Fighting world hunger is one of the most prominent issues activists tackle in the fight against global poverty. While famine and food shortages are a major contributor to hunger in impoverished places, they are not the only contributors. In working to lift themselves out of poverty, nations do not only lack funding, but also resources and opportunities.
If an impoverished nation has a limited set of food, it often has the dilemma of choosing between using its limited amount of food to guarantee its population meals or to export it in the hopes of generating capital and improving the country’s overall situation longterm. On the other hand, it is often difficult for a nation to maintain a healthy economy when the workers are too busy focusing on meeting their necessities.
Malnourishment in Eastern Africa
While the number of starving people decreased in the world overall in the past few years, eastern Sub-Saharan Africa still holds most of the world’s undernourished population. In this region, 30.8 percent of the population still suffers from a food shortage.
Eastern African countries like Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sedan and Tanzania have a primarily agriculture driven economy with coffee, cut flowers, tea, tobacco, fish and vegetables being its main exports.
In the East African Community (EAC), up to 44 percent of the GDP comes from agriculture, with 80 percent of the region’s population relying on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Producing food is not the problem itself, as having an agriculture-centered economy means that there is enough food to sustain an economy. However, when a bad season destroys a harvest, food prices suddenly soar as a result. This happened to Kenya in 1984 when a drought caused a food shortage. It previously grew food both for consumption and export, keeping pace with a growing population. When this happens, the people who are more reliant on this harvest as an accessible food source cannot afford it. Developed countries can afford to purchase these exports at inflated prices, though they are not reliant on them as their main food source.
The Weight of the Developed World
The developed countries are not ignorant of developing country’s food stability or quality of life and will often try to send direct food aid to assist hungry nations. When wealthier countries do try to help in the form of sending food aid, though, sometimes they wind up unintentionally causing more damage in the longterm.
Sending food aid to malnourished countries to help with fighting world hunger might help the starving population in the short term, but it does nothing to triage the bleeding infrastructure that exacerbated the food shortage to begin with. Reliance on food aid can depress the prices at which farmers sell locally grown crops, hampering production if no one buys what they are producing, which can further cripple the local economy in the long run.
World Vision
While there are some drawbacks with direct food aid, there are other means of aid that developed countries can send in addition to food. Investing in the country’s infrastructure so that farmers know how to grow more food more effectively can help protect them from food shortages if a poor growing season hits. Providing resources for impoverished countries to set up schools can allow the population to move away from a purely agricultural economy, and allow it to cultivate a more diverse one. This can, in turn, create more jobs for the people to earn an income with.
World Vision works to end global poverty and improve the welfare of families, women and children through long term programs and education. In Burundi and Rwanda, World Vision has been fighting world hunger by providing improved seeds and fertilizers to farmers, while also connecting them with markets to encourage turning a surplus of food into an income.
In providing individuals with access to credit and loans via Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), the community can meet day-to-day needs while also supplementing other income-generating projects.
World Vision institutes and trains savings groups, who strive to help families within the community save money. World Vision also creates non-agricultural job opportunities.
Successes
As of 2017, more than 1,600 VSLAs’ stabilized the lives of 100,000 children. This means that 7,385 hungry children gained more than 400 grams due to health programs. Around 4,560 farmers trained in agricultural sustainability in Burundi whereas 20,244 did in Rwanda in both 2016 and 2017. In 2017, 22,522 farmers had the resources they needed to grow their crops while 14,611 farmers did in 2016 and 2017. The number of World Vision-created savings groups grew to 6,831 with 107,159 members, while the organization created 2,230 non-agricultural jobs.
As a result of World Vision’s work in Rwanda, families went from making $15.01 per month to $42.20 from non-agricultural endeavors. Around 73.5 percent of adolescents reported having sufficient food, which was a 32 percent increase from 55.5 percent in 2014.
In Kenya, World Vision works closely with the government, abiding by the Kenya Health Policy and the National Food and Nutritional Security Policy to encourage maternal, infant and young child nutrition, agricultural and livestock nutrition and education in nutrition.
A focus on productivity, sustainability and education can help a lucrative economy take root, and the proper guidance on how to maintain it can create a solid foothold for the nation to maneuver out of starvation and poverty.
– Catherine Lin
Photo: Flickr
How Poverty Affects the Ethiopian Education System
Economic Conditions
Although the country had previous successes during its Civil War, it has a very politically unstable economy. This is largely due to Ethiopia’s location. The country is between some of the most politically unsound countries in the world including Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. The citizens of Ethiopia are almost always in conflict with governmental leaders. Despite this, the Ethiopian economy is the fastest-growing in the world; considering the state of the economy two decades ago and the current state, it is truly inspiring growth. In the past decade alone, the economy averaged a 10.9 percent growth annually.
Poverty in Ethiopia
Although the economy is developing rapidly, poverty rates are very high, with an income per capita of $790. Ethiopia’s poverty line sits at 24 percent. With the growing economy and developing infrastructure, that poverty rate has actually improved from 30 percent in 2011. This national development is likely to further decrease poverty rates.
According to the World Bank Ethiopian Poverty Assessment, the reductions in poverty were largely due to agricultural growth, which supports economic growth. The Assessment explains other ways that the citizens are working to improve the state of the nation and the Ethiopian education system.
The Ethiopian Education System
The Ethiopian education system still has substantial work to catch up to the nation’s economic growth rates. These high poverty rates induce greater struggles in building the Ethiopian education system. Similar to many countries that suffer from extreme poverty, poverty is severely impacting the education system in Ethiopia. According to the World Bank, Ethiopia is one of the most educationally disadvantaged countries in the world.
Although rates of educational enrollment have grown exponentially in elementary, secondary and higher education, elementary education enrollment increased from 29 percent in 1989 to 86 percent in 2015 and secondary education enrollment increased from 16 percent in 1999 to 26 percent in 2015. Further, higher education has grown from 16 universities and less than 18,000 enrolled students in 1986 to 30 universities and 352,144 enrolled in 2015. This growth outlines the growth of the Ethiopian education system.
Due to the nation’s economic growth and decreased poverty rates, more schools are likely to open, causing enrollment rates to rise. The British Council projects the number of tertiary students in the Ethiopian education system will increase by an additional 1.7 million students by 2025. Further, the World Bank stated that Ethiopia should reach lower-middle-income status by 2025. These growth rates are profoundly promising to the development of the nation.
– Sarah Mobarak
Photo: Pixabay
Bicycle Libraries Raise Literacy Rates in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, a landlocked country in south-central Asia, houses many different ethnic groups and extremely important trade routes. The country also has a longstanding history in literature, with poets such as Reza Mohammadi and Khaled Hosseini. Unfortunately, due to the spread of the Taliban regime and devastating wars, literacy rates in Afghanistan are among the lowest in the world at about 45 percent for men and 17 percent for women. In 2018, Idress Siyawash had the vision to raise literacy rates in Afghanistan with the implementation of his mobile bicycle libraries.
Mobile Bicycle Libraries
Read Books, or Ketab Lwast, is a program that Idress Siyawash started to provide books and learning experiences for children in Afghanistan, especially in rural areas. Siyawash is a student at Jahan University in Kabul, Afghanistan. Each week, he and his team travel to rural areas in Afghanistan to deliver books to children. They ride around town on bright blue bicycles with baskets full of books in order to excite the children and motivate them to learn. Then, they gather all the kids and teach them to read, write, speak and understand the importance of learning. Female volunteers travel from home to home working to encourage mothers and fathers to send their daughters to school. The female volunteers serve as models for parents who want a better, more equal life for their daughters.
Motives and Inspiration
Education rates in Afghanistan are significantly lower than those of other countries. For example, Afghanistan has an average literacy rate of 38 percent, while the international average is 84 percent. Education in rural areas is especially low. Gender inequality also affects education in Afghanistan, as many women do not have permission to attend schools, and in most provinces, the amount of female teachers is below 10 percent.
Siyawash had the determination to raise literacy rates in Afghanistan and also change Afghani attitudes regarding gender equality in terms of education. In an interview, Siyawash said, “Our idea is to show that reading is fun and explain why education is so important. If we give the children books, it might help end the way of thinking that is holding this country back.”
Obstacles and Solutions
One of the main obstacles to education in Afghanistan is distance. Some children, especially in rural areas, must walk for hours to reach their schools. For example, children in the Badakhshan province walk four hours each day to go and come back from the closest government-supported school. Siyawash’s bicycle idea tackles this obstacle effectively, bringing education straight to the children.
Another obstacle is the fear of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, especially among females. Unfortunately, Taliban members have confronted and threatened Siyawash and his team twice, but they continue to travel and provide services to children because they believe in a “different future for Afghanistan.”
Read Books has had success in its goal to raise literacy rates in Afghanistan. Over the span of just a few years, the literacy rate in Afghanistan grew from 38 percent in 2015 to 43 percent in 2018. Overall, the future of education in Afghanistan is looking brighter.
– Shveta Shah
Photo: Flickr
7 Facts about Illiteracy in Nepal
Nepal is a country of Asia that lies along the southern side of the Himalayas. It is a landlocked nation with a territory of just 500 miles east to west. Nepal has long experienced isolation under a series of rulers who favored isolationist policies and remained closed off to the rest of the world up until the year 1905. Today, Nepal is a country between two superpowers, India and China. As a result of this extreme isolation, it has become one of the least developed nations in the world. This underdevelopment has also led to a heavily illiterate population. Here are seven interesting facts about illiteracy in Nepal.
7 Facts About Illiteracy in Nepal
Illiteracy in Nepal is an issue that has significantly decreased due to the actions of these, and many other programs and initiatives, all with the goal of improving literacy rates in Nepal. If it were not for groups like Room to Read and World Vision, the people, and especially the children, would still be stuck in the darkness of illiteracy.
– William Mendez
Photo: Flickr
How “The Sound of Freedom” Is Making A Difference
Who is Tim Ballard?
Timothy Ballard is the founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad. The former CIA agent spent 10 years working on the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He also worked for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team as an undercover operative. Ballard worked undercover in the U.S. and in many foreign countries, where he was able to rescue numerous children from sex slavery and bring traffickers to justice. In 2013, Ballard left his job to start Operation Underground Railroad.
What is Operation Underground Railroad?
Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) is a nonprofit organization that exists “to rescue children from sex trafficking” through coordinated rescue and recovery planning. Since its start in 2013, O.U.R. has rescued over 3,000 victims and arrested more than 1,800 traffickers. Through partnerships and empowering others, it has collectively rescued over 10,000 survivors.
“The Sound of Freedom”
Jim Caviezel, most known for his role as Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” will portray Timothy Ballard in “The Sound of Freedom.” According to Deseret News, Caviezel says it is “the second most important film” he has ever done. Caviezel went on to talk about the importance of this film, saying it will “bring a light into the darkness.” In preparation for the film, Caviezel shadowed Ballard at O.U.R. and even had the opportunity to witness a rescue operation in Latin America before filming began.
How Will “The Sound of Freedom” Make a Difference?
“The Sound of Freedom” will make a difference because it is starting a conversation about something that people do not often talk about. Recently, Tim Ballard made an appearance on Dr. Oz along with American author Tim Robbins to address sex trafficking. During the special, Ballard spoke of the challenge of getting people aware of child sex trafficking, as it “rips your heart out” and is something that is difficult to come to terms with.
Dr. Oz went on to say “none of us want to hear about children being abused,” but that addressing it is the only way to combat it.
According to Operation Underground Railroad, 2 million children currently face sexual exploitation around the globe, a majority of whom are girls. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing form of international crime and is the third most profitable business of organized crime behind drugs and arms.
“The Sound of Freedom” is the movie that is making a difference through raising awareness and starting critical conversations about global human trafficking. It will give an inside look at Operation Underground Railroad, the heart behind it and the evils O.U.R. fights every day.
– Megan McKeough
Photo: Flickr
Empowering Women With HIV in Djibouti
According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), addressing poverty means first reaching those who feel the greatest impact; progress does not necessarily trickle down to the population that is most disadvantaged. The 2016 Human Development Report found that one-third of the world’s population lives in low human development circumstances. Furthermore, some sectors of society are more disadvantaged than others. Inequalities and social exclusion that people such as those living with HIV face present larger barriers to development and access to health programs. For this reason, the World Food Programme, alongside UNDP, UNAIDS and the national network of people living with HIV in Djibouti (RNDP+), have created an income-generation program that provides loans for people living with HIV. Such loans are empowering women with HIV in Djibouti to live dignified and successful lives.
Men and Women with HIV in Djibouti
As of 2017, 1.3 percent of the adult population in Djibouti was living with HIV, a decrease from 1.6 percent – or 9,900 people – in 2014. Social and cultural norms, destructive policies, improper medical services and restrictive laws impede HIV treatment and prevention measures. In Djibouti, women are most vulnerable to stigma and social exclusion and therefore often suffer the most.
The Income Generation Programme
The World Food Programme’s income-generation initiative supports and empowers women through longterm aid. By providing a regular, stable income, the World Food Programme is creating financial security for women with HIV in Djibouti. The money that women receive typically goes toward starting and running a retail business. These loans generally range from $141 to $148 per person and include a training program teaching effective business skills.
How it Works
Recipients of the loan become chosen from two networks in Djibouti that specifically support those living with HIV: ARREY and Oui à la Vie – Yes to Life. Oftentimes, those diagnosed with HIV are susceptible to deteriorating conditions, are unable to hold down a job and face discrimination, causing the citizens to be unwelcome in public sectors. Women with HIV in Djibouti that receive these loans are able to make a consistent income for themselves and overcome the stigma that some associate with HIV. Further, these women are able to take back control of the lives they previously led.
The Outcome
One such recipient of the loan stated that she was “no longer a desperate woman.” She now makes enough to support her family and other dependents. Additionally, once this loan gave her the capital to launch a sustainable business, she was able to repay the loan in only 10 months. During that time the recipient was also able to expand the retail business to include furniture and electronics.
The World Food Programme’s income-generation initiative aids the Sustainable Development Goal of ending HIV by 2030, and furthermore, leaving no person behind. According to UNDP’s findings, development itself does not automatically ensure that the entire population is included. Programs such as this target the multidimensional factors involved in people receiving proper aid.
Empowerment is an essential part of development; without the ability to feel successful and fulfilled, women often lack the means to seek treatment and make educated decisions regarding health. The loan initiative empowers women living with HIV in Djibouti to combat the associated stigma and obtain financial investment necessary to develop a sustainable business. With a stable income, women are able to seek health services that might not have been previously accessible.
– Laurel Sonneby
Photo: Flickr
7 Facts About Women’s Health in Mexico
Mexico has seen its fair share of issues in women’s health over the years, including a lack of access to affordable healthcare and gender inequalities. Recently, Mexico has made significant progress in addressing women’s health, making it a priority for the country. Here are seven facts about women’s health in Mexico.
7 Facts About Women’s Health in Mexico
These seven facts about women’s health in Mexico highlight that although Mexican women have faced challenges in their healthcare, the country is working hard to make changes. Moving forward, it is essential that Mexico continues to prioritize women’s health, paving the way for more progress.
– Alyson Kaufman
Photo: Pixabay
5 Facts About Eyesight in Nigeria
5 Facts About Eyesight in Nigeria
Eyesight is fundamental to the quality of life and productivity of an individual. Nonetheless, eye care still does not garner as much attention it should in low and middle-income countries. Fortunately, international organizations, companies and efforts from individual countries, like Nigeria, have emerged to ensure better access to eyesight for vulnerable populations.
– Ashleigh Litcofsky
Photo: Flickr
Worldreader Empowers Communities
Illiteracy is not much of a problem in developed countries, but for developing countries, rates of illiteracy are high. Around 617 million children are not meeting the minimum reading level because the regions they live in do not always stress education as much or it simply is not available. Illiteracy is a huge problem, especially in this day and age. It can cause an average decrease of 35 percent in income, and a lack of reading can lead to a lack of cognitive development. Worldreader empowers communities to create lifelong readers.
Worldreader Empowers Readers
When people have an education, they tend to give posterity a better chance. Children born to literate mothers are 50 percent more likely to live past 5 years old. Worldreader is an application with a library of 35,000 books in 52 different languages. It is available on advanced but affordable e-readers and other devices. The content of these books depends on the reader but all titles aim to be culturally relevant.
There are four categories of reading on the application. Worldreader has tailored the programs to each of its audiences to best address the main problems for each crowd. These programs include pre-reading, library reading, lifelong reading and school reading.
Pre-reading is for younger people up to age 19 but can also help illiterate adults. This program promotes positive interaction, cognitive development and school preparedness. Library reading focuses on promoting reading culture through libraries no matter the age. The goal of this program is to get more people to visit libraries and more librarians to emerge in their areas.
Lifelong reading is for people from 16 and up to read digital books on the Worldreader Open Library application. This program seeks to build a reading habit in people and promote an overall joy of reading. It also wishes to gain more regular readers by transitioning users to readers. That may sound similar, but really it is for a noncommittal user to develop a reading habit and become a lifelong reader.
Lastly, school reading is just how it sounds. School programs have e-readers with books for any age or grade level, language or even cultural context. It has a teaching program for educators to help cultivate learning and reading cultures. Worldreader also works to train families, schools and libraries so they can reap the most benefit from its programs.
Worldreader’s partners help to make this happen. Worldreader’s partners provide the resources that it needs to reach people in need. Its main partners are Binu, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and Opera Mini. Binu helps to promote Worldreader on its Moya app. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation helps to launch e-readers in all national Kenyan libraries. Opera Mini promotes Worldreader to its users from 34 sub-Saharan African countries. Other prominent partners include USAID, The U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, LinkedIn, Pearson and Amazon. Penguin Random House, Sub-Saharan Publishers, Longhorn Publishers, Modjaji Books and Rosetta Books are the partners that help to publish and translate books for Worldreader.
Worldreader’s Accomplishments
The year 2018 saw an increase of 3 million readers with over 10 million readers overall. Worldreader has gained 100 million hours of reading since 2014 and has received $12.1 million total in donations. These donations have made it much easier for Worldreader to reach more potential readers from around the world. These funds mostly went toward program services, but other notable areas are management and fundraising. Worldreader empowers communities through this funding. As of 2018, Worldreader is already in 49 countries including Mexico, Ghana, India, Kenya and Jordan.
The Future for Worldreader
Worldreader empowers communities to improve literacy rates. Worldreader’s plans for the future consist of continuing to provide cheap but good technology for under-resourced people, which should in turn help schools to save on book money. The application also plans to expand on its pre-existing book collection. While 35,000 titles is a lot, it aims to add much more. It will also collect the data from its readers to provide future insights into technology improvements. Through this data collection, Worldreader will be able to improve its technology and books. Worldreader encourages sharing costs and responsibilities for sustainable impact. Its donors and supporters help to do so. Worldreader is always searching for more supporters to bring reading to the under-resourced. The Worldreader website has options to sponsor schools, volunteer or join its Reading for Opportunity campaign.
– Nyssa Jordan
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A Mobile App That Lifts Rural Farmers Out Of Poverty
More than half of the world’s poorest live on farms in rural areas of developing nations. This accounts for 2 billion people that depend on small-scale agriculture for their livelihood, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development. There are challenges for rural farmers in low-income countries. A team of graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a mobile app that lifts rural farmers out of poverty.
Challenges
Challenges facing rural farmers in developing nations extend beyond the vagaries of nature, though those are certainly impactful. First, without access to affordable credit, farmers cannot secure bank loans and instead rely on informal lenders who charge exorbitant rates. Second, after receiving the necessary capital, rural farmers often lack vital information that would help them plant and tend crops, such as optimal nutrient application and weather forecasts. Lastly, after harvest, during the small window of time farmers have to sell crops before spoilage, they often lack access to direct buyers. This once again forces farmers to go through the same intermediaries who gave them the loan. Dependence on exploitative intermediaries and lack of information often trap rural farmers in developing countries in a cycle of poverty.
A Mobile App that Lifts Rural Farmers Out of Poverty
A graduate team from MIT is using technology to transform agriculture and the fight against poverty. In 2014, the group launched a startup called Ricult, a mobile app that lifts rural farmers out of poverty. Farmers can use Ricult to secure affordable credit, access inputs such as seeds and fertilizer, monitor weather forecasts and connect directly with end-buyers. In addition, the app helps farmers maximize their crop yield by providing personalized advice based on soil tests.
Ricult launched in Kasur, Pakistan in 2016. To reach the farmers, the company organized skills workshops that amassed between 400 and 500 participants. The sales team is part of the farmers’ community, and agents meet regularly with users to offer advice and improve the experience.
By August 2017, Ricult had provided farmers in Pakistan with over $77,000 worth of farm inputs to more than 150 farmers on credit. Prior to that, farmers paid between four and five times more to loan sharks. That same year, Ricult expanded to Thailand.
Ricult had more than 40,000 downloads as of April 2019. Its services have boosted farmers’ crop yields by an average of 50 percent. Meanwhile, the farmers’ profits have risen between 30 and 40 percent. Ricult currently offers its services to farmers across Thailand. Additionally, the company hopes to expand to Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka in 2020.
The founders of the app have received with the 2017 United Nations’ Innovative Ideas and Technology on Agribusiness award. In addition, the Royal Thai Government named Ricult the best Agricultural Tech in Thailand. Also, it got the best Social Enterprise in Southeast Asia and Oceania in the Global Social Venture Competition and won the Fintech Disrupt Challenge which the Gates Foundation organized.
– Kayleigh Rubin
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Role of Food Aid in Fighting World Hunger
Fighting world hunger is one of the most prominent issues activists tackle in the fight against global poverty. While famine and food shortages are a major contributor to hunger in impoverished places, they are not the only contributors. In working to lift themselves out of poverty, nations do not only lack funding, but also resources and opportunities.
If an impoverished nation has a limited set of food, it often has the dilemma of choosing between using its limited amount of food to guarantee its population meals or to export it in the hopes of generating capital and improving the country’s overall situation longterm. On the other hand, it is often difficult for a nation to maintain a healthy economy when the workers are too busy focusing on meeting their necessities.
Malnourishment in Eastern Africa
While the number of starving people decreased in the world overall in the past few years, eastern Sub-Saharan Africa still holds most of the world’s undernourished population. In this region, 30.8 percent of the population still suffers from a food shortage.
Eastern African countries like Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sedan and Tanzania have a primarily agriculture driven economy with coffee, cut flowers, tea, tobacco, fish and vegetables being its main exports.
In the East African Community (EAC), up to 44 percent of the GDP comes from agriculture, with 80 percent of the region’s population relying on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Producing food is not the problem itself, as having an agriculture-centered economy means that there is enough food to sustain an economy. However, when a bad season destroys a harvest, food prices suddenly soar as a result. This happened to Kenya in 1984 when a drought caused a food shortage. It previously grew food both for consumption and export, keeping pace with a growing population. When this happens, the people who are more reliant on this harvest as an accessible food source cannot afford it. Developed countries can afford to purchase these exports at inflated prices, though they are not reliant on them as their main food source.
The Weight of the Developed World
The developed countries are not ignorant of developing country’s food stability or quality of life and will often try to send direct food aid to assist hungry nations. When wealthier countries do try to help in the form of sending food aid, though, sometimes they wind up unintentionally causing more damage in the longterm.
Sending food aid to malnourished countries to help with fighting world hunger might help the starving population in the short term, but it does nothing to triage the bleeding infrastructure that exacerbated the food shortage to begin with. Reliance on food aid can depress the prices at which farmers sell locally grown crops, hampering production if no one buys what they are producing, which can further cripple the local economy in the long run.
World Vision
While there are some drawbacks with direct food aid, there are other means of aid that developed countries can send in addition to food. Investing in the country’s infrastructure so that farmers know how to grow more food more effectively can help protect them from food shortages if a poor growing season hits. Providing resources for impoverished countries to set up schools can allow the population to move away from a purely agricultural economy, and allow it to cultivate a more diverse one. This can, in turn, create more jobs for the people to earn an income with.
World Vision works to end global poverty and improve the welfare of families, women and children through long term programs and education. In Burundi and Rwanda, World Vision has been fighting world hunger by providing improved seeds and fertilizers to farmers, while also connecting them with markets to encourage turning a surplus of food into an income.
In providing individuals with access to credit and loans via Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), the community can meet day-to-day needs while also supplementing other income-generating projects.
World Vision institutes and trains savings groups, who strive to help families within the community save money. World Vision also creates non-agricultural job opportunities.
Successes
As of 2017, more than 1,600 VSLAs’ stabilized the lives of 100,000 children. This means that 7,385 hungry children gained more than 400 grams due to health programs. Around 4,560 farmers trained in agricultural sustainability in Burundi whereas 20,244 did in Rwanda in both 2016 and 2017. In 2017, 22,522 farmers had the resources they needed to grow their crops while 14,611 farmers did in 2016 and 2017. The number of World Vision-created savings groups grew to 6,831 with 107,159 members, while the organization created 2,230 non-agricultural jobs.
As a result of World Vision’s work in Rwanda, families went from making $15.01 per month to $42.20 from non-agricultural endeavors. Around 73.5 percent of adolescents reported having sufficient food, which was a 32 percent increase from 55.5 percent in 2014.
In Kenya, World Vision works closely with the government, abiding by the Kenya Health Policy and the National Food and Nutritional Security Policy to encourage maternal, infant and young child nutrition, agricultural and livestock nutrition and education in nutrition.
A focus on productivity, sustainability and education can help a lucrative economy take root, and the proper guidance on how to maintain it can create a solid foothold for the nation to maneuver out of starvation and poverty.
– Catherine Lin
Photo: Flickr