The Under Secretary is the principal officer of the United States Department of Agriculture charged with administering programs and providing services which focus on supporting a sustainable and competitive American agricultural system. The Under Secretary administers agricultural commodity insurance, farm loans, conservation, environmental, emergency assistance, and domestic and international food assistance programs. These programs are intended to provide cost-effective means of managing risk for agricultural producers in order to improve the economic stability of agriculture. The Under Secretary's mission area also represents the diverse interests of the U.S. food and agricultural sector abroad by managing the Department's international activities, addressing market access constraints, and working to expand markets for U.S. agricultural, fish and forest products overseas.