Archive for category: Food & Hunger

Information and stories on food.

, ,

$20 Million Awarded to Fight Food Insecurity in Sri Lanka

Food Insecurity in Sri LankaThe World Food Programme (WFP) recently announced it will award a $20 million grant over the next two years to fight food insecurity in Sri Lanka.

Health officials say the grant will primarily be used to improve childhood nutrition in rural communities, where an estimated 21 percent of children under the age of five are moderately or severely underweight. More than 17 percent of children in Sri Lanka are also victims of stunting

“Poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of children’s lives can have irreversible consequences…so, we must do what we can, as fast as we can, to give the most disadvantaged mothers and children dependable, quality nutrition,” UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said.

Vulnerability to malnutrition affects many Sri Lankans who have been displaced by 30 years of internal conflict. The problem occasionally escalates when seasonal tsunamis and droughts pass over the island nation.

In partnership with Sri Lanka’s Ministries of Health and Education, WFP currently reaches children in school and at home.

WFP’s Schools Meals Program provides rice, dhal and vegetables to 160,000 students in 958 schools across the Northern Province. For many of the students served by the program, these school lunches are their only nutritional daily meal – a safety net, which has increased school enrollment and attendance.

Through regional health clinics, WFP distributes a nutritional supplement called Super Cereal Plus to 4,300 new and expectant mothers and over 10,000 children under the age of five. The supplement is a blend of corn, soy, vitamins and minerals and provides a guard against acute malnutrition.

The $20 million grant from WFP will help maintain funding levels for these programs as well as expand them to more provinces and more rural communities. The WFP said it hopes every child in Sri Lanka will receive reliable nutrition.

WFP also partners with the Ministry of Environment to strengthen agricultural resilience to climate shocks like drought and flooding. Their programs have reached 14,000 farmers. The organization hopes by empowering farming communities to be efficient and sustainable, they may be able to mitigate the effects of future climate shock, and thereby food insecurity in Sri Lanka.

– Ron Minard

Sources: News.lk, Scaling Up Nutrition, UNICEF, WFP, WHO
Photo: IPS

, ,

World Food Programme’s Proactive FoodSecure Initiative

FoodSecure_Initiative
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest hunger-fighting agency, feeding more than 80 million people living in approximately 80 countries. A new fund aims to fight hunger while reducing disaster risk, particularly for disasters resulting from climate change. The FoodSecure Initiative serves as a proactive measure to fight hunger and reduce the impact of an increase in climate change.

With the Paris talks for climate change occurring this December and the recent passage of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there has been more attention focused on the impact of climate change on livelihood. People living in low-lying areas, such as the Mekong Delta region in Southeast Asia, areas of India and Bangladesh and the Nile Delta region are at the greatest risk for displacement as a result of rising sea levels.

As sea levels rise, individuals will be displaced, and so it is more imperative than ever that agencies, nations and international bodies prepare. Furthermore, climate change will also affect crop yields, water quality and rates of infectious disease. This will affect the progress development organizations have made in these areas and organizations will have to face a new set of circumstances.

The World Food Programme’s initiative is a collaboration between the WFP, the German Red Cross and the International Foundation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The fund hopes to implement programs that stop the chronic disaster-relief-disaster-relief cycle. WFP’s FoodSecure Initiative is a multi-year fund that is disaster-forecast based. Thus, funds will be released before disasters actually occur. Using a forecast-based system is cost-effective and reduces the negative impact disasters cause in vulnerable communities.

By utilizing a forecast-based system and addressing disaster relief before, during, and after the fact, the WFP hopes to instill long-term resilience in communities. It follows a three-window implementation plan in order to maximize its impact.

The FoodSecure Initiative has already completed several pilot projects in developing nations. These projects include the distribution of flood preparedness kits before flooding, training of farmers to grow drought-resistant crops and promotion of soil and water conservation in agriculture.

In order to give this fund its maximum impact, the WFP estimates that it will cost $400 million. Presently, the WFP uses 40 percent of its funds for building resiliency but this will not be enough as climate change worsens. As the FoodSecure Initiative works to obtain full funding, it has already begun projects in five countries: the Philippines, Niger, Sudan, Guatemala and Zimbabwe. Hopefully, the FoodSecure Initiative will get the funding it needs to make a difference for years to come.

– Priscilla McCelvey

Sources: EPA, World Food Programme 1, World Food Programme 2
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Hydroponic Systems: Food Security in Developing Countries

Hydroponic_Systems
Hydroponic systems use water and nutrients to grow high-yield crops through a sustainable method that does not require soil. As an agricultural alternative, it uses less water and boosts local markets by providing food security. The methodology also creates opportunities for additional income in developing regions.

While advanced hydroponic systems remain impractical for some developing regions there is an alternative, simplified hydroponics growing system. Such a system is accessible with training and a small initial investment. Yields from simplified systems are lower than advanced systems but still outperform traditional farming methods and use 80 percent less water.

Simplified hydroponics can be taught to farmers and individuals with no prior knowledge. These farmers can generate income from small plots of land with vertical farm tools, even in urban areas. New jobs and farms supported by hydroponics contribute to a green economy.

The World Bank sees the potential for simplified hydroponic systems. Jonathan Coony, Program Coordinator for the Climate Technology Program at the World Bank writes, “These sustainable techniques enhance climate resilience while creating local jobs and fostering regional investment.”

hydroponic_systems

Research by students at MIT also noted that materials such as fish tanks, ceramic and aluminum containers can be appropriated into hydroponic systems at a low cost. In addition, some materials, especially in simplified hydroponic systems, can be locally sourced.

A pilot program for low-resource communities in Ecuador utilized simplified hydroponics to improve nutrition, especially among children. The diet of most poor Ecuadorians contains little to no fruits and vegetables.

Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses published a report of the pilot program, which organizers saw as an opportunity to improve nutritional options with simplified hydroponics.

The program’s objective was to consistently provide high-quality vegetables and train the community on how to use hydroponic systems. After two years, the program concluded and the report affirmed the viability of simplified hydroponics as “an effective alternative for integration into food security.”

Hydroponic systems can be utilized to grow crops for livestock as well. Hydroponics Kenya, a Nairobi-based company, sells hydroponic supplies and systems to the local community. According to the company, a 6m x 9m area can produce 500kg or 1,100lbs of fodder for livestock.

Hydroponics Kenya founder Peter Chege has been recognized by several NGOs for his innovations modifying hydroponic systems for the Kenyan climate with fabric and specialized trays. His business is growing and hiring more employees, “We are recruiting, and every week we sell five hydroponic systems,” Chege said.

– Cara Kuhlman

Sources: InfoDev, Mission 2014 at MIT, Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses, The World Bank
Photo: Flickr1, Flickr

, ,

Six Surprising Causes of Hunger

hungerOne in eight people go hungry each day, but the world produces enough food to feed the entire population and more. Why haven’t countries eradicated hunger? Can’t governments simply reorganize food distribution to feed everybody? The answer is much more complicated.

Here are six causes of hunger that are not often considered:

  1. Poor infrastructure and vehicles – Many developing countries lack the resources to build sufficient roads, which impedes food transportation. In some countries, motor vehicles are also in short supply, so the majority of transportation is on foot, bicycle or on the backs of livestock. With these methods of transportation, fresh food would spoil quickly. Rural areas must rely on the natural resources around them, and if those resources aren’t enough, the inhabitants may go hungry.
  1. Deforestation – Forests act as a safety net during times of food shortage: communities can rely on nuts, edible plants and forest animals until crops are ready for harvest, or food is imported. Deforestation robs people of these resources. In fact, one out of six people rely directly on forests for food. Furthermore, deforestation can lead to overworked soil, which in turn leads to soil erosion. If soil becomes unfit for crops, farmers and surrounding settlements become at risk for famine.
  1. War – In times of national and international strife, one popular tactic towards achieving victory is destroying the enemy’s food supply. Soldiers will steal animals, demolish food markets and set fields on fire to force the other side into submission. While an effective ploy, it leaves citizens with a major food crisis that may take decades to resolve. Refugees of war often face hunger complications as they struggle to scrape together a living or find a home. The world is seeing this problem right now, as hungry Syrians scatter across the globe in search of shelter and nourishment.
  1. Foreign trade – When a food crisis occurs at a local level, it can also have far-reaching effects. Countries that rely on the export of goods from that area suddenly can’t receive necessary supplies. “Overall, in the last two decades there has been an increase in the number of trade-dependent countries that reach sufficiency through their reliance on trade,” Paolo D’Odorico—who conducted a study on climate change and crop production—told Natural World News.
  1. Discrimination – In every country, groups of people are poorer than their neighbors due to religious, racial or gender-based discrimination. If groups are not well-received by their community, it becomes very difficult for them to ward off hunger. They may be banned from restaurants and food markets, unable to find employment, unlawfully incarcerated and overlooked by government welfare programs.
  1. Cheap food – Sometimes, the hunger problem is a matter of quality, not quantity. If people purchase and consume cheap, unhealthy food, they will reach their proper calorie intake, but still suffer severe nutrient deficiencies. This situation is known as “hidden hunger.” Unborn babies and toddlers are especially vulnerable because they need specific nutrients to develop and become resilient to disease.

– Sarah Prellwitz

Sources: Bread.org, Global Issues, Nature World News, WFP
Photo: Lifted Hands Foundation

, ,

Reaching Millions Through Feed the Future

Feed_the_FutureA Nov. 5 event on Capital Hill co-hosted by NGO alliance InterAction announced the progress of Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

In 2014 alone, the organization reportedly reached nearly 19 million households and helped nearly seven million farmers gain access to new tools and technologies.

New data demonstrates that through Feed the Future and other U.S. government efforts, childhood stunting rates have declined in Ethiopia, Ghana and parts of Kenya. These rates have dropped between 9 and 33 percent in recent years while areas in Uganda have seen a 16 percent drop in poverty.

In Honduras, Feed the Future is helping to reduce both poverty and stunting for its program participants.

Led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the organization is working towards pioneering a comprehensive approach to ending hunger and creating global change. Feed the Future draws on the resources and expertise of 10 other U.S. government partners.

The organization currently focuses on small farm holders, particularly women, across 19 countries globally.

“Through Feed the Future, the United States is partnering across borders and across sectors to unlock the transformative potential of agriculture,” Eric Postel, the Associate Administrator for USAID, said.

“This global effort is empowering rural farming families to lift themselves out of poverty and hunger, and the results are clear. From Asia to the Caribbean to Africa, Feed the Future is helping raise crop yields and incomes, reduce stunting and poverty, and improve child nutrition.”

With nearly 800 million people suffering from chronic hunger, and with the world’s population projected to increase to more than nine billion by 2050, ensuring that everyone has enough nutritious food to eat will require a 60 percent increase in agricultural production without adversely affecting the environment.

According to Postel, “Going forward, USAID and our partners will continue working to ensure everyone has the nutritious food they need to lead full, healthy lives.”

– Kara Buckley

Sources: Feed the Future 1, Feed the Future 2, USAID
Photo: Flickr

, ,

USAID Ramping up Fight Against Food Insecurity in Ethiopia

food_insecurity_in_Ethiopia
Over the next five months, the El Niño weather system is expected to continue dropping torrential rains in East Africa and causing severe droughts in Ethiopia, which is facing conditions not seen in three decades.

According to the USAID, the number of people facing food insecurity in Ethiopia will likely increase from 2.9 million to over 8 million by the beginning of 2016. But officials say they are ready and confident that systems are in place to mitigate the worst effects of this annual meteorological phenomenon.

“Improved early warning, the establishment of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), as well as serious engagement from the government of Ethiopia means that we are not likely to see the kind of famine conditions witnessed in Ethiopia in earlier decades,” said USAID Director of Food for Peace, Dina Esposito.

Her remarks accompanied the announcement that USAID will commit an additional $97 million to bolster PSNP for at-risk communities in the region.

The Productive Safety Net Program was launched in 2005 by the government of Ethiopia with support from the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide immediate relief from low crop yield and create agricultural sustainability moving forward.

PSNP provides regular food and income transfers to food insecure households over six-month periods during dry seasons, and it obligates aid recipients to participate in training programs on sustainable farming, land rehabilitation and water management.Food_Insecurity_in_Ethiopia

Katana Kusiya, a participant of PSNP in 2009, said that the aid was enough to feed her family of 11 for one month. In exchange, she received training on building wells and capturing rainwater efficiently. This training will hopefully result in communities like Katana’s relying less on sustenance farming and moving toward productive farming.

By investing in the safety net, development partners are hopeful that rural communities will develop an ability to resist the shock of unfavorable weather patterns, like El Niño, and become less food insecure in the long term. In its first three years, the program reached 7.5 million people and delivered 78,000 tons of food.

This newest commitment by USAID will include 154,000 tons of direct food assistance and a $58 million donation to the Catholic Relief Services for the transfer of an additional 105,700 tons of food.

The organizations are acting quickly to provide these transfers in order to ensure that 3.5 million vulnerable households, including refugees from neighboring Somalia, Eritrea and South Sudan receive aid in a timely manner.

For UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, El Niño also presents an opportunity to re-engage the conversation about linkages between climate change and food insecurity in countries like Ethiopia during the upcoming climate conference in France.

Severe weather patterns regularly devastate agricultural productivity in developing countries, leading to famine and loss of life. “[El Niño’s] intensity and potential destructiveness should be a wake-up call as world leaders gather in Paris,” he said.

In the meantime, USAID is working quickly to provide the government of Ethiopia with all the support it needs to prevent loss of life this season. $600 million in aid, they estimate, will be required to effectively deal with the emergency.

– Ron Minard

Sources: AllAfrica, BBC, IB Times, WFP
Photo: UN Multimedia, Wikipedia

, , ,

Ending World Hunger: Understanding Causes and Effects

World Hunger's Causes and Effects
The causes of world hunger are directly related to those of poverty. Close to 795 million, or one in nine, people living in the world today do not have enough food. Ending world hunger requires an understanding of the causes and effects.

  1. War causes communities which are dealing with crumbling infrastructure, violence and fleeing refugees to be largely unable to maintain stable food systems. Declining income levels during times of war significantly impacts the supply of food and food security.
  2. Agricultural practices such as deforestation, over-grazing and over cropping combined with drought and the effects of soil erosion can often destroy farm and grazing land.
  3. Climate change is a huge factor in causing world hunger as it has been increasing the number of droughts, floods and tropical storms. These often unexpected, rapid natural disasters destroy the small plots of land that farmers count on for their food and livelihood.
  4. As the global population continues to increase, especially in developing countries, the demand for food will invariably continue to rise as well. As food prices rise, it is becoming harder and harder for developing countries to match production rates with the population growth rates.

Poverty and hunger more often than not go hand in hand. Poor people just do not have the resources such as tools, money, land and even physical energy  to combat hunger.

World hunger itself causes roughly 146 million children to be underweight while one in three children in a developing country have their growth stunted. Approximately 66 million primary school age children go hungry every day and between 2 to 3.5 billion people have micronutrient deficiencies. Over nine million people die worldwide from hunger and malnutrition. Five million of those people are children.

In the world right now there is enough food to feed every human being on the planet. Yet according to globalissues.org, concernusa.org and many other organizations and sources, a shocking amount of food is wasted in first-world countries and even in third-world countries.

– Drusilla Gibbs

Sources: Concern USA, Freedom from Hunger, WFP, Global Issues
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

Millennium Development Goals Successes

Millennium_Development_GoalsAs 2015 comes to a close and the world takes a look at the progress that has been made in global poverty relief, it is clear that significant progress has been achieved. The list of what has been accomplished is extensive, but here are some of the top Millennium Development Goals successes:

  1. Between 1990 and 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty went from 1.9 billion to 836 million people. That’s 1,090 million people who no longer live in poverty.
  2. The number of primary school age children who were out of school dropped globally from 100 million to 57 million. That’s 43 million more children able to go to school.
  3. In 1990, for every 100 boys that attended school in Asia, there were only 74 girls attending. That number has now risen from 74 to 103 girls.
  4. The number of infant deaths under age 5 has declined from 12.7 million to in 1990, to 6 million today.
  5. In 1990, only 2.3 billion people had access to clean drinking water. That number has now climbed to 4.2 billion.
  6. 99 percent of all countries have more women in parliament than they did in 1990.
  7. The child mortality rate has been reduced from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births, and it continues to fall.
  8. The number of people living on only $1.25 a day has gone from 47 percent in 1990 to 14 percent in 2015.

While the Millennium Development Goals have had many successes, some goals have not been reached. World leaders have come together once again to decide on the new long-term sustainability goals, building on the past successes.

According to the UN, The Sustainable Development Goals, “will break fresh ground with ambition on inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice.”

– Drusilla Gibbs

Sources: The Guardian, UN
Photo: Flickr

,

How Climate Change Impacts Poverty

climate_change_impacts_poverty
The topics of global warming and climate change have been discussed in great length in recent times. The effects of both of these trends have an especially significant impact on those living in poverty. Here are some ways climate change impacts poverty by making life more difficult for those already experiencing poor conditions:

Displacement
Climate change causes more extreme weather. For instance, floods or hurricanes can result in damage to homes and land. Displacement is especially an issue in developing countries when natural disasters strike because victims may flee to safer areas, but are unable to return to their homes.

According to the Brookings Institute, since 2008, an average of 26.4 million people have been displaced by natural disasters every year. Relocating impoverished communities means that efforts to end poverty slow down and become more complicated, especially in developing countries.

Hunger
Many impoverished communities live in rural areas where agriculture is their source of sustenance. Climate change can cause droughts, famines and loss of livestock, which causes food and water to become scarce.

A survey of households in India’s Andhra found that in a 25-year span, 12 percent of households became more impoverished, and 44 percent of them cited the weather as the cause.

The poor rural farmers who produce the bare minimum needed to feed their families have few resources as it is. Climate change will lead to more undernourished households.

Sanitation and Water Supply
Climate change jeopardizes the availability of clean drinking water. For example, severe flooding causes damage to drinking water infrastructures, which often take weeks to repair. Climate change also creates an environment where diseases are easily spread. In 2007, floods in Bangladesh resulted in the widespread contamination of tubewells.

More countries are enforcing climate policies in order to slow down global warming. These strategies include policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, carbon pricing to reduce emission and phasing out fossil fuel emissions.

Dr. Margaret Chan, the World Health Organization Director-General stated: “The evidence is overwhelming: climate change endangers human health. Solutions exist and we need to act decisively to change this trajectory.”

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: World Bank, Brookings, WHO
Photo: Pixabay

, , ,

ShareTheMeal App Uses Technology to Fight Global Hunger

ShareTheMealThere are 795 million undernourished people in the world today. That’s one in nine people who are not getting enough food to lead a healthy life.

Those numbers make hunger and malnutrition the number one risk to health worldwide. That makes malnutrition a greater threat than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Enter the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger today. Each year, the WFP reaches 80 million people with food assistance in around 80 countries.

As an initiative that relies completely on voluntary donations, two managers at WFP, Sebastian Stricker and Bernhard Kowatsh, have created a way to make donating even easier by using technology to fight global hunger.

In fact, thanks to them, donating is right at your fingertips.

That’s because they’ve created an app. It’s called ShareTheMeal.

Currently being hailed as the first of its kind, this free app allows iOS and Android users to fund food rations for as little as $0.50. While a small sum to most in the Western world, in other, poorer parts of the planet, the value can be life-saving. The sum is enough to provide the vital nutrition an individual needs a day.

“The simple act of sharing a meal is how people all over the world come together,” said Ertharin Cousin, the WFP’s executive director, “This digital version of sharing a meal is a tangible way that generation zero hunger can act to end hunger.”

Pilot tests for the app were performed in June 2015 across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Using the technology to fight global hunger, more than 120,000 users provided more than 1.7 million meals for schoolchildren in the southern African country of Lesotho.

The money coming from Thursday’s global launch of ShareTheMeal will initially be used to support 200,000 Syrian refugee children living in the Zaatari camp in Jordan who participate in the WFP’s school meals program.

“By Christmas, we hope to have gathered enough shared meals, to feed these children for one year,” ShareTheMeal’s head of growth Massimiliano Costa says.

Improvements to hunger and living conditions in refugee camps as well as among Syrian communities is widely viewed as crucial to encouraging Syrians not to embark on risky travel to Europe.

If the app does well, the project will expand to other countries and regions. The WFP is already looking at the numbers. With two billion smartphone users worldwide, that statistic outnumbers the hungry children in the world 20 to 1.

The United Nations’ has set the ambitious goal of ending world hunger by 2023. Perhaps ShareTheMeal is the answer.

– Kara Buckley

Sources: ShareTheMeal, Forbes, Reuters, The Guardian                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Photo: Pixabay