Archive for category: Food & Hunger

Information and stories on food.

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USAID: Increasing Food Aid Through a Simple Bag

Food_AidAs humanitarian crises grow across the world, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is increasing food aid with one simple solution: bag redesigns.

Before getting into the solution, it is imperative to diagnose the problem first.

The world currently faces six qualified food emergencies, as stated by the World Food Program. Between civil wars and the environmental effects of the recent El Nino, civilians in Syria, Iraq, southern Africa, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen are all in dire need of food assistance. If lives are to be saved, agencies like USAID must increase food aid.

USAID is considered to be one of the world’s most significant food aid donors. Yearly, it donates around $1.5 billion in rice, sorghum and wheat to countries in need all around the world. These shipments are ordered to port in one of three chosen locations: Djibouti, Ethiopia or South Africa. However, under law, this food aid must be bought within the U.S. and half of all aid must be transported via U.S. ships. Realistically, this process takes around four to six months to ship. This donation process can be tedious and, in emergency situations when food is needed in less than a week (like the Haitian earthquake), deadly.

Not only this, but it is estimated that one percent of food donation cargo spoils along the way. While the percentage appears insignificant, the repercussions are fierce. One percent of USAID’s food donation is equivalent to 10,000 tons of food, costing up to $15 million. And so, when one percent spoils, an estimated 200,000 families will go hungry for an entire month. For some, one percent is the difference between life and death.

Alongside the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USAID sought out the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to tackle this mission last year. MIT researchers will assess how food aid is packaged in present-day and then research alternative packaging systems that will both delay the food aid’s expiration and decrease the cost of making the package. Should they find an alternative, USAID and MIT could be responsible for increasing food aid around the world.

MIT is currently testing bags that will avoid water damage and slow insect infestation, two leading causes of food aid spoiling. Currently, these newly design bags are carrying $1.7 million worth of food aid to Djibouti and South Africa. Only time will tell if USAID and MIT have found success in the redesigns. Regardless, for 200,000 families, the world of food aid is growing a little brighter.

– Brenna Yowell

Photo: Flickr

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Simple Ways to Reduce Waste and Stop Climate Change

Simple Ways to Reduce Waste and Stop Climate Change
Simple ways to reduce waste can also help those that are forced even deeper into poverty by climate change.

Increasing levels of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide raise temperatures on Earth and cause myriad problems such as rising sea levels, melting snow and ice, extreme heat, fires, drought, floods and extreme storms.

These hazards have displaced 21.5 million people per year since 2008. Scientists predict that the amount of people displaced due to climate change will increase in the future.

Regions with large populations that are at high risk for natural hazards and lack the resources to adequately prepare for natural disasters are at the highest risk for displacement. Asia and Pacific Island nations are most at risk for displacement.

Although most people aren’t scientists trained to research methods to stop climate change, there are simple ways to reduce waste in an effort to slow the effects of climate change. Here are some everyday examples:

  1. Save plastic bags for reuse.
    Each year Americans use 100 billion plastic shopping bags. It takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce all these bags. This comes at a great cost to the environment, with emissions from petroleum production polluting the air and water.
  2. Cut out other plastic products.
    There is an area in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas full of plastic waste. Pack your lunch and pour drinks in reusable containers, and be sure to recycle plastic bottles. Women can try a menstrual cup instead of other feminine hygiene products that have plastic wrappers or applicators.
  3. Buy second-hand.
    Shop thrift stores for items such as clothing, housewares, holiday decorations and more and buy used books and music rather than new. All these simple ways to reduce waste add up!
  4. Use public transport.
    Take the bus, streetcar or subway instead of driving. Or, get fit by riding your bike or walking.
  5. Carpool with others or combine trips.
    For example, do grocery shopping after work before going home rather than making separate trips. Sites like     Zimride can help connect with others from the same company or university looking to carpool.
  6. Grow food, buy local and cut down on wasted food.
    Agriculture emits more greenhouse gasses than transportation. As the increasing global population increases the demand for food, experts predict there will be a global food shortage by 2050 because there is not enough land or water to fulfill this demand. Help reduce this demand by planting a small garden. Homegrown tomatoes, lettuce, berries and herbs are easy for beginners. Food that isn’t homegrown should be bought in season and from local farmers, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Vegan diets are more eco-friendly because food produced on farms can be consumed directly by humans rather than being used as animal feed. A vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 20 pounds of CO2 equivalent, 30 square feet of forested land and 45 pounds of grain, according to Esquire Middle East.
    If it’s impossible to go vegetarian or vegan, at least reduce the amount of meat and other animal products in your diet. Try having a Meatless Monday like American families during World War I and II who rationed their consumption for the war effort.

Though they may seem small, simple ways to reduce waste help those displaced by climate change if everyone does their part to help.

– Cassie Lipp

Photo: Flickr

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Robin Food App Cuts Down on Food Waste and Helps the Poor

Robin Food App Cuts Down on Food Waste and Helps the Poor
Teens in Malaysia won the first Sime Darby’s Young Innovator’s Challenge with the Robin Food App, which connects businesses ready to donate surplus food to local food banks.

The Robin Food App is innovative because it presents a simple solution to two problems Malaysia and many other countries face: hunger and food waste.

Each day Malaysians produce 3,000 metric tons of avoidable food waste—enough food to feed 2.2 million people. About four percent of Malaysians live below the poverty line.

Cutting down on the amount of food wasted worldwide is an essential step to stopping climate change. Agriculture produces more greenhouse gasses than emissions from all cars, trains and airplanes combined.

Grocery stores, hotels, restaurants and other businesses can post on the Robin Food app when they have surplus food. Food banks are then notified of the surplus food in real time, pick up the food and distribute the food to those in need. The app also automatically generates statistics so that users can gain a sense of the impact their donations make.

Robin Food is available both as a web and smartphone app. The mobile app can even be accessed offline in areas that do not have internet access.

The Sime Darby Young Innovator’s Challenge is a new contest that challenges children aged 13-16 to think of a problem and come up with a solution that makes the world a better place. Applicants have the opportunity to participate in regional and national innovation workshops to gain the skills to develop their ideas further. The theme for this year’s contest was tackling poverty.

Sime Darby is a Malaysia-based multinational business conglomeration that has sectors in the plantation, industrial, property, motor and logistics sectors. The corporation is dedicated to bettering society while minimizing the impact on the environment and delivering sustainable development to all stakeholders.

Sime Darby will continue to challenge teens to generate innovative solutions to tackle major issues the world faces with creative solutions. The 2017 Young Innovators Challenge will begin in January. As the Robin Food app saves surplus food and feeds hungry Malaysians, many are excited to see which problems Malaysian teens will solve next.

– Cassie Lipp

Photo: Flickr

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Five Ways to Help Stop Desertification of the World

5 Ways on How to Stop Desertification
Drought, deforestation and climate change. All of these contribute to the extreme global issue known as desertification. According to the environmental campaign Clean Up the World, desertification is the degradation of land in drylands, which affects all continents except Antarctica. Approximately half of the people worldwide who live below the poverty line live in affected areas.

The result of desertification is barren land that cannot be used for crop and food production or other agricultural purposes. Prevention methods have been introduced and tend to be more successful than attempts to restore already damaged regions, which can be costly and yield limited results.

  1. Land and water management: Sustainable land use can fix issues such as overgrazing, overexploitation of plants, trampling of soils and irrigation practices that cause and worsen desertification.
  2. Protection of vegetative cover: Protecting soil from wind and water erosion helps to prevent the loss of ecosystem services during droughts.
  3. Alternative Farming and Industrial Techniques: Alternative livelihoods that are less demanding on local land and natural resource use, such as dryland aquaculture for production of fish, crustaceans and industrial compounds, limit desertification.
  4. Establish economic opportunities outside drylands: Unpacking new possibilities for people to earn a living, such as urban growth and infrastructure, could relieve and shift pressures underlying the desertification processes.
  5. Great Green Wall: Eleven countries in Sahel-Sahara Africa — Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Senegal — have focused efforts to fight against land degradation and revive native plant life to the landscape. The initiative, managed in part by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), plants a line of trees as a sustainable way of regenerating the parkland and serves as an example for other problematic locations.

Such large-scale environmental complications may seem troubling to deal with, but the outlined methods and many more make all the difference, giving individuals an idea of how to stop desertification.

– Mikaela Frigillana

Photo: Flickr

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Evaptainer: How the Science of Sweating Can Increase Food Security

Evaptainer: How the Science of Sweating Can Increase Food SecurityThe founders of Evaptainers have harnessed the science of sweating into a device that could help the 7 million people in the world who have no access to refrigeration. While the typical fridge requires electricity for vapor compression refrigeration, the Evaptainer uses evaporative cooling to keep food cold and extend its shelf life without any electricity.

The Evaptainer brings modern-day technology to an idea that has been around for several millennia. At its most basic level, a refrigerating device that uses evaporative cooling contains an inner chamber that holds food. The outer chamber contains an evaporative medium, such as sand, between the outer and inner containers. Water is poured over the evaporative medium, which cools as it evaporates.

The science is simple. To evaporate, water must absorb heat energy from the environment in order to become hot enough to change its state, either from solid to liquid or liquid to gas. The heat the water draws from its environment, called latent heat, cools the environment from which it draws heat.

In the case of the Evaptainer, this process cools the inner container that holds the food. Evaptainers can cool the 60-liter inner container by up to 35 degrees Fahrenheit, extending the shelf-life of food from around two days to two weeks, in hot weather.

Bishop Sanyal, a MIT professor not affiliated with Evaptainer, told MIT Technology Review that Evaptainers could help increase food security. However, he sees the $25 unit price as posing a possible problem for families’ ability to access the devices. For example, the average family in Morocco makes $60-$100 per month as explained by Sanyal, so paying $25 upfront could be a challenge. Nonetheless, if families are able to make the investment, having an Evaptainer could save them money in the long run.

Another challenge Evaptainer faces is that humid air can evaporate less moisture than dry air. As a result, in past 40 percent humidity, the device cools significantly less than it would in its optimal environment of 30 percent humidity or less.

For now, at least in optimal environments, Evaptainers have the potential to improve the quality of life of those who have no access to electricity or refrigeration and reduce the amount of spoiled food waste. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, such progress represents about $310 billion annually in developing countries alone.

– Laura Isaza

Photo: Flickr

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10 Important Facts About Refugees in Lebanon

Refugees in Lebanon
Lebanon hosts an ever-increasing refugee population, largely the result of an ongoing five-year civil war in Syria. Though Syrians comprise the majority of the approximately 1.5 million refugees in Lebanon, Palestinians and a small number of Iraqis have also sought refuge in the country.

Here are 10 important facts about refugees in Lebanon:

  1. There are over 1.5 million refugees in Lebanon, principally from Syria, Palestine and Iraq. The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO), reports that there are currently over 1.1 million Syrian refugees seeking protection in the host country.
  2. According to the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 1.02 million Syrian refugees as of Sept. 30 are officially registered with the Lebanese government.
  3. Lebanon, according to the CIA World Factbook July 2015, estimates the population of Lebanon to be 6.1 million. Consequently, they host the largest refugee population per capita in the world, with close to 25 percent of the population having sought refuge in the country.
  4. Lebanon is not a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention nor the 1967 Protocol, which elucidates the international community’s responsibility to protect refugees. In addition, there is no national legislation regarding refugees, but in 2003 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) was signed between the UNHCR and the Lebanese government. The MOA gives those in need of asylum a temporary residence permit as their refugee status is decided and a permanent solution is obtained. Since there are no official refugee camps, Syrian refugees are in some of the neediest and most at-risk neighborhoods in the country.
  5. In 2016, the European Commission has promised a total of 87 million euros to Lebanon in humanitarian assistance for refugees. Fifteen million euros specifically for Palestinian refugees from Syria were allocated by the European Commission to assist the U.N.’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in their effort to supply much-needed cash assistance and educational services.
  6. The UNCHR is doing an extensive amount of work with the help of partners to develop educational prospects for thousands of young Syrian refugees. The UNCHR recently reported that in Lebanon almost 158,000 children, up from 62,664 a year earlier, were enrolled in school.
  7. According to the EU, its humanitarian response to Syrian refugees in Lebanon has for the most part been in cash assistance to help people with basic necessities; and providing health care, shelter, water and sanitation support.
  8. The UNHCR has had much success with the launch of a Facebook group in 2014. The “I am Syrian in Lebanon” group has 30,000 members and it assists people on many things including school enrollment and reporting abuse.
  9. The World Bank Group (WBG) has, with the help of partners, introduced several projects to assist Lebanese communities hosting Syrian refugees. The Municipal Services Emergency Project assists local governments to address crisis issues more in terms of development rather than strictly humanitarian focused.
  10. The WBG project is assisting in the delivery of supplies, such as garbage compactors, service vehicles, water filters, water supply systems, sewage systems and the revitalization of public infrastructure.

The results of WBG projects have had an immensely positive impact on the Lebanese communities where its efforts have been directed.

– Heidi Grossman

Photo: Flickr

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Innovations in Agriculture Seek to Improve Tanzania’s Food Security

Innovations in Agriculture
As Tanzania’s farming sector begins to shift to producing various other goods, the innovations in agriculture that enhance the productivity of the farming process are quick to follow.

Recently, the country has witnessed a transformation in its agriculture sector, especially among its smallholder farmers, after realizing the extraordinary benefits of sesame seeds.

Being both drought-resistant and considerably more resilient to climate change effects than other products, sesame has become Tanzania’s new popular food output. However, with these benefits also comes a drawback.

Though farming is essential and necessary for the well-being of the country’s citizens, the activity can sometimes be tedious and tiresome.

Sesame farming in Tanzania is labor-intensive and prolonged work, traditionally done completely by hand. Bending down, creating centimeter deep holes, dropping seeds and walking a great distance can lead to, among other things, back pain and fatigue.

That is where the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention” rang true.

In response to complaints from fellow farmers, Constantine Martin from the Babati District created an innovation in agriculture that has since been welcomed and implemented by all.

Named the “Coasta Planter,” it is simply a hand-pushed machine designed to plant sesame seeds by digging a small hole and dropping seeds in, without the need of a person constantly bending down to do so.

Additionally, the Coasta Planter is also more efficient than humans, planting the seeds at a higher rate of speed. This significant upscale in food production and potential output could lead to the strengthening of Tanzania’s food security.

Agriculture is an essential part of Tanzania’s economy, especially in terms of food production and employment generation. As of 2015, agriculture accounts for 30.5 percent of the country’s GDP and employs 75 percent of the total labor force.

To further improve and promote the importance and longevity of the agriculture sector in Tanzania, initiatives such as Feed the Future have invested in the people and the country, specifically focusing on products including rice and maize.

With this new invention in hand, farmers all across the country should expect an easier workload in the future as further clever innovations in agriculture continue to be thought of and created, enhancing Tanzania’s food security one seed at a time.

– Jordan J. Phelan

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USAID: Reducing Poverty in Malawi Through Feed the Future

Poverty in MalawiMalawi is a landlocked African country that is bordered by Tanzania to the northeast, Mozambique to the south and Zambia to the west. The impact of poverty in Malawi can be seen prominently in the agriculture sector.

Malawi ranks 160 out of the existing 182 sovereign nations on the Human Development Index and is currently one of the world’s poorest nations. Nearly three-fourths of the population lives on less than a $1.25 a day, and approximately 90% live on less than $2 a day.

Agriculture makes up 35% of Malawi’s gross domestic product (GDP), and nearly 85% of Malawians are employed in the agricultural sector.

Maize is typically grown for local markets; small-scale farmers typically grow various fruits and vegetables such as pineapples, guava, mangoes, lemons, green peppers, cabbage, cucumbers and eggplants.

Agricultural growth in Malawi is often limited and difficult to effectively sustain due to reoccurring droughts in the region. Nearly 80% of Malawians are smallholder farmers who rely on their crops to feed their families and communities.

Malawi experiences extreme weather conditions — periods of drought and flooding — that contribute to widespread famine and destroyed infrastructure.

USAID reports that they are currently developing the National Nutrition Policy and Strategic Plan that is closely related to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) plan, and the Agriculture Sector-Wide Approach to promote agriculture and address food insecurity at the national and local levels to reduce poverty in Malawi.

Feed the Future, USAID reports, is working closely with the Malawian government to devise policies to promote agricultural sustainability, improve access to food and invest in crops such as legumes and dairy that would expand domestic and export markets for Malawi to help their economy prosper.

Through the Feed the Future initiative, USAID helped trained farmers on better farming techniques to increase productivity and provided financial and marketing services to farmers as well. USAID reported that they are committed to promoting private sector development by strengthening government institutional capacity that will accelerate long-lasting agricultural sustainability.

Since the beginning of the initiative, milk productivity has substantially increased by 52%. USAID has also succeeded in organized 23,000 Malawians from rural villages into savings-and-loans groups. Adding to that success, USAID trained 60,000 farmers on new agricultural technologies and techniques that would improve irrigation and crop harvesting.

The Feed the Future initiative aims to improve the vulnerability of rural smallholder farmers to help them escape poverty and hunger. Also, they plan to impact the lives of 293,000 children in helping to provide better nutrition to reverse growth stunting and prevent infant mortality.

Economic issues and food shortage issues have historically affected the poverty in Malawi; however, the successful partnership between the Feed the Future initiative and the Malawian government continues to improve agricultural techniques, farming technologies and promote food security for impoverished communities.

– Haylee Gardner
Photo: Flickr

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What is Food Aid Reform?

Food Aid Reform
In February 2015, the Food for Peace Reform Act was reintroduced and pitched as something that could “free up as much as $440 million annually” by making the delivery of aid to foreign nations much more efficient. While this is impressive and exciting news, it prompted many to ask the question: “What is food aid reform?”

To answer this question, it’s important to first understand the way U.S. food aid functions. Following World War II, the U.S. launched a food aid program intended to combat world hunger by taking any surplus in U.S. grain and shipping it overseas.

This program had very good intentions, and it has made an incredible impact for many people living in areas rife with humanitarian or natural crises. However, many agree that it is now time for this program to be modernized.

One of the main problems with the current food aid program is that the current law requires the government to purchase its donated food from American producers and ship food aid out on American ships. This law prevents food aid programs from cutting out the middlemen and simply purchasing food from the regions that it would be delivered to.

In the vast majority of cases, that means that the country receiving aid is given less food. Not only is this hitch in the food aid program bad for the people receiving aid, but it also adds an unnecessary extra cost to the program. A study done in 2009 by the Government Accountability Office discovered that it costs 34 percent less to buy food in Sub-Saharan Africa than to have it shipped there.

Additionally, an estimate given by the U.S. Agency for International Development states that purchasing food within the region could provide starving populations with food 11 to 14 weeks sooner than they would otherwise receive it.

So, what is food aid reform? Food aid reform is an initiative to fix some of the most pertinent problems regarding how U.S. foreign aid functions. By changing some of the laws that hinder food aid reform, this program can become timelier, more efficient and more beneficial to those who depend on it.

– Jordan Little

Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Hunger in Hong Kong by Reducing Waste

Hunger in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s growth in the global financial economy has made the country a beacon of rapid development and opulence. Behind the image of luxurious expansion lurks a harsh reality of inequality and growing rates of hunger. A Hong Kong nonprofit aims to help the city’s bounty feed all.

As a major port city and a booming hub of global trade, Hong Kong’s GDP continues to grow. Trading Economics’ data indicates that Hong Kong’s GDP growth in 2016 has nearly doubled since its GDP growth in 2015. This wealth, however, is distributed disproportionately.

The CIA World Factbook designates Hong Kong’s level of income inequality as the tenth worst in the world, and the U.N. Development Program claims Hong Kong has the highest level of income inequality among highly developed nations.

Data on poverty and hunger illuminate these inequities. According to Trading Economics, the poverty line in Hong Kong is HK$ 3,275 per month (about $422) with an hourly minimum wage of HK$ 32 (roughly $4). Twenty percent of Hong Kong’s population currently lives below this threshold, leaving many citizens food insecure.

In light of these concerns, the South China Morning Post reported that the U.N. considered opening a World Food Program (WFP) office in Hong Kong in 2013, citing the region as an appropriate candidate for further attention.

However, the U.N. never established an office, leaving Hong Kong without a concrete inter-governmental organization to deal with the growing issue of food insecurity. Gabrielle Kirstein, co-founder and executive director of Feeding Hong Kong, aimed to address hunger in Hong Kong by creating a nonprofit that would divert food waste to feed those in need.

Feeding Hong Kong (FHK) is a self-proclaimed “Hong Kong food bank with a difference.” By accepting usable food donations from corporate partners, restaurants, grocery stores and delis, FHK creates a supply chain that directs surplus food into the hands of over 25 charities and community organizations that address poverty and hunger. It is the only nonprofit of its kind in Hong Kong.

To ensure the continued effectiveness of the program, FHK thoughtfully distributes the food it collects to its constituent organizations. For example, FHK deliberately addresses the needs of children’s welfare programs differently than those of adults. FHK aims to address hunger in Hong Kong by supporting these already established organizations in their endeavors to provide essential services.

FHK functions in a dense urban environment by harnessing the resources around it. For FHK’s annual event, “Chefs in the Community,” culinary professionals volunteer with local charities to improve their food services. The Feeding Hong Kong Cookbook Collection is sold to generate funds for the nonprofit, while spreading awareness of how to reduce food waste, even in a personal kitchen setting.

Despite growing rates of hunger in Hong Kong, FHK has established a network to solve several issues associated with rapid urban development. By creating an organization that supports those around it, FHK aims to spread the wealth of the nation by eradicating hunger, one meal at a time.

– Laurel Klafehn

Photo: Flickr