advancement of agriculture. Yet these countries simply do not currently have the means to advance agriculture independently and are not getting the assistance they desperately need. Research by the University of Dublin in 2010 found the amount of agricultural assistance is steadily declining. As the decline of aid and instability run rampant, the United States should emphasize and prioritize agricultural assistance within foreign policy to promote stability within the developing world. By doing so, the United States would be improving developing economies, end hunger, expand education, and increase American soft power.

Further into the creed, Tiffany continues to write, “I believe in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining, in the life abundant and enough honest wealth to help make is so.” Emphasis should be given to agricultural assistance to help improve the economies of developing countries. Agricultural assistance would address and correct the root cause of poverty within the developing world. The European Commission in 2012 found that seventy percent of the world's poor live in rural areas, and ninty percent of the population within developing countries depend on agriculture for their primary source of income, further concluding that assistance to rural agricultural development is “fundamental for reducing poverty and boosting growth.” With the majority of poverty stricken individuals located in rural areas and dependent on agriculture as a main source of income, providing continued agricultural development has the power to immensely decrease poverty within these regions. According to the 2008 World Development Report, gross domestic product (GDP) growth derived from agricultural production helps decrease poverty by increasing the income of those suffering from poverty two to four times more than GDP growth in any other sector of the economy.

Agricultural assistance would provide a benefit to the economy of developing countries as a whole by beginning to bridge income inequality, which also presents a major challenge to sustained economic growth. A study by the International Monetary Fund in 2011 discovered that income inequality diminishes the length of “growth spells” (periods of high economic growth), finding that decreasing income inequality could lengthen the projected time of a growth spell by fifty percent. Taking steps to abolish income inequality would allow developing countries to enjoy the full benefits of growth spells. Increasing agricultural assistance would improve the economic conditions in developing countries by minimizing poverty within the rural areas that contain a majority of people suffering from poverty and allowing countries to begin to dissolve inequality and have the longest economic growth spells possible, furthermore, this assistance would decrease hunger .
“I believe in less need for charity and more of it when needed,” Tiffany’s message continues to describe the proud nature agriculturalists and their need to be self-sufficient. Agricultural aid would minimize hunger by not just offering food, but is a sustainable means for the people with in developing areas to continue to produce food and provide for themselves. Developing countries face a continual hunger crisis. As the Food and Agriculture Organization reported in 2013, ninety-eight percent of the world’s 842 million hungry people live in developing countries. Fortunately, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) have already made progress by offering small amounts of agricultural assistance. Groups such as “Heifer International”, which sends livestock to hunger stricken villages has reached 20.7 million hungry families. However, more effort is need to reach all those afflicted. This could be achieved through assistance that empowers women agriculturalists in developing countries. CNN on October 22, 2013 estimated that half of the six hundred million small farmers in the world are women. Equally as capable, these women usually own less land than their male counterparts or don’t own land at all. They face cultural challenges that men do not, thereby resulting in decreased production. CNN continued to write that if women were on the same playing field as men, world hunger would decrease by seventeen percent. Assisting these women combined with more aid similar to the “Heifer Project,” would create more bountiful yields and minimize the effect of hunger throughout the globe. The introduction of agricultural assistance could also help farmers become more self-sufficient by improving education.

The FFA creed advocates for continually increasing one’s education bystating, “I believe in the leadership of ourselves and respect from others; I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly with such knowledge and skill as I can secure.” The United States can encourage bettering of education within developing countries. Agricultural assistance could serve as education for the unschooled populations of developing countries. This could be easily achieved through the vocational education that occurs as a result of agriculture. The World Bank in 2013 concluded, “Vocational Education and Training (VET) is a direct means of providing workers with skills more relevant to the evolving needs of employers and the economy.” Through the vocational training delivered in agricultural assistance farmers could garner critical skills necessary to their business. The United Nations in a 1992 study on Nigerian farming found that informal education received through farming can have profound results; one year of education increases the farmer’s value added to production by twenty-four percent. Informal vocational training could even lead to continued furthering of education. Although less quantifiable, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2008 wrote that individuals receiving VET could upgrade their skill set later in life. Lack of education is a major cause of conflict. Foreign Policy on January 3, 2014 concluded a lack of education can bring former combatants back to the battlefield. By offering agricultural assistance, the United States would indirectly create a means of delivering vocational education tailored to farming, in turn, maximizing a farmers output and decreasing the amount of conflict within a given region. Through this the United States would be able to take on a larger leadership role within developing countries.

In the final paragraph, FFA creed describes the need to become a leader and the profound effects leadership can have, writing, “And that I can exert an influence in my home and community that will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task.” The United States has the opportunity to take advantage of an opportunity to be a leader and seed soft power that will grow and flourish. Soft Power as defined by Joseph S. Nye Jr, dean at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and author of the book “Soft Power,” is “The power of attraction...If I can get you to want to do what I want, then I do not have to use carrots or sticks to make you do it. Soft power is a staple of daily democratic politics. The ability to establish preferences tends to be associated with intangible assets such as an attractive personality, culture, political values and institutions, and policies that are seen as legitimate or having moral authority.” Recently, China has begun delivering infrastructural aid to developing regions within Africa. The Institute of Developing Economies Japan External trade organizations reported Chinese infrastructure aid in thirty-five African countries. This has granted China enormous soft power resources that have resulted in increased Chinese influence throughout Africa. According to Anthony Desir, of the Strategic African Mineral Investment Fund, "China's impact in Africa should not be underestimated. China is the most influential world power in Africa at present; its soft power is overwhelming.” Within the coming decade, soft power will become a progressively important foreign policy tool for the United States. In a June 28, 2013 Washington Post article, Nye furthers “U.S. presidents will face an increasing number of issues in which obtaining our preferred outcomes will require power with others as much as power over others. Our leaders’ capacity to maintain alliances and create networks will be an important dimension of our hard and soft power.” By missing an opportunity to aid countries in a manner that would allow developing countries to prosper, the United States is losing influence and not taking advantage of its role as a global hegemony.

In conclusion, it’s vital that the United States emphasize, and prioritize agricultural assistance to developing countries because it would benefit their economies, decrease hunger, improve education, and increase America’s soft power. The FFA creed concludes that we must enjoy the advancements within agriculture stating, “Even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us through the struggles of former year.” Agriculture in America has faced rough days, but the achievements made don’t have to benefit just us. They could be used across to globe to seed the way to a brighter tomorrow.