Archive for category: Food & Hunger

Information and stories on food.

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GiveDirectly Sends Money Directly to People in Poverty

GiveDirectly
GiveDirectly, a U.S. nonprofit organization, is seeking to change the way aid is given to impoverished communities around the world. Where most nonprofit organizations seek to fight global poverty through advocacy programs, research studies, services and volunteers, GiveDirectly bypasses traditional nongovernmental organization structures to allow donors to see exactly where and who their money is going to. By doing so, GiveDirectly is able to send money directly to people in poverty.

Modern payment through technology has become a prominent cost-effective way to transfer sums of money over thousands of miles. GiveDirectly uses such technology to take and use money from donors and transfer it directly to people in impoverished communities. After opening to the public in 2011, the nonprofit exclusively makes payments to people in extreme poverty through online transferable cash grants.

The next step is to study the impact of direct aid to poverty-stricken communities. Over the next 12 years, every adult in 40 villages throughout Kenya will receive $0.75 per day through GiveDirectly donors. The wage, while below the poverty line, will ensure a source of income on top of day-to-day jobs.

Residents of another 80 villages will receive that amount over just two years and residents of yet another 80 villages will receive that amount in a lump sum. Since GiveDirectly sends money directly to people in poverty, all community members will receive the donations despite income levels, as a form of universal income. More than 26,000 people will receive a donation transfer, where 6,000 will receive a sustained universal income.

According to the GiveDirectly website, the group has received 81% of the funds required to pay for the study throughout all 12 years. The research team includes Abhijit Banerjee, co-founder of J-PAL and a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alan Krueger, a former Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and a professor at Princeton and Tavneet Suri, Scientific Director for J-PAL Africa, also at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Stephene, a 27-year-old laborer in Kenya, enrolled as a recipient of cash-grants from GiveDirectly four months ago. Two months in, he received his first payment over the phone of $97. He spent his first sum of money plastering his house and on necessities for his wife who is expecting a child.

When asked what he would spend the donated money on, Stephene said he would use it to buy his own boat, to make his life as a fisherman easier. He recently received his second payment of $481. The funds went to buying iron sheets and finally, his own fishing boat. In an interview with GiveDirectly, Stephene said, “This has improved my source of income [and] thus improved my living standards.”

Recipients of donations receive an SMS text message when their payments are ready for collection. On average, it takes 32 minutes for individuals to walk to the closest agent and collect their cash transfers.

In addition to the efficiency of the aid program, recipients can spend their payments on necessities that are unique to their lives and families. By sending money directly to people in poverty, the organization breaks down some of the difficulties of traditional foreign aid.

– Riley Bunch

Photo: Flickr

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10 Impacts on Food and Hunger in Iceland


Iceland, a small island nation located in the North Atlantic northwest of the United Kingdom, went bankrupt in 2008 when global financial markets collapsed. Since then, the economy has recovered, but many factors affect its food-related economy. Here are 10 impacts on food and hunger in Iceland.

  1. Natural disasters have a tremendous impact on Iceland’s food security. As a result of the April 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, for instance, hundreds of acres of local farmland were coated in four inches of ash.
  2. Food poverty among Icelandic children, measured by the inability to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish or a vegetable equivalent every second day, was 6% in 2012.
  3. The depth of hunger is measured by the energy deficit in undernourished people using kilocalories. In Somalia, for example, the deficit is 490 kilocalories a day. In Iceland, the deficit is 130 kilocalories a day.
  4. High global food prices and the devaluation of Iceland’s currency following its bankruptcy weakened food security.
  5. Fears that the European Union would negatively impact food security in Iceland is among the reasons it dropped its bid to join. Among those who lobbied hardest against joining the EU were Iceland’s farmers, who used “food security” terminology to accentuate the need for more local food production.
  6. Though fishing accounts for 40% of its exports, Iceland produces just half of its people’s nutritional needs and relies on imports.
  7. After declaring sovereign bankruptcy in 2008, Iceland turned to its fishing industry to help it recover. Unfortunately, the price of fish fell 40% in some markets due to the global recession.
  8. Most of Europe has over-fished local waters, but not Iceland. It has an abundant supply. Unfortunately, fishing companies that had invested in domestic banking are now heavily in debt. What’s worse, recession in important markets weakened demand.
  9. The success of Iceland’s economy is heavily dependent upon other economies. That, coupled with its relative isolation, means that food shortages could result from disruptions in importing or exporting.
  10. Icelandic households are unprepared for food shortages. A 2011 survey indicated that most have a supply that would last for just a week. The situation is not much better for food suppliers. Their stores would be depleted in less than a month.

As these impacts on food and hunger in Iceland indicate, food poverty is not only a problem in the developing world, and it continues to have a disproportionate impact on children. In addition, even countries with plenty of food to export can be dependent on food imports and what it takes to produce food. What may be more, when talking about impacts on food and hunger in Iceland, is the effect of natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions.

– Laurie Gold

Photo: Flickr

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Chinese Investment in Cambodian Rice Storage Facility

Local Cambodian millers will be able to boost rice production through increased storage capacity. The progress is possible through the investment of two Chinese investors in a proposed rice storage facility.

The Phnom Penh Post reported on July 3 that two Chinese investors are interested in building a large rice storage facility. The investors, Jilin Province Investment Group Co. Ltd. and Jilin Ianzhong Agricultural Development Co. Ltd., are from the northern Chinese province of Jilin.

The Jilin province is a major food producer, specializing in rice, corn, grain sorghum, millet and beans. Unlike Cambodia, the region is also very industrialized.

According to the World Bank, the agricultural industry in Cambodia is experiencing a deceleration from its prior growth, decreasing from 5.3 percent between 2004 and 2012 to less than two percent between 2013 and 2014. At the same time, poverty rates in the country also decreased, at least partly fueled by positive developments in agriculture. The World Bank reported it at 18 percent in 2012.

With 14 percent of the population living below the poverty line, Cambodia has a higher poverty rate than some of its neighbors. For example, in Indonesia only 10.9 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line, and in Vietnam the percentage is seven.

The Asian Development Bank emphasized the importance of the agricultural industry in sustaining the economy in Cambodia.

The World Bank reported that “since 2013, Cambodia’s rice production has flattened. This was due to the deceleration in land expansion, bad weather, failing global rice prices, and the tightening of completion among rice partners.”

The World Bank also recommended a policy of developing the agricultural business and agro-processing industry in Cambodia. Structural innovations like a rice storage facility in Cambodia would be able to contribute to a boost in the country’s economy.

In addition to boosting Cambodia’s rice exports, the new rice storage facility also has the potential to allow local millers to operate year-round. With safe, dry storage, the rice will also be less likely to absorb water from the humid environment.

By increasing the number of rice storage facilities, rice farmers will be able to protect their harvested rice from the weather and increase their crop production to offset lower global rice prices.

– Hannah Pickering

Photo: Google

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The Cost of Living in Brazil

Cost of Living in Brazil
The cost of living in any country is a direct result of inflation and the economy. As of June 2017, $1 is equivalent to 3.31 Brazilian real. The cost of living in Brazil does not seem to be high for everyday products such as fruit, bread and eggs when compared to prices in the United States. The costs tend to differ more when it comes to mortgage rates, and gasoline and other imports.

Brazilian cities were more expensive in 2011 than cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, Berlin, Miami, Abu Dhabi and Luxembourg. The inflation rate was 6.5%, while the rate in the U.S. was 3%. The real should have become cheaper, not more expensive. This caused the cost of living in Brazil to rise.

By 2016, the economic situation had not changed much. Brazil, which had been the fifth-largest world economy when it won the Olympics, dropped to the ninth-largest economy after a significant decline in its gross domestic project. It went into its worst recession since the 1930s.

High taxes, poor infrastructure and low labor productivity have contributed to what is known as “Custo Brasil” (“Brazil cost” in English)­­– which refers to the increased costs associated with doing business in Brazil. It is likely that these costs directly impact the cost of living in Brazil.

The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was expected to add to the economy while bringing Brazil out of the recession. With an influx of tourists’ spending money, the demand and supply for products should have increased.

More than 400,000 tourists came in for the Olympics and spent about 425 real per day; those 760,000 Brazilians who attended spent an average of 310 real per day. In total, the Olympics generated over $100 million in tourism revenue alone, based on the exchange rate as of August 2016.

Although the total amount of revenue generated remains unknown, companies spent more for the 2016 Rio Olympics than they did in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012. Between the revenue from tourism and sponsors, Brazil’s official inflation rate ended 2016 at its lowest level since 2013.

The central bank expects the cost of living to decelerate, with significant decreases having already occurred in the past few months. Brazil is expected to end 2017 with inflation below its target for the first time since 2009.

– Stefanie Podosek

Photo: Flickr

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The Current Cost of Living in Panama

Cost of Living in Panama
Known for its 48-mile canal connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean, Panama receives over a million visitors each year. Panama’s beautiful beaches, ecotourism and international festivals can seduce many tourists into making Panama their home rather than a vacation spot. For those who entertain the thought of Panama as their permanent home, it is important to know the cost of living in Panama as well as what it’s like to live there.

Panama has a relatively low cost of living, which can range from $1,120 to $8,000 per month for two people, while the average middle-class salary in Panama is estimated at $1,200 per month. These costs fluctuate depending on what region or city you are going to be living in Panama.

The unemployment rate in Panama is 4.5%. The labor force in Panama is made up of 1.78 million people; a large majority of the population works in services while the rest works in agriculture and industry. The standard workweek in Panama is 48 hours, which is 8 hours more than a full-time work week here in the United States.

While the cost of living in Panama is low, migrants should know much more about Panama before making the decision to move there. For example, while Panama’s crime rate compared to other Central American countries is relatively low; however, it is still high compared to most of the United States. Panama, Colon, Herrera and Chiriqui are among the provinces with the largest cities which had the highest overall crime rate. There has been a pattern of decreasing crime in Panama. Homicide, armed robberies and petty theft rates have all continuously fallen.

Moving from the United States to Panama may come as a huge shock when you realize that Panama’s population is only four million. Approximately one-third of Panama’s population lives in Panama City or the immediate area around it. Panama City is packed with nightlife, shopping areas. The rest of the areas in Panama provide a quiet and relaxed life which provides quicker access to Panama’s nature.

There are many things to consider and know about Panama before turning your yearly vacation into a forever home. While Panama may be very appealing to the eye and its beautiful attractions may coerce someone into a quick move, the cost of living in Panama may be a deciding factor.

– Danyel Harrigan

Photo: Flickr

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What Is a Fireless Cooker?

Fireless Cooker
In many developing countries, a lack of resources is the main reason why families struggle to survive. In Kenya, firewood for fuel is a huge burden to find and cut every day. Thus, the international NGO Practical Action created a solution to fight the issue of fuel: the fireless cooker.

A fireless cooker is an electricity-free and fuel-free device that helps families save time so they don’t have to sacrifice work to collect firewood.

Practical Action describes the purpose of the cooker as using “stored heat to cook food over a long period.” In a way, a fireless cooker is a simpler version of a crock-pot. It continues to cook the food after it is taken off of a heat source and keeps it warm for a long time, without wasting fuel.

To make one of these ingenious fuel-saving cookers is quite simple. Materials needed to operate the device include old clothing or banana leaves for insulation, rough cloth, heat-resistant polythene, two cushions (made from cloth stuffed with old clothes) and a basket big enough for cooking. Practical Action wanted to make it easy for families to use, so they chose materials that should be readily available in the communities in Kenya.

The first step in the creation process is to line the desired basket with old clothes or banana leaves. Then, a rough cloth is placed on top of the insulation materials to keep them in place. Next, the polythene is laid on top of the rough fabric to cover it like a bowl. The homemade cushions are then attached to both ends of the basket to store the heat inside.

The impact of this fireless cooker on the families and communities that use it are immense.  Practical Action stated that it can reduce fuel use by 40 percent, “preserving scarce food and saving people hours of precious time.”  One local of Kenya who is reaping the benefits of Practical Action’s invention said, “I am glad to know how to make a fireless cooker. It is going to be of great help to me since I’ll be preparing enough food before going to work on the farm.”

Not only is the fireless cooker environmentally friendly, but also it saves the stay-at-home mothers the tedious and arduous work of cutting and picking firewood every day. Now, the mothers in these households can focus on their children’s education and wellbeing of the family.

– Sydney Missigman

Photo: Flickr

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How Sustainable is the McGovern-Dole Program?


The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program was established in 2000 by former Senators George McGovern and Robert Dole. It has fed millions of children all over the globe by way of school meals made from surplus U.S. agricultural products. In 2006, McGovern and Dole were awarded the World Food Prize for their work on the program. This award is seen as the “Nobel Prize for hunger.”

The program is credited with helping improve school attendance as well as feeding the hungry, as free school meals provide families with an extra incentive to send their children to school. This is especially the case for girls, as parents sometimes decide to keep them home from school to do housework.

McGovern-Dole has made recent news because the Trump administration’s 2018 budget outline proposes eliminating the program, citing that it “lacks evidence that it is being effectively implemented to reduce food insecurity.”

Forbes contributor Tim Worstall contends Trump’s claim that McGovern-Dole fails to reduce food insecurity is accurate. He points out that because McGovern-Dole consists only of food donations, it lacks sustainability, doing nothing to inject money into local economies or help farmers grow their crops. Although the program feeds people effectively, it is not a long-term solution to ending hunger locally.

This being said, McGovern-Dole does have sustainability measures in place, though they may not address food insecurity directly. The program is concerned with education. All meals through the program are offered through schools. This allows McGovern-Dole to track data such as the number of kids taking medication or learning to read at school. This helps other education-centered organizations focus their efforts. McGovern-Dole also implements teacher training, school infrastructure improvements and nutrition programs for pregnant women in the communities it serves.

Alternatives to direct food aid programs are not always reliable. The cash-based transfer, a form of assistance by which individuals in need receive bank transfers or vouchers to exchange for food at stores owned by the World Food Programme, is ineffective in communities with extremely unstable markets or bank services. Direct food aid like McGovern-Dole provides hungry individuals with food regardless of the state of the market in a community.

– Caroline Meyers

Photo: Flickr

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GMOs Like Brazil’s New Sugarcane Feed the World’s Poor


Brazil approved a new sugarcane genetically engineered to resist the most devastating plague in the country. The major sugar exporter is the first to approve commercial use of genetically modified (GM) sugarcane. The developer CTC created the cane with the commonly-used gene Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). This allows the sugarcane to resist the insect Diatraea saccharides, which causes an annual loss of $1.52 billion to sugar producers.

Since most agriculture-based countries are in the developing world, insect-resistant crops such as Brazil’s new sugarcane can be especially helpful to poor farmers. Brazil will be the first to start utilizing the new sugarcane, but many other genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are already at work throughout developing nations.

While they remain a controversial topic in the U.S., GMOs like Brazil’s new sugarcane help feed the world’s poor.

Scientists, like the developers at CTC, possess the ability to engineer crops that solve manifold problems in developing countries. One example is Bangladesh’s Bt Eggplant, which resists a fruit and shoots borer pest. The eggplant’s genetic resistance decreases pesticide use and required labor while increasing crop yield, crop size and farmer profits.

Bangladeshi farmer Md. Milon Mia reported that pests used to ruin up to 40 percent of his crop yield before using Bt Eggplant. The GM eggplant now helps Bangladesh’s largely rural population, as the country climbs out of its position as one of the poorest in the world.

In a “Letter to the Editor” of The New York Times, a farmer from a village in India details his similar experience with GMOs. Like the farmers in Brazil and Bangladesh, Sudhindra Kulkarni uses a GMO designed to resist pests. With this GM cotton, his yields have increased four times, his crops have been healthier and his farm has been more sustainable.

Before the transgenic crop, bollworm pests were so damaging that he thought he “would barely scrape by.” But now, GM cotton has “transformed” the lives of his family. The impoverished Indian population has been cut in half in the past two decades, and developments such as GM farming are key to this progress.

Two billion people across the globe face food insecurity. 896 million people live on less than $2 a day. But GMOs like Brazil’s new sugarcane can improve this situation through the creation of more resilient crops.

With modern technologies, scientists can engineer crops that require less labor, cost less to produce and yield more product. With continued support for these lifesaving inventions, biologists can continue to develop solutions for the developing world.

– Bret Serbin

Photo: Flickr

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10 Important Facts One Should Know About Famines


According to the United Nations, the world is undergoing the biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II. Currently, South Sudan resides in the middle of a massive famine that affects 10,000 people. Forty percent of the people in South Sudan struggle with food, agriculture and nutrition assistance. Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen declared famine warnings, and malnutrition puts 1.4 million children at risk of death in Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. Furthermore, seven million people risk starvation in Nigeria.

The following are 10 facts about famine and its consequences.

  1. A famine is a condition of extreme starvation of food. Famines are caused by natural disasters like droughts, floods, earthquakes, insect plagues and plant diseases. Manmade causes, such as wars, civil disturbances, sieges and crop destruction can also lead to famines. Famines cause significant and prolonged hunger to a country’s population which results in malnutrition and death by starvation and disease.
  2. Famines are declared when:
    • 20 percent of the households in the area face extreme food shortage with limited ability to cope.
    • Acute malnutrition rates exceed by 30 percent.
    • Death rate exceeds two persons per day per 10,000 persons.
  3. Famines evolve slowly and may remain underreported for extended periods of time before they become massive famines. Families have experienced months of crippling hardship before a crisis makes a headline.
  4. Overpopulation is not a cause of famine. The English philosopher Thomas Malthus created this myth in his 1798 essay, in which he argued that population levels outpace available resources. Famines now grip lightly populated areas like Somalia and South Sudan.
  5. Violence and conflict serve as major sources of famines. Other countries cut South Sudan off of supply routes, causing food prices to increase and aid delivery to be hampered. The civil war in South Sudan led to widespread hunger, with half of the nation’s harvests getting destroyed, food deliveries blocked and workers attacked.
  6. Hunger is only one part of famines. Famines can damage future generations, as malnutrition in infants can lead to the suffering of poor health and stunted development.
  7. Famines can drive violence, as global threats of terrorism and political or economic instability grow out of poverty. The famine-affected areas undergo conflict, which leads to displacement and loss of livelihood. Lack of opportunity can lead to choosing terrorism as a way of life.
  8. The 21st century brought massive progress. Until the middle of the 20th century, massive famines could kill millions of people within a decade. The adoption of human rights and globalization has made it difficult to turn a blind eye on people dying of hunger.
  9. A massive famine hit Somalia between 2010 and 2012. Two hundred and sixty thousand people died.
  10. The United Nations needs 2.5 billion to respond to the famine crisis in the Horn of Africa. The agency fundraised 62 percent of this goal.

Famines and hunger are not inevitable and are often human-made. Thus, they can be human-solved. Action must be taken to improve the rights of millions of children and families around the world.

– Aishwarya Bansal

Photo: Flickr

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Cash-Based Transfers: Food Assistance That Empowers


The cash-based transfer is a form of food assistance that has been supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations since the early 2010s. In contrast to in-kind food assistance, which feeds hungry individuals by way of donations of food, cash-based transfers consist of physical money, debit cards and vouchers distributed to those in need and allow people freedom in selecting their food.

Cash-based transfers are both practical and empowering. Individuals that receive aid of any kind are often viewed as passive recipients. However, the program recognizes that people that receive aid know their nutritional needs best and deserve the agency to choose their own food.

The cash-based transfer is also a more sustainable aid program when compared to in-kind food assistance. The money provided through aid goes into local economies and provides support for a future in which hungry individuals will be able to obtain food from their communities. For example, $1.29 billion USD were introduced into Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey by WFP to revitalize those economies in the wake of the Syrian conflict.

Users of cash-based transfers can redeem them in stores connected to WFP and related U.N. agencies. This allows WFP to track what is bought and informs their future decisions concerning what foods they stock in their stores and what amounts of money are appropriate for cash-based transfers. The program is sustainable in its implementation on the ground and through the feedback that it provides to WFP.

However, the cash-based transfer is not always the most effective form of food assistance. It is inappropriate in areas with severely disrupted markets or untrustworthy banks and is too dependent on the structure to function in times of crisis, such as in the event of a tsunami, during which time direct donations of food are necessary for basic survival. WFP contends that it evaluates areas in need case-by-case and determines what combination of in-kind and cash-based transfer aid is appropriate. One variation on the cash-based transfer allows access to this type of aid conditionally— for instance, if a family’s children stay in school, they receive cash-based transfers. Other cash-based transfers only allow for the purchase of specific items.

It is important to note that cash-based transfers currently comprise less than 10 percent of overall global humanitarian aid. U.S. in-kind aid programs such as the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program and Food for Progress are established and have succeeded in feeding billions of people all over the globe. However, the humanitarian nature and sustainability of cash-based transfers will likely continue to appeal to different governments as they search for long-term solutions to world hunger.

– Caroline Meyers

Photo: Flickr