Archive for category: Food & Hunger

Information and stories on food.

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USAID Helping People in Qatar

How to Help People in Qatar

Qatar is a nation of extreme economic stratification between rich and poor. An oil rich gulf state, Qatar’s economy is booming, with its GDP reaching a soaring $329.2 billion in 2016 – making Qatar the wealthiest Arab state. Despite this title, there are still unfortunately a large number of people living in poverty here. In this climate of extreme inequality, the question of how to help people in Qatar remains of vital importance.

This economic growth is coupled with a massive population spike, due to the influx of migrant workers needed to sustain the economic growth of the country. Migrant workers are estimated to comprise about 90 percent of the Qatari population, with nearly 60 percent living in what the Qatari monarchy officially calls “labour camps.”

This influx of migrant workers has been further exacerbated by the construction for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. Human rights groups have long condemned the working conditions of migrant workers in Qatar. Under the kafala labor sponsorship system, workers are dependent on their employers for their visas, living accommodation and even permission to enter or exit the country. Amnesty International has deemed labor conditions as “squalid and cramped,” while the International Labor Organization is launching investigations into the labor camps and systems surrounding the construction of World Cup infrastructure.

Qatar is an absolute monarchy, ruled by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. As an official ally of the U.S., diplomats from the U.S. have unique access to the small faction of the Qatari population that maintains control over the political and economic realities that the poor face. It is crucial that the U.S. uses its influence to advocate for the outrageous treatment of migrant workers, on whose backs the immense wealth and economic growth of Qatar is built.

USAID has already begun to answer the question of how to help people in Qatar, and are still working to implement a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding Cooperation to Enhance Global Food Security, signed in 2011. Dr. Rajiv Shah, then the administrator of USAID, signed the MOU, saying, “Both the United States and Qatar see food security as a development issue that must be addressed comprehensively and creatively.”

It is critical to the health and well-being of the impoverished Qatari workers that these goals be pursued. Moreover, resources must continue to flow to organizations such as USAID, which work to pressure the Qatari monarchy to provide a social safety net and adequate human rights for its subjects.

– Jeffery Harrell
Photo: Flickr

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The Continued Struggle Against Poverty in Greenland

Inescapable Poverty: Greenland Continues to StruggleLocated between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans is the world’s largest island, Greenland. Ironically, it is also the least populated country in the world, with about 57,728 people as of July 2016. Nevertheless, it is not safe from the problems that plague the world today. The Central Intelligence Agency reports that 16.2 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in 2015. This is a serious problem, given the country’s already small population.

Famous for its Arctic landscapes in the north and sheep farms in the south, Greenland is often a tourist destination, with tourism having grown 20 percent in 2015 and 2016.

However, what countless people do not see when they travel to Greenland is the poverty and the helplessness of individuals around the country. The signs of poverty in Greenland are the same as everywhere else. The inability to afford food and inadequate living conditions are rampant. Furthermore, Project World reports that “many people in Greenland do not have water or sanitation capabilities in their homes, particularly in rural areas, because there is no national grid to supply these services”. Additionally, climate change is affecting the daily lives of indigenous people who live in the Arctic region, as global warming causes erosion, which destroys homes and heritage sites.

Approximately 88 percent of Greenland’s population is Greenlandic Inuit, an indigenous group of people. These people rely on traditional methods of obtaining food, which mainly include fishing, hunting and gathering. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program reports that unpredictable shifts in the number of animals, “travel safety in changing ice and weather conditions present serious challenges to human health and food security”.

Many people wonder what contribution they can make to alleviate this suffering. The best way to eliminate poverty is by directly donating to organizations that support financially disadvantaged individuals. Global associations like UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee all work to eliminate human suffering in the world. While the latter focuses on refugees primarily, it also provides aid to people who live in disastrous conditions.

However, donations are not the only way to improve the lives of these people. Another method is fundraising. Many of these organizations support both large and small-scale projects that raise money for the association.

There is also the opportunity to educate. Many times, people do not realize that almost everywhere, there are people who cannot afford an appropriate living space, food, water and other essential resources. By attending city council meetings, starting a conversation with neighbors, or even visiting schools and universities to inform the community about the widespread poverty in the world, a huge difference can be made.

It is important to realize that such tragic circumstances can be prevented, as long as people come together to solve the underlying problem. These different methods of support all contribute to alleviating poverty in Greenland.

– Sheharbano Jafry

Photo: Flickr

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How to Help People in Senegal

How to Help People in SenegalSenegal is a West African nation on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. To give an idea of its size, Senegal is slightly smaller than South Dakota in terms of square miles. The population is about 14 million people. Like other African nations, Senegal is considered a developing nation. This means that the country experiences problems that other more developed nations do not face, like a lack of resources such as food and clean water. Food is especially a problem in underdeveloped countries, and Senegal is no exception. If you want to know how to help people in Senegal, nutrition and food security are excellent places to start, and can ultimately save lives.

Good indicators of a nation’s issues with sufficient food are obesity as well as underweight statistics, especially for underweight children. According to the CIA World Factbook, Senegal has an obesity rate of 8.3 percent as of 2014. Among other nations, this ranks them close to the bottom, at 145 out of 191 nations. The percentage of children below age 5 that are underweight is 12.8 percent, putting them close to the top of nations with underweight children (based on percentage).

One organization dedicated to fighting hunger in Senegal is Caritas Internationalis. Caritas is a group that was created to reach out to the poor of the world, regardless of race or religion, and to assist those in need when a disaster strikes. Caritas, inspired by the Catholic church, seeks to take on extreme poverty through the grassroots method, putting people on the ground in impoverished communities in order to lend a direct helping hand.

For Senegal itself, Caritas is “launching an emergency project” to help families that are in urgent need of care. Due to bad harvests, natural disasters and a dramatic rise in food prices, poor families have experienced the harshness of poverty even more severely, which means even less food. One out of five households in Senegal are going hungry.

Caritas seeks to help the Senegalese by providing food, such as rice, millet and oil, to over 1,000 families for at least three months. Their goal is to have these families eating three meals a day. There are also cereal banks throughout Senegal, providing 600 families with regular access to food. There are many other projects as well, including projects to ensure that farmers have proper amounts of seeds and tools.

For the person looking for how to help people in Senegal, helping Caritas might be a great way to assist those in need. One way to help this organization is by donating. Caritas has a very old-fashioned sort of charm, and also operates using older methods (being an organization that has existed for over a hundred years); this means that donating to them is not done directly through the computer. To give to Caritas, a check can be mailed to their headquarters, or you can make a direct transfer through a bank account.

If you are looking to go a little further in helping, Caritas also take volunteers from all over the world, especially those willing to help when disaster strikes. Discover where they work and contact them in regards to volunteering.

Of course, another great way to help can be found on the Borgen Project website, and is perhaps one of the simplest ways of all to help the impoverished. Calling Congress can get bills passed that allocate large amounts of funding to helping the poor and hungry of the world looked at by leaders.

Every call made about an issue gets tallied up by the interns who answer the phone and shown to the representative or senator. All that needs to be said is, “Hello, I’m a Borgen Project supporter and I support protecting the International Affairs Budget,” or whatever bill you choose to support (a list can be found in the link). And that’s the whole phone call. It can be done in an easy 30-second call, and becomes even more effective when one gets their family and friends to do it as well.

– Stephen Praytor

Photo: Flickr

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The State of Relative Hunger in Guernsey

Hunger in GuernseyThe small island of Guernsey, tucked away in the English channel, has an economy built on financial services, tourism and agriculture. However, with a decline in manufacturing and horticulture, the island has to rely on the financial services.

With 87 percent of the economy coming from services, the unemployment has remained at 1.2 percent, with an accompanying unknown percentage of those living below the poverty line. Due to other unknown data, there is no current percentage of those living in hunger in Guernsey.

Further, in 2011, it was reported that for Guernsey residents to maintain a minimum standard of living, residents need a 20-30 percent higher income, and this rises to 40 percent for older residents. The same goes for necessities such as electricity. Guernsey natives could spend upwards of $240 a month on garbage, water, heating and electricity alone for an 85-square-meter apartment. Even with a milder climate, natives still spend approximately 36 percent more on food and drink than U.K. residents.

However, even with higher costs on food, due to the decline in agriculture, residents are still able to maintain a sufficient lifestyle, and there have been no recent reports of a spike in hunger rates, depth of hunger or malnutrition prevalence.

Although there is no current data on the number of those living in hunger in Guernsey, with the economy supported by financial services and the island’s continued ability to send aid to countries in need like South Sudan, it can be inferred that hunger in Guernsey is not an immediate or existing problem.

– Amira Wynn

Photo: Pixabay

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Five Facts About Period Poverty

Period PovertyOftentimes when we think of poverty, food insecurity and homelessness come to mind. What we don’t necessarily think about is the inability to afford toiletries and items such as tampons and pads – and, the reality is, people are often too ashamed or embarrassed to bring up the topic of menstrual cycles. Forty million women and girls around the world are affected by period poverty, and the silence must come to an end. Here are five facts about period poverty that are important to talk about:

  1. A year’s supply of sanitary products in the United States costs more than $70. In the U.K., there is a five percent tax on period products – in total, sanitary products cost over 5,000 pounds in a lifetime.
  2. Lack of affordability and information have led many young women to use only one tampon per day or one pad for multiple days. When proper products are not available or affordable, women are often forced to use alternatives such as socks, dishrags and newspapers during their cycles.
  3. Lack of menstrual hygiene can lead to very serious health risks such as Toxic Shock Syndrome, a life-threatening illness. In Bangladesh, India and many other countries, infections and cervical cancer are also results of poor hygiene.
  4. Many girls from low-income families around the world are skipping school because they cannot afford tampons or pads. Missing school during menstrual cycles has been a well-known pattern in developing countries, like Kenya, for years. Now, the reality is setting in that this is a trend for low-income girls everywhere, including the Western world.
  5. The stigma surrounding periods has been shown to directly affect a girl’s potential to succeed. If a girl misses school every time she has her period, she is set 145 days behind her fellow male students. Even then, most girls in the developing world choose to drop out of school altogether rather than face the embarrassment and shame of being unprepared for their periods.

Unfortunately, many people fail to recognize the effects that period poverty have on young women and girls. In times of uncertainty, sanitary needs come secondary, or even tertiary, to finding food and shelter. While this is understandable, a few organizations such as Freedom4Girls and Bloody Good Period, and many others, are fighting back against period poverty.

One of the biggest defenses against period poverty is to start a conversation and stop the stigma.

– Madeline Boeding

Photo: Flickr

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Food for Soul: A Chef’s Foundation to Feed the Hungry

Food for Soul
Massimo Bottura is an Italian chef from Modena, Italy. He has been working as a chef for over 30 years and has recently found a way to use his talent to advocate for the hungry. About one-third of the food produced around the world turns into food waste. To solve this issue, in 2016 Bottura founded the nonprofit association Food for Soul to empower communities to fight food waste and use extra food to feed the hungry.

Food for Soul is an organization where well-known chefs, both locally and globally, come to transform discarded ingredients into healthy meals. Professional staff maintain these kitchens to ensure long-term successes. Bottura’s foundation is an impactful gesture as well as a call to action.

It began with a transformation of a theater in Milan into a soup kitchen. The kitchen turned more than 15 tons of leftover food into meals for the poor and refugees. At first, many local residents were against the Food for Soul project and believed it would bring addicts and refugees into the community. Bottura had many skeptics but gained respect in the community after he expressed his permanence. Protesters then understood the commitment of everyone involved and the vision they stood by, a new foundation to feeding the hungry. Many of those protesters became loyal volunteers.

Food for Soul is working to create community kitchens around the world and expand this concept. “This reflects the way I grew up,” Bottura has stated, “hundreds of cheese makers who see the power of working together with a single voice.”

Food for Soul has had a large impact, saving approximately 25 tons of food surplus to date and making it into healthy meals. This movement has been captured in the documentary “Theater of Life.” The film shows the project unfold in Milan and its influence around the world.

So far, Food for Soul has established kitchens in Milan, Modena and Bologna and is working on an initiative in London. Food for Soul is an initiative for empty stomachs, approaching the issue of hunger in a new way.

– Brandi Gomez

Photo: Flickr

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Australian Government on Economic Inequality & Poverty

Australian Government Addresses Economic Inequality and PovertyWith three million citizens living under the poverty line, Australia is in desperate need of government action to assist the economically downtrodden. The rise of child poverty is at the forefront of the poverty-related issues that the Australian government is currently addressing.

Among the millions of impoverished Australians are approximately 730,000 children who are not receiving necessary education, housing or financial stability. Thus, the Australian government is focusing on improving the nation’s current poverty situation.

According to Labor Leader Bill Shorten, tackling rising economic inequality is a “defining mission” of a future Labor government. With this in mind, the Australian government is working with hope and opportunity rather than frustration and fear.

Australia is in its 17th year of running the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA), which is a longitudinal study that provides important insight into the life courses of Australians.

Although HILDA has found that many households that experience poverty over a 10-year period only suffer poverty for about one or two of those years, about three percent of Australia’s population is living in persistent poverty. This percentage of the population is a great focus of Australian government assistance.

Additionally, HILDA shows a common theme between education and poverty. As expected, those who receive more education from higher quality institutions receive higher paying jobs while those who are not as educated tend to live below the poverty line.

When families fall below the poverty line, it becomes increasingly difficult to afford childcare and education for their children, which leads to a full circle of improper education and a lifetime of poverty. Single-parent families are at an extreme threat of poverty as one wage is unable to cover the doubling costs of childcare.

About 10 percent of the Australian community is at risk of poverty. In single-parent families, this number grows to about 20 to 25 percent. Since 2012, child poverty in single-parent families has increased every year.

By living in poverty, these children are unable to receive the same care and education that children from two-parent households are receiving, which puts them at a setback later in life.

The Australian government has recognized the suffering of these children, and immense efforts are getting put into protecting the welfare and economic assistance to families living in poverty.

– Kassidy Tarala

Photo: Flickr

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How to Help People in Mexico

Helping People in Mexico
When people think about the country of Mexico, people reflect on some of its cultural features. These include the country’s food, music and clothing style. What people do not know about Mexico is that between the years of 2012 and 2014, the number of individuals living in conditions of poverty has increased by two million.

With this fact in mind, many people ask how to help people in Mexico. Due to the Mexican government spending many of its resources fighting the growing problem of cartels within its borders in conjunction with helping grow its economy, private solutions to poverty in Mexico appear to be much more adequate solutions to this issue.

This article highlights some NGOs that address the problem of how to help people in Mexico. Below are two NGOs that are currently doing this.

Children International

Drug violence and drug trafficking has transformed the cities of Mexico — essentially into war zones — and has taken hold of every section of the country’s state and national politics. The people most affected by the influence of the cartels in Mexico are the nation’s child populations. The NGO, Children International, is helping people in Mexico by focusing on the child populations living in the country’s cities.

Children International is helping people in Mexico by creating community centers that act as safe havens for the kids residing in this region. These centers contain books and computers for educational purposes, and toys to keep them entertained. On top of this, these centers also serve as a hub for child program activities that teach kids they can have a better life, and how to achieve that life.

One way to begin helping people in Mexico is to either donate to this NGO or to do volunteer work with their organization. Although volunteering is the most effective way of helping these people, any donation made makes a great difference.

Freedom From Hunger

Freedom From Hunger is an NGO that is helping people in Mexico by creating programs that aim to reduce the country’s food insecurity issue. Food insecurity gets defined as the inability to meet one’s basic nutritional needs for some or all of the year. On top of having 53% of the country living in poverty, and having 24% of the population living in extreme poverty, many people outside of these two groups struggle with food insecurity.

Freedom From Hunger is partnering up with local organizations in Mexico’s major cities and food banks. This partnership is being done to reach out to the needy in the country and give them access to a better food supply.

On top of this, Freedom From Hunger is helping people in Mexico by creating savings and loan programs for the people living under conditions of poverty. Although the incomes of these groups may be low, the issue of poverty only gets exacerbated when families fall further into debt or make poor financial decisions with what little money they do have.

Between helping the poor in Mexico deal with food insecurity and their economic issues, Freedom From Hunger is making great strides in fighting poverty in Mexico. In their first year, they reached out to 14,000 people in villages and cities where these services are needed. To support this group, and to begin helping the people in Mexico, volunteering one’s time or donating is a great way to start.

Private institutions are not always as efficient at making the substantive change needed to begin eliminating poverty, and at the current moment, the Mexican government is unable to make real change for its people dealing with poverty. With time and commitment, these organizations offer solutions for how to help people in Mexico and can continue to make the change needed in the country.

– Nick Beauchamp

Photo: Flickr

Alleviating the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

Crisis in YemenThere is currently a devastating humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Many factors are intensifying the suffering being experienced by the Arab world’s poorest nation. The civil war is going on its third year and created conditions for famine, disease and terrorism to flourish. A variety of people and organizations are helping Yemenis in need, yet, it will be a long path to stability.

In September 2014, a group of Yemeni rebels, supported by Iran, overthrew Yemen’s government. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia supplied military forces to reinstate the government, with help from the U.S. The country remains in a civil war.

At least 10,000 people were killed, and two million people were displaced as a result of the war. Those evading conflict are who suffer most. The civil war led to famine, the collapse of Yemen’s healthcare system and a cholera outbreak.

Currently, almost half of Yemenis are food-insecure. Almost 2.2 million children are malnourished, 462,000 of whom have severe acute malnutrition. Furthermore, the cholera outbreak which impacted more than 300,000 people.

The civil war made these issues worse because it caused the healthcare system in Yemen to collapse. Poverty also exacerbates the crisis. Many Yemenis lost all their wealth because of the conflict. They are forced to work more and cannot take time off to stay with sick family in the hospital, nor can they necessarily afford travel expenses and treatment. Furthermore, the malnourishment experienced by a generation of children may set the stage for another impoverished generation in Yemen.

Fortunately, some are stepping in to help. U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-IN), is pleading for a policy of aiding the country. He wrote a resolution that addressed the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia. He is also asking the U.S. to reprimand its ally Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is blamed for much of the suffering in the civil war. For instance, the country bombed cranes which were used to deliver food and medical aid. Saudi Arabia then proceeded to block the delivery of new cranes.

However, the new Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman recently allocated $66.7 million to the WHO and UNICEF to fight the cholera epidemic. While bin Salman was defense minister, he oversaw the bombing of Yemen. It is unclear if the donation is personally from bin Salman, or from the government budget.

Many other governments are also addressing the crisis in Yemen. Through USAID, President Donald Trump offered $192 million for Yemen. This will add to the $275.2 million the U.S. already gave for Yemeni assistance in 2017. The European Union is also funding humanitarian aid in Yemen. Since 2015, the European Commission gave approximately $199.5 million to help with malnutrition, water sanitation, healthcare, homelessness and more.

The WHO and UNICEF, Oxfam, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders are among the organizations contending with the crisis in Yemen. Oxfam has been in Yemen for 30 years, building better infrastructure and working towards women’s rights and ending poverty. Save the Children has worked in Yemen since 1963 and fights for children’s rights by offering education, healthcare and food. Doctors Without Borders offers free healthcare and is working hard to alleviate the cholera epidemic.

Life has been shattered in Yemen. One of the poorest countries in the world is being made worse by civil war. Much of the world understands, that as fellow humans, it is our obligation to help end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. This ideal must spread and continue.

– Mary Katherine Crowley

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How Protecting Alpacas in the Andes Saves Peruvians

Alpacas in the Andes
Who would have thought that an alpaca would be essential to life? Well, to the indigenous tribes in the Andes Mountains, they are. But, with extremely freezing temperatures and adverse weather conditions in the winter, alpacas in the Andes are dying off in large numbers.

Secluded from most life and with little government help, “the indigenous communities living high up in the Andes … are some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Peru.”

These desperate and cold Peruvians rely on alpacas for many of their daily necessities, including transportation to the market, wool for warmth, milk and cheese for nutrition and manure for fuel. Losing thousands of alpacas in the Andes is a devastating reality that the Peruvians are starting to grasp.

The weather has been so terrible in some parts of the Andes, killing tens of thousands of alpacas, that the government declared a state of emergency. Even children have been dying from the abnormal cold front. Ignacio Beneto Huamani, an Andes Peruvian, stated, “If the alpaca die, then we all die.”

Bringing hope and technological solutions to the Andes Mountains, nongovernmental organization Practical Action is working with the communities to try and protect the alpacas and, therefore, Peruvians’ lives.

There are three ways that Practical Action is working to protect the alpacas in the Andes.

1. Shelters

Building shelters from local materials is an easy way that alpacas can escape the cold and hopefully death. Trusting that sheltering more alpacas from the elements will save more, some shelters store up to 50 alpacas at once.

2. Nutrition

Keeping the alpacas in the Andes fed properly is another major concern. When the winter storms hit, most vegetation dies off. That which is left is usually used to feed the children and weak community members. Since the alpacas are necessary for humans’ wellbeing, this is a vicious circle.

Practical Action has introduced a way to grow blocks of barley for the alpacas. In a simple two-week process, barley grains are planted in a trough of water, exposed to sunlight and kept hydrated. Then the barley grains are formed into blocks, which are fed to the alpacas to help them recover their strength.

3. Veterinarians

Since most alpaca owners are not high-class doctors, they are not sure how to treat different diseases that the alpacas can contract. Practical Action has trained over 35 farmers to be aware of the different diseases and how to treat them. These basic veterinary skills are essential if the Peruvians want to try and salvage their alpacas in the Andes.

These three techniques that Practical Action is using are already helping some communities save their precious livestock. A local alpaca farmer, Emilio Chalco Valladares, said that “we save much time because we have the knowledge ourselves and diseases don’t spread. Animals don’t die anymore.”

With more support and training, hopefully, one day soon alpacas in the Andes will thrive again.

– Sydney Missigman

Photo: Flickr