Archive for category: Food & Hunger

Information and stories on food.

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The Importance of the U.S. Office of Global Food Security

The United States Office of Global Food Security provides crucial, life-saving humanitarian aid to the world’s poorest countries. The Office of Global Food Security (OGFS) seeks to advance global food security by addressing the underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition, investing in country-led programs, leveraging multilateral institutions and making accountable, sustained commitments.

One of the initiatives of the OGFS is an organization called 1,000 Days, and it shows the importance of providing and achieving global food security. The purpose of 1,000 Days is to ensure the best nutrition during a woman’s pregnancy up until the second birthday of that child, as this “sets the foundation for all the days that follow,” as the organization’s official website states.

According to the organization, nutrition during pregnancy up until the second birthday provides the essentials for brain development, healthy growth and a strong immune system. A person’s predisposition to chronic diseases and obesity are also linked to this thousand-day window. Malnourished daughters who become malnourished mothers can also give birth to malnourished children, continuing the cycle.

Feed the Future serves as an OGFS initiative as well, with its focus being combating hunger and poverty around the world. The areas the initiative seeks to improve upon are inclusive agriculture sector growth, gender integration, improved nutrition, research and capacity building, private sector engagement and resilience.

Some of the key accomplishments of Feed the Future from 2017 include 1.7 million families no longer suffering from hunger and $2.6 billion in crop sales generated by farmers. Furthermore, more than nine million more people now live above the poverty line due to the initiative.

Despite the effectiveness of the Office of Global Food Security’s efforts to reduce hunger, President Trump’s administration said it would withdraw funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, or GAFSP. Created during the Obama administration, GAFSP was designed as an integral part of the Feed the Future initiative. GAFSP’s main goals are to raise farmer incomes, increase food security and prevent unrest that results from food shortages.

The United States is the program’s biggest donor, with $653 million to date. In an interview with Foreign Policy, Marie Clarke, a member of the GAFSP steering committee and executive director of the nonprofit ActionAid USA, explained that withdrawing the United States’ funding could be extremely harmful to economic development, security and humanitarian conditions in the world’s most susceptible regions.

Hopefully, withdrawing funding for GAFSP will not set the tone for how much the U.S. Office of Global Food Security will be able to spend on reducing global hunger. The continued vigilance of such organizations, supported by nations like the U.S., is supremely important in the fight against poverty.

– Blake Chambers

Photo: Flickr

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McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program in Jeopardy


In Tanzania, Africa, many children struggle just to get a meal. Tanzania has suffered from reoccurring droughts throughout the region that make farming difficult and food scarce. However, since 2002, the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program has provided school meals of rice and beans for more than 100,000 students a day throughout the country.

With the proper amount of food, the students have more energy and are able to focus on their schoolwork. School attendance rates have increased since the program was installed. The Food for Education program isn’t limited to Tanzania; it has also reached hundreds of thousands of students in Guatemala, Bolivia and Nicaragua. Overall, the program has reached 40 million students in 24 countries.

The McGovern-Dole Food for Education program does more than just provide school lunches. It also plants school gardens, teaches farming techniques, and involves parents in cooking and donating food in order to allow local communities to take responsibility for school meals.

Due to the severe droughts in Tanzania, prices for basic groceries have increased significantly. The droughts have also put a large strain on livestock because of the lack of water and pastures. Maize prices rose by 25 percent in a 12-month period beginning in 2016.

The McGovern-Dole Food for Education program doesn’t limit itself to improving the wellbeing of schoolchildren. It helps families of all stages by offering nutrition programs for pregnant and nursing women, infants and preschoolers. These programs are run by nonprofits and the United Nations World Food Program.

The U.S. budget proposal for the next year has zeroed out the funding for the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program. The meals these students need to thrive in school are now at risk of disappearing, although according to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Congress seems to be leaning toward a rejection of the administration’s proposal.

– Chloe Turner

Photo: Flickr

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Food Program Initiatives in The Gambia

Food program initiatives in The Gambia
One of Africa’s smallest countries, The Gambia is plagued by desertification, political corruption and rampant poverty. But thanks to the contributions of numerous agencies, the government has been able to make rapid advancements, with a clear-cut, long-term plan for food program initiatives in The Gambia. Providing increased support in the agricultural sector and expanding resources will benefit both the private and public sector, leading to economic prosperity.

According to the CIA World Factbook, crop failures caused by droughts between 2011 and 2013 have increased poverty, food shortages and malnutrition. Furthermore, The Gambia has one of the highest infant mortality rates in West Africa. Another issue that impedes The Gambia’s agricultural growth is climate change, which has hindered poverty alleviation.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization launched the “Improving Food Security and Nutrition in the Gambia, Through Food Fortification” project on September 26, 2017. Its purpose is to improve education about nutrition and increase micronutrients, as well as allocate funding towards the following projects:

  • Support for household incomes
  • Agricultural production
  • Food diversification
  • Treating acute malnutrition
  • Promotion of optimal care practices

Vice President Fatoumata Jallow-Tambang, who launched the project, says that these food program initiatives will pave the way for increased capabilities in the public and private sector. She claimed that such projects will increase essential micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron, zinc and folic acid among others. Increasing micronutrient deficiency control has been a core principle of food program initiatives in The Gambia. The government has taken many steps to do so, which include revising a 2006 food fortification and salt iodization regulation that was enacted to provide food fortification.

Other food program initiatives in The Gambia that have steadily increased awareness at a local level include the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative. The operation is a four-year project funded by the European Union, the FAO and The Gambia. It aims to tackle poverty by “ending hunger, improving resilience to climate change and using a landscape approach.” Furthermore, the project targets rural farmers, a pivotal component of controlling land degradation and deforestation. The initiative also serves to empower local communities by establishing “community woodlots, community managed forests and promoting joint forest park management,” according to Regional Forestry Officer Ebou Janha.

The Gambia struggles with illiteracy, with more than half of the country unable to read or write. This new approach tackles the importance of reaching out to students in the classroom to educate them on how to properly manage natural resources and to actively become engaged in their communities. One additional component includes promoting environmental management.

Patta Kanyi, Focal Person at the Agency for the Development of Women and Children emphasized the importance of educating local communities on the proper usage of cooking stoves to reduce the effects of climate change and lessen the need for wood.

Such practices make The Gambia’s objective of eradicating poverty more attainable. The efforts being made to combat such hardships are truly remarkable. By building more robust communities through partnerships with inter-governmental organizations and the private sector, The Gambia has become a trading partner with developed countries. The attempt to involve rural farmers in forest management will be crucial for maintaining a sustainable environment. The food program initiatives in The Gambia demonstrate the objectives this country has in eradicating poverty for good.

– Alexandre Dumouza

Photo: Flickr

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Lucky Iron Fish: Tackling Malnutrition in Impoverished Countries

Malnutrition in Impoverished CountriesAnemia is the most common nutritional problem in the world. There are over two billion people that are anemic. Tackling malnutrition in impoverished countries can be difficult, but the creators of the Lucky Iron Fish hope to alleviate a worldwide issue.

When the creator of the Lucky Iron Fish, Christopher Charles went to Cambodia, he found that there were many people suffering from iron deficiency and anemia. About half of the women and children in the entire country was not getting the proper amount of iron in their diets. That caused many people to be tired, suffer constant headaches, and even made them unable to work at times.

When Dr. Charles visited, there were no real solutions to this problem. Iron supplements were not widely available and even if people could get their hands on them, the iron supplements were too expensive. Cambodians also did not want to take the supplements due to various side effects.

Dr. Charles wanted to come up with a solution to all of these problems. The Lucky Iron Fish is the solution Cambodians were looking for.

The Lucky Iron Fish is a small iron fish that can be used to infuse foods with a healthy amount of iron. Iron supplements tend to have too much iron in them which can be detrimental to your health. The Lucky Iron Fish infuses meals with about 75 percent of the daily recommended iron so people are not getting too much iron in their meals, so there are no ill side effects.

Another problem with iron supplements is that people usually just do not like taking them. The Lucky Iron Fish is made to be cooked in food that people were going to eat anyways. When using the fish, they just need to boil it for 10 minutes along with their food and the meal is now iron-rich. Not only that, but the iron is tasteless so it does not affect the meals.

Cost is a major factor when dealing with malnutrition in impoverished countries. High cost can end up making the product unavailable to those who need it most.

The Lucky Iron Fish costs about 30 USD. So it is not too expensive so it can be bought by many people. Not only that, but the creators of the Iron Fish have a buy a fish give a fish program. Anyone who buys a fish will also end up giving a fish to a family who needs it.

30 USD can end up looking expensive for some because people think they have to replace it every couple of months. A single Lucky Iron Fish can end up being used for five years before needing replacing.

Tackling malnutrition in impoverished countries can be a challenge. The cost and effectiveness of a product can really reduce resources for impoverished countries to use. The Lucky Iron Fish tackles all of these issues to make sure people are getting the best product to tackle anemia and iron deficiency.

The original target for the Lucky Iron Fish was for Cambodians. Now anyone can buy them and the creators are hoping to send one million fishes worldwide by 2020.

– Daniel Borjas

Photo: Google

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Cassava Root Can Pull Regions Out Of Poverty

Cassava RootThe cassava root is such a versatile ingredient in the fight against poverty that some scientists are calling it a ‘miracle crop’.

It’s likely that even you have come across cassava, as it makes up the small balls in bubble tea and is the main ingredient in tapioca pudding.

While it lends a hand to some dishes in developed countries, the root is a vital component to diets in the developing world. Cassava is one of the leading food and feed plants of the world, ranking fourth among staple crops with a global production of about 160 million tons per year. The majority of cassava is grown in three regions: West Africa and the adjoining Congo basin, tropical South America and South and Southeast Asia.

The miracle crop was introduced into Africa in the 16th century by Portuguese traders from Brazil. Initially, it was adopted as a famine-reserve crop because of its nutritional value. The leaves can be prepared in a similar fashion to spinach and contain high levels of protein and vitamins A, B and C. Cassava root can be prepared in countless ways, but should not be consumed raw. They are often boiled and sliced, but they can also be dried and beaten into flour.

It is among the highest calorie value foods, containing 160 calories per 100g root. It provides more protein than sources like yams or potatoes and it is also a leading source of essential minerals like zinc, magnesium, copper, iron, manganese and potassium. Potassium is an important component of a healthy diet, helping regulate heart rate and blood pressure.

In addition to its bountiful nutritious value, the crop is perhaps one of the world’s easiest to grow. Cassava root can be grown well in poor soil with a relatively low fertility and textures ranging from sands to clay. It is drought resistant and loses its leaves in order to preserve moisture in times of limited rainfall. The plant produces new leaves when rains resume. Additionally, cassava can be grown in extreme rainfall. For these reasons, the crop requires little labor and attention and the fruits of one harvest can be consumed 6 months to 3 years after planting.

Lastly, cassava has the potential to solve more than hunger. It is possible to transform cassava from a low-yielding famine-reserve crop to a high-yielding cash crop in order to raise income and draw poor regions out of poverty. The domestic market for cassava products continues to grow and export demands are increasing.

Cassava production presents enormous opportunities for solving domestic famine and malnutrition. It could also promote economic stability and reduce poverty through trade between areas with a food surplus and a food deficit.

– Jamie Enright

Photo: Flickr

 

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Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Africa

Poverty in Africa Facts Statistics Suffering Poverty Line
How bad is poverty in Africa? The situation is improving, but Africa remains the poorest continent on Earth. But what many people may not know are the effects of poverty in Africa—including hunger, disease and a lack of basic necessities.

 

Leading Facts About Poverty in Africa

 

  1. Seventy-five percent of the world’s poorest countries are located in Africa, including Zimbabwe, Liberia and Ethiopia. The Central African Republic ranked the poorest in the world with a GDP per capita of $656 in 2016.
  1. According to Gallup World, in 2013, the 10 countries with the highest proportion of residents living in extreme poverty were all in sub-Saharan Africa. Extreme poverty is defined as living on $1.25 or less a day. In 2010, 414 million people were living in extreme poverty across sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Bank, those living on $1.25 a day accounted for 48.5 percent of the population in that region in 2010.
  1. Approximately one in three people living in sub-Saharan Africa are undernourished. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimated that 239 million people (around 30 percent of the population) in sub-Saharan Africa were hungry in 2010. This is the highest percentage of any region in the world. In addition, the U.N. Millennium Project reported that over 40 percent of all Africans are unable to regularly obtain sufficient food.
  1. In sub-Saharan Africa, 589 million people live without electricity. As a result, a staggering 80 percent of the population relies on biomass products such as wood, charcoal and dung in order to cook.
  1. Of the 738 million people globally who lack access to clean water, 37 percent are living in sub-Saharan Africa. Poverty in Africa results in more than 500 million people suffering from waterborne diseases. According to the U.N. Millennium Project, more than 50 percent of Africans have a water-related illness like cholera.
  1. Every year, sub-Saharan Africa misses out on about $30 billion as productivity is compromised by water and sanitation problems. This amount accounts for approximately five percent of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP), exceeding the total amount of foreign aid sent to sub-Saharan Africa in 2003.
  1. Due to continuing violence, conflict and widespread human rights abuses, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 18 million people are of concern to the agency, including stateless people and returnees.
  1. Fewer than 20 percent of African women have access to education. Uneducated African women are twice as likely to contract AIDS and 50 percent less likely to immunize their children. Meanwhile, the children of African women with at least five years of schooling have a 40 percent higher chance of survival.
  1. Women in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 230 times more likely to die during childbirth or pregnancy than women in North America. Approximately one in 16 women living in sub-Saharan African will die during childbirth or pregnancy; only one in 4,000 women in North America will.
  1. More than one million people, mostly children under the age of five, die every year from malaria. Malaria deaths in Africa alone account for 90 percent of all malaria deaths worldwide. Eighty percent of these victims are African children. The U.N. Millennium Project has calculated that a child in Africa dies from malaria every 30 seconds, or about 3,000 each day.

– Jordanna Packtor

Sources: Global Issues, World Hunger, World Bank, World Population Review, The Richest, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, UNHCR, The Water Project, Gallup, Global Finance

 

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Protect Drought Vital to End Hunger in Uganda

Hunger in UgandaLocated between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, while also struggling against the Lord’s Resistance Army, hunger in Uganda is a major issue that the country, as well as 800,000 refugees, are facing every day. Uganda as a whole produces more food than it consumes, but because of the prevalence of poverty in the country, many of its 39 million people cannot afford to buy all of the food they need.

Only 4 percent of households in Uganda have had food security over the past six years. This is related to the food shortages and destitute diets that have also come from dealing with climate change, urbanization, the inconsistencies of Ugandan policies and poor public financing.

Hunger in Uganda has also been caused by the lack of water. A growing population has led to stresses on water and sanitation services. 24 million people in rural areas do not have access to water, which has increased the incidence of water-related diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery. Each week, 30,000 deaths are caused by unsafe water.

The lack of food has led to malnutrition among children, including refugees. It has been estimated that 33 percent of children under five are enduring chronic undernourishment and stunted growth. Only one in three children actually have food to eat during the day, while stunting affects 29 percent of children and rises to 40 percent in certain areas and among refugees.

Organizations like Action Against Hunger have made efforts to help Uganda. They focus on nutrition, health and care practices, and have helped 148,420 people. They have been able to reach some of the most vulnerable children in refugee settlements and treat life-threatening malnutrition. Action Against Hunger has helped strengthen the local capacity while training locals to be able to provide treatment. They have plans to help prevent malnutrition as well as to gather more information on malnutrition in order to prevent it in the future.

The World Food Programme also helps Uganda by providing cash and food assistance to people in need. They have also set up the “cash/food-for-work” program to ensure there is food during the lean seasons. This program helps communities build tree farms, orchards, irrigation systems, water ponds and dams to help them better endure droughts.

While the poverty rate in Uganda has declined from 31 to 19.7 percent, the fact that the population is still growing means that the number of poor people has not decreased. To combat this, the work the aforementioned groups are doing is vital to help Ugandans become self-sufficient in growing food and end hunger in Uganda.

– Chavez Spicer

Photo: Flickr

US Helps Fight Food Insecurity in the Central African Republic

Food Insecurity in the Central African RepublicOn July 19, 2017, the United Nations World Food Programme announced that it would donate $11 million, which was contributed by the United States government, in order to help feed approximately 500,000 people in the Central African Republic. The country has experienced many hunger-related problems which makes this donation a positive first step to begin combatting food insecurity in the Central African Republic.

It was reported that the 500,000 people being assisted by the World Food Programme will include displaced people, refugees and students. These groups are considered to be the most disadvantaged groups in the country.

The donation will partly help fund meals in schools in order to help students achieve their educational goals more efficiently and effectively. The relationship between academic success and hunger has been widely studied, and it is often reported that students tend to perform worse in school when they are hungry.

For instance, according to the Global Citizen, it is important that students eat healthy meals in order to succeed, because the brain needs energy to understand information and solve problems. Thus, the World Food Programme’s donation to the Central African Republic will help students focus better on their studies in order to learn the skills that are necessary to thrive as adults.

Furthermore, the Central African Republic has experienced a lot of political instability throughout its history. According to the World Food Programme, “the Central African Republic has the second-to-lowest level of human development in the world.” Many of the people that have been displaced throughout the country have been affected by the violence that has been incited by various rebel groups. Furthermore, there are heightened religious tensions between such groups, which has caused approximately 600,000 people to be displaced.

However, the government of the United States is making an important effort to assist the most disadvantaged groups through the World Food Programme so that food insecurity in the Central African Republic will be addressed and solved. Then, perhaps, other issues can be solved, too.

– Emily Santora

Photo: Flickr

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Pumpkins as a Solution to Poverty in Bangladesh and Uganda

Pumpkins

Every year, the citizens of Bangladesh have to contend with monsoon season, a cool, rainy period that usually lasts from June until October. Most parts of the country get at least 2000 millimeters of rain per year, and 80 percent of that falls during monsoon season. Northeastern Bangladesh is typically hit hardest, sometimes receiving over 4000 millimeters per year.

The heavy rains bring another problem: flooding. When rivers flood, they destroy both crops and nutrient-rich topsoil. As flood waters recede, they often leave behind large quantities of sand and silt, which reduces the availability of arable land.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) blames this problem in part for Bangladesh’s malnutrition epidemic. According to USAID, 25 percent of Bangladeshis remain food insecure, and women and children are affected most. Of children under five, 16 percent are acutely malnourished and 41 percent have stunted growth.

But one organization believes it has found a solution. Practical Action, an international NGO that uses technology to alleviate poverty in developing countries, has spent several years experimenting with various “sandbar cropping” techniques in Bangladesh. Their solution? Pumpkins.

Practical Action’s tried-and-true technique for farming pumpkins in the sand is to dig a pit in the sand and fill it with compost and a dozen pumpkin seeds. The pumpkins can grow and be harvested before monsoon season rolls around again.

Pumpkins provide a variety of health and logistical benefits. They can store for a year, providing a stable, reliable source of food. They are also a good source of Vitamin A, a nutrient often lacking in Bangladeshi diets. And in a nation where rivers often change course during monsoons and farmers thus lose their land, sandbar cropping provides more security.

This is why Practical Action started Pumpkins Against Poverty, a project to train 50,000 Bangladeshis with no land of their own to grow up to 600 pumpkins a year. Participants can use the extra income generated by selling the crop to buy livestock or send their children to school. The project will last until March 2018 and has the potential to be replicated nationwide.

Bangladesh is far from the only country to realize the value in farming pumpkins as a solution to poverty. Uganda has also embraced the crop as a profitable, nutritious foodstuff. Pumpkin varieties in Uganda are numerous and include Sweet Cream, Bala, Dulu, Onziga, Sunfish, Anderina and Sugar Pie, among others.

Fatuma Namatosi, founder of Ugandan agribusiness firm Byeffe Foods Company Ltd., decided to center her business on pumpkins, citing them as her favorite crop. The company makes pumpkin porridge, which is popular among children and gives them a vital nutrition boost. Byeffe also helps teach young Ugandans agricultural entrepreneurial skills and creates jobs in the field that employ thousands of young people.

Namatosi founded Byeffe in 2015. Since then, she says, “I’ve provided more accessible and nutritious food options to communities across Uganda, created a variety of agricultural jobs that generate income for families, and empowered more people like me, especially young women, to create their own path in the agriculture industry.” All that progress comes down to pumpkins.

– Chuck Hasenauer

Photo: Flickr

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Food from Electricity as a High-Tech Solution to Poverty

High-Tech Solution to PovertyElectric-powered food: it sounds too good to be true. And for now, it probably is. But, according to Business Insider, Finnish scientists with the Food From Electricity project earlier this year synthesized a nutrient-rich protein using only water, electricity, carbon dioxide and microbes. The high-tech solution to poverty is reportedly nutritious enough to serve as a meal, being 50 percent (or more) protein and 25 percent carbohydrates. It is a promising step, but the process must be much more efficient before it can be adopted on a grand scale.

This research is the result of a collaboration between the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT). VTT scientist Juha-Pekka Pitkänen has affirmed that, in practice, “all the raw materials are available from the air. In the future, the technology can be transported to, for instance, deserts and other areas facing famine.” As this method does not require a location with the appropriate temperatures or soil type for agriculture, desert conditions will have no effect on its viability.

Business Insider theorizes two possible ways the technology might be used: to provide food for starving people in areas inhospitable to traditional agriculture and to reduce the demand for food livestock and the crops necessary to sustain it.

The second manner of use would bring down global emissions of greenhouse gases, a large portion of which the livestock industry is directly responsible for. Studies show that poorer countries are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, not least because they lack the financial means to combat those effects. Poorer nations are disproportionately in low-lying areas vulnerable to sea level rises. The nation of Kiribati, spread out over many island reefs and atolls in the Pacific, is a good example of a place already wrestling with less fertile soil and frequent flooding.

As a high-tech solution to poverty, food from electricity has a long way to go. LUT reports that producing one gram of protein in this manner currently takes about two weeks. As researchers model and adjust the process to allow the microbes to grow better, the hope is that the total time required will be reduced. At the same time, researchers want to produce larger quantities of the protein so as to pilot a commercialization effort and eventually develop the process into a compact product for mass production and distribution.

Aside from addressing general poverty, food from electricity has the rare potential to address climate change from both sides of the equation, tackling it at its source while mitigating its impoverishing effects. It will be interesting to see how this technology develops in the future.

– Chuck Hasenauer

Photo: Google