Archive for category: Food & Hunger

Information and stories on food.

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Food Security in Cambodia

A series of 88 hydroelectric dams to be built in the lower Mekong basin of Cambodia by 2030 is projected to put Cambodia’s largest source of food at risk. Cambodians eat 168 more grams of fish daily than the world’s average. The construction of the dams could cut the freshwater fish population up to 42 percent.

The growing demand for electricity in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, China and Myanmar has prompted multi-national developers to begin planning 88 hydroelectric dams. Eleven of these dams will be located on the Mekong river mainstream and the 77 remaining dams will be on the various tributaries of the river.

“Cambodia is going to pay the highest price for dam development basin-wide, to the point of affecting the food security of its 80 percent rural population,” warned Eric Baran, a specialist with the WorldFish Centre.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Ouk Rabun, reported that Cambodia takes approximately 528,000 tons of fish from freshwater fisheries each year.

Fish is the cheapest food option for Cambodians. Consumed far more frequently than beef or poultry, fish is the primary source of protein for a population where a fifth of the citizens live below the poverty line of $17 U.S. dollars a month.

More than 40 percent of national production — about 300,000 tons of fish per year — comes from Tonle Sap Lake. Located in northeastern Cambodia, Tonle Sap is the most productive inland fishery in the world. WorldFish estimates that 1.5 million Cambodians make 95 percent of their income directly from the lake.

Cambodia has exceeded the Millennium Development Goal poverty target, and the poverty rate has halved, from 53 percent in 2004 to 20.5 percent in 2011.

However, those who have escaped poverty are still vulnerable to slight economic fluctuations. Neak Samsen, Poverty Analyst of the World Bank in Cambodia warns, “the loss of just $0.30 (US) per day in income would throw an estimated three million Cambodians back into poverty, doubling the poverty rate to 40 percent.”

The proposed site for the dam construction is the Mekong basin. Of the fish normally caught in the basin, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) found that at least 39 percent are migratory.

Building dams in the Mekong would obstruct the migratory fish from swimming between the basin and Tonle Sap.

According to the U.N. World Food Program’s country director for Cambodia, Edith Heines, “The reduction of fish stocks due to the construction of the dams could have serious implications on the health, and specifically the well-being of malnourished children under five.”

The World Bank projects future generations of Cambodians will rely more heavily on aquaculture and rice field fisheries to meet their fish consumption needs.

However, this change in food source has implications for Cambodians living in poverty, because “the poorest people will not be able to simply shift to different agriculture practices without reallocating water, building infrastructure, or exploiting other water sources.”

Although government officials argue that the money gained from the dams will go toward agricultural development, there have been no guarantees and the impoverished in Cambodia may likely be the ones to suffer the greatest losses.

– Grace Flaherty 

Sources: IRIN, The World Bank
Photo: IRIN

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Chiquita: Behind the Banana Republic

The banana company Chiquitawas founded in 1870 by Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker, and since then it has become the largest banana producer in the world. Underneath their popularity and production lies many controversies surrounding the company.

In 1998, the Cincinnati Enquirer published a piece about Chiquita’s business practices, which included the company using illegal pesticides, destroying villages to use their land and even using their transport ships to smuggle cocaine.

The Cincinnati Enquirer later recalled the articles and announced they would pay more than $10 million to avoid being sued by the company. Whether or not their information was true and obtained legally is still under question.

In 2009, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was sent into exile and a coup took place. John Perkins and other activists believed there was a link between Chiquita and the coup.

Recently, the company has been sued by about 4,000 Colombians, who stated that the United Self Defense Forces (AUC), a parliamentary group that has gained funding from Chiquita,  has killed many of their family members. Because of Chiquita’s association with the group and the group’s work, family members of the deceased want the company to take responsibility.

Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita gave $1.7 million to AUC, a group that the US and EU consider a terrorist organization, and has been held responsible for the torture and death of thousands of Colombians.

Between 1997 and 2004, Chiquita gave $1.7 million to the United-Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, a group that the U.S. and EU consider a terrorist organization, and has been held responsible for the torture and death of thousands of Colombians.

Chiquita has already paid a $25 million fine for their work with the AUC, but it is also believed that they were paying a “banana bribe” in order to use their relationship with AUC to control Colombia’s banana industry.

“Chiquita has great sympathy for the Colombians who suffered at the hands of these Colombian armed groups, but the responsibility for the violent crimes committed in that country belongs to the perpetrators, not to the innocent people and companies they extorted,” said Chiquita spokesperson Ed Lloyd.

The United States Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the decision was “outside the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.”

While the company managed to escape the claims against them since their inception, with this new lawsuit gaining attention, it is hopeful that Chiquita will think twice before getting their hands dirty again.

– Courtney Prentice

Sources: BBC News, The Wire, Chiquita, Democracy Now!, Ethical Consumer, FundingUniverse, Gawker, NBC News
Photo: BBC News

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Palm Weevil: Solution for Food Insecurity


To many in the developed world, insects are nothing more than a nuisance. They ruin perfectly fun summers, spread dangerous diseases and can wreak havoc on crop production. They are pestilent almost anywhere, but in some tropical and sub-tropical areas, insects are diverse, plentiful and an excellent source of protein.

One such bug, the palm weevil, is even considered to be a super food by the standards of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Now a new social enterprise is working to commercially farm the nutritious bug to combat food insecurity.

Aspire, a startup social enterprise that won the prestigious Hult Prize in 2013, is looking to bring insect-based meals to the impoverished masses in Ghana, Mexico, Kenya and Thailand. Originally a five-member team of MBA students from McGill University, the group is now growing in size and has an official partnership with the FAO.

In Ghana, the palm weevil is a culturally accepted staple of the Ghanaian diet, but commercial production of the insect is nonexistent. At the same time, vitamin and mineral deficiencies are pervasive in Ghana, and developmental issues such as growth and mental health in children are growing as a result.

The palm weevil offers an interesting solution to the lack of nutrition in the Ghanaian diet. Whereas producing one pound of beef requires 2,900 gallons of water, 25 pounds of feed and 1,345 square feet of land, producing one pound of crickets (similar to producing palm weevils) requires only one gallon of water, two pounds of feed and 134 square feet of land. Insects like the cricket and the palm weevil are much more cost effective to farm and offer comparable levels of protein to beef production.

But unlike beef, palm weevil protein is also rich in essential micronutrients like iron, zinc, potassium and phosphorous. Growing commercial volumes of the bug for food production is cheaper than growing beef, offers more vitamins and minerals and can promote food security in Ghana quite effectively.

Mohammed Ashour, one of the founding members of Aspire, says farming the insect is easy and straightforward. “The process of farming itself isn’t overly complicated. Someone who is uneducated but industrious can do it and get it up and running in a short amount of time,” Ashour told CNN.

The enterprise is in its earliest stage, having only started in 2013. It will need to grow substantially and learn from its current projects to impact food security globally. Entomophagy, the human consumption of insects for food, is as old of a practice as humans themselves. Perhaps economizing the practice is the way to promote stable and nutritious diets for the world in the future.
– Joseph McAdams

Sources: Aspire, CISR Blog, CNN, World Bank
Photo: LGCNews

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The Practice of Eating Dogs

Around the world, people are becoming increasingly aware and disgusted by the market for dog meat. While some activists and international companies have deemed the practice as reflecting poorly on a country, it still seems entirely normal to some. Why do those in the United States consider eating dogs unnatural? How has the market for dog meat survived for so long long with the increasing opposition?

French actress and activist Brigitte Bardot discussed the more popular perspective during a Korean radio interview, where she stated: “Cows are grown to be eaten, dogs are not. I accept that many people eat beef, but a cultured country does not allow its people to eat dogs.”

Where the issue arises for most is the thought of eating an animal meant for companionship. While eating dog is taboo in the West, many countries raise dogs for the specific purpose of eating them. Therefore, the market for dog meat is just as natural as other livestock like pigs and cows.

In China, an annual dog meat festival, held each year in Yulin to celebrate the summer solstice, has attracted increasing negative attention. Those defending the practice asked protesters to explain why they ate beef in order to put it in perspective.

In Korean cities, dogs are raised as pets and are bought and sold for companionship. On the other hand, in the country’s rural areas, dogs are raised for their meat. The distinction does not come with breed but rather depends on where the dog is born.

There are also groups of people who do not have the option to eat what Americans consider traditional livestock. In India, cows are sacred and are thus off limits for being farmed and eaten. For Muslims and Jews, eating pig is forbidden.

Jonathan Safran Foer, a novelist and vegetarian, writes in his book Eating Animals, that euthanizing pets “amounts to millions of pounds of meat now being thrown away every year.”

He adds: “The simple disposal of these euthanized dogs is an enormous ecological and economic problem. It would be demented to yank pets from homes. But eating those strays, those runaways, those not-quite-cute-enough-to-take and not-quite well-behaved-enough-to-keep dogs would be like killing a flock of birds with one stone and eating it, too.”

There is still the unarguable fault in the dog meat industry, which is the current treatment of dogs before they are killed and the method of killing. Governments of nations who practice dog-eating are working on legalizing, licensing and regulating the industry so the methods become more humane.

Even this point has been argued by pro-dog meat people. While some facilities are inhumane in the treatment and killing of the dogs, there are plenty of slaughterhouses in the U.S. with horrid treatment and killing methods for the animals kept there.

If the process is legalized and regulated, dog meat can be added as an option for anyone to eat, and for those who have few options to begin with, this can make a difference.

However, even if eating dog becomes widespread and safe, will it be accepted? It is still considered a strange and barbaric idea in some cultures, but if the practice achieves universal acceptance, then it may make the process safe and widespread enough to feed more mouths than previously thought possible.

– Courtney Prentice

Sources: Slate, CNN 1, CNN 2, CNN 3, Wall Street Journal
Photo: CNN

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Food Waste Contributing to Poverty

We all know that wasting food is wrong, but do we ever stop to think how this careless act directly impacts those who are less fortunate? The U.N.’s Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) recently revealed that almost one-third of all the food produced in the world is either lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems—food that could have fed the hungry.

According to the U.N., 842 million people suffer from the effects of hunger globally, and using the UNEP and WRI’s estimates, the one-third of the world’s food wasted could equal up to 1,520 calories for each hungry person in developing countries where malnourishment is widespread.

There is also a moral imperative involved in resolving this issue as the President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim points out, “Millions of people around the world go to bed hungry every night, and yet millions of tons of food end up in trash cans or spoiled on the way to market. We have to tackle this problem in every country in order to improve food security and to end poverty.”

What people may not realize is that food waste unfortunately occurs in both industrialized and developing countries. In industrialized countries, food waste is typically caused by consumers buying too much food and being too concerned with the food’s appearance.

While the problem itself is the same in developing countries, food waste in these countries is caused by the lack of technology, harvesting techniques, post-harvest management and even marketing methods. Insect infestations and high temperatures also affect the quality of food products. For example, at least a quarter of the crops grown are wasted in Africa, where 65 percent of the labor force completes agricultural work.

The environment is also negatively affected by food waste as fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals are wasted while the rotting food creates more methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that is one of the greatest contributors to climate change.

Many are also fearful of the effect the growing population will have on the availability of food after the Pew Research Center revealed that 9.6 billion people are expected to populate the world in 2050, emphasizing the importance of future food security.

As a global issue, many campaigns such as Think.Eat.Save. are now focusing on ensuring food security and reducing the amount of food wasted. A campaign of the Save Food Initiative, Think.Eat.Save works to alleviate the negative humanitarian, environmental and financial effects food waste has on both developed and developing countries.

As the organization’s name suggests, we can all do our part in ensuring that we are not wasting food by following these three simple steps:

1. Think. Planning meals and creating a grocery list before shopping is a great way to ensure that you’re only buying what you will eat.

2. Eat. Be mindful of what you eat, and save time and money by eating food out of the fridge first.

3. Save. Freeze produce so it stays fresh longer and don’t forget to make the most of leftovers.

Food wasting is a serious global issue that affects millions, but through these simple steps we can all do our part in reducing our “foodprint.”

– Meghan Orner

Sources: World Bank, World Bank 2, U.N. Environment Programme, U.N. Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, United Nations, Pew Research Center, Global Issues, Society of St. Andrew, Think. Eat. Save
Photo: World Food Day USA

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How Food Security Affects IQ

It has been fairly well documented that a lack of food leads not only to health issues but also to problems in concentration that can affect daily tasks as well as education. What is not always discussed, however, is how a lack of food security affects IQ, a person’s mental bandwidth.

Eldar Shafir, a psychologist at Princeton University, conducted a study while visiting 464 farmers in 54 villages in Tamil Nadu in southern India before and after harvest. The farmers were given two tests to document their cognitive ability.

Due to the nature of farming in the areas studied, farmers often experience a surge of money flow around harvest time and then experience extreme hardship when it runs out prior to the next year’s harvest. The team led by Shafir found that the farmers had a more difficult time being able to pay back loans and pawned more belongings due to lack of money in the period leading up to the harvest than afterwards.

The farmers scored significantly lower on the tests before the harvest when money was tight, demonstrating that worry and stress were most likely affecting their ability to think clearly. This translated into a 13-point drop in IQ. Recognizing that people in general only have a certain amount of “mental bandwidth,””stress can decrease this bandwidth and leave little room for other cognitive abilities. In addition, it can contribute to poor decision-making among those who do not have food security.

When people are constantly worried about how much food they have or how they will afford to pay for the food they need for their families, the ability to think about other things diminishes. It is not that these people are any less smart; poverty takes up so much mental space that people’s abilities to make good long-term decisions for their families decrease dramatically because more fundamental needs take precedence.

Recognition of this is important for poverty initiatives and government programs around the globe. A person who is struggling with adequate food availability may not be able to fill out an outstanding amount of paper work for assistance or even a job application. In addition, hungry students are generally not able to concentrate in class and therefore may experience poor classroom performance. This could create a situation in which a child becomes disheartened by his or her performance and drops out of school as a result. In the long term, that student may be distrustful of education, a mindset they can pass on to their children.

The study concludes that food security must be a top priority for all aid work because it connects to so many other issues. Recognizing the significant impact of food security on a person’s mental capabilities is a first step in helping development agencies better adjust their programs to be more effective in the long run.

– Andrea Blinkhorn 

Sources: Princeton University, New Scientist
Photo: Ideorg

Hunger in Eritrea

Situated between Sudan and Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea is a nation of both plenty and dearth. Food grows abundantly in the nation’s nutrient-rich fields, but nearly every year, Eritrea makes global headlines for a hunger crisis.

A particularly severe food shortage in 2011 left as many as two-thirds of Eritreans hungry. Last year’s shortage was among the worst in Africa–only Comoros and Burundi had more serious food insecurity–and was classified as “alarming.”

Eritrea is one of many African nations with both an economy based in agriculture and a paradoxical inability to feed its people. Though nearly 70 percent of Eritreans are involved in the agricultural sector, Eritrea currently only meets a third of its estimated food needs (the other two-thirds being met by international food aid programs). Though Eritrea’s economy is technically growing, it isn’t growing quickly enough to sustain a population of over six million people.

Being one of the least-developed countries on the planet makes it difficult for the government to implement lasting changes to prevent hunger in Eritrea, as the infrastructure and supplies for long-term economic changes and aid programs are largely lacking.

In the past three years, the Eritrean government has focused on improving agricultural infrastructure in order to decrease food insecurity, and though hunger has declined during that period, it has not declined significantly enough for Eritrea to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal (that of halving hunger and poverty levels by 2015).

Another issue causing continued hunger for Eritreans is that the government is rather secretive and has been accused of deliberately withholding information regarding the substandard living conditions of its people.

During the 2011 famine that swept through the entire Horn of Africa, Eritrea publicly stated that it was unaffected despite the overwhelming majority of its people living in hunger that year. Eritrea’s government faces no opposition and forbids freedom of the press, allowing it to mask subpar conditions more easily than other, more transparent governments.

To some extent, food insecurity can be expected in a country with a climate like that of Eritrea. Situated in the Sahel desert, Eritrea experiences periodic droughts which affect its agricultural output. That said, the number of people hungry in Eritrea remains alarmingly high even with the implementation of food aid programs and efforts to improve infrastructure.

– Elise L. Riley

Sources: BBC, All Africa, World Food Programme, World Bank, UN
Photo: Trust

Nicaragua’s Ongoing Food Crisis

Some of the Pacific Ocean is warmer than usual – a seemingly innocuous fact, but it actually explains the devastating drought afflicting one of the world’s poorest countries. Because of El Niño, the name for the sporadic increase in temperature in this band of ocean water near the Pacific coast of South America, some regions in Nicaragua have seen little rain during the past several months and the May harvest has failed, resulting in a food crisis. The citizenry is now calling on President Daniel Ortega to implement policies to compensate for rising food prices.

As El Niño develops from June to August and the waters of the equatorial Pacific warm, the Nicaraguan climate becomes warm and dry. This year, the country’s western and central areas have been extremely dry. According to the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies, rainfall in some of these areas has been as much as 88 percent lower than average. One farmer described the amount of rain he has seen over the past few months as “not enough to really even wet the earth.”

As a result, both the bean and maize crops failed in May. Approximately eight out of every ten rural inhabitants depend on these crops for their livelihoods, according to New Agriculturist. Many are asking how Nicaragua, where roughly 1.2 million people were undernourished in 2012, will find a way to feed the second poorest population in Latin America, especially with food prices on the rise.

Dairy and beef producers have warned the government that their production could fall by 50 percent if the drought continues into September. Livestock owners have adjusted by purchasing expensive feed and medicine that they hope will save as many cattle as possible. They pass their increased costs of production on to consumers. And despite these measures, cattle are still dying in droves. More than one thousand cattle have starved to death, according to one agricultural union.

Nicaraguans facing this food crisis are demanding President Ortega act to mitigate it. Thus far, his administration has met with farmers to discuss their options, has expanded a government program that provides meals to thousands of families and has ordered the importation of millions of kilograms of beans and white maize, which will hopefully keep food prices from skyrocketing until the September harvest. In addition, millions of schoolchildren receive free meals consisting of “rice, beans, fortified cereals, wheat flour and vegetable oil” from the U.N. World Food Programme.

However, if the September harvest also fails, the country could face a famine. Farmers used their profits from last year to buy seed for May’s harvest, but now they must borrow money to buy the seed for September’s. If Nicaragua’s drought continues past September, many farmers fear they will have nothing left.

In June, the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reported that there would be a 90 percent chance of El Niño occurring this summer. However, the Nicaraguan government could do little with that information because the ECMWF lacks the means to predict the phenomenon’s intensity.

It is also worth noting that El Niño’s effects have varied from country to country. Some farmers in other countries, such as mango farmers in Brazil, expect to benefit from the rains that El Niño brings to those regions. This one weather phenomenon brings prosperity to some and destitution to others.

– Ryan Yanke

Sources: New Agriculturist, IPS, World Food Programme, NOAA 1, NOAA 2, World Bank, Time, Fresh Fruit Portal
Photo: OrganicConsumers

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Inadequate Aid for South Sudan

South Sudanese children are suffering the effects of mass malnutrition, and foreign aid agencies are struggling to keep up. On July 14, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) announced “shocking” levels of child starvation in South Sudan, reporting that at least 13,500 children have been admitted to the organization’s feeding programs.

South Sudan’s mounting civil crises have erupted into violence in recent months, which interferes with farmers’ ability to grow crops and provide food for communities. Agricultural infrastructure has been destroyed and crop planting has been widely disrupted or halted. These factors exacerbate the already-present food shortages and force displaced residents to share scarce resources.

Yet even in this time of dire need, seven major international food aid organizations–all of which focus primarily on South Sudan–are at risk of shutting down due to lack of funding. And the UN’s most recent request for food aid in South Sudan is less than half-funded. The UN requires at least $1.8 billion to make an impact on the malnutrition epidemic, but the seven agencies are short in funds by $89 million. If funding and food aid for South Sudan doesn’t increase soon, the UN warns that as many as 50,000 children could die by the year’s end.

“We will be staring into the abyss and failing to avert famine if funds do not start arriving soon,” said Mark Goldring, chief executive of Oxfam, in a report conducted by CARE International. “This is not a crisis caused by drought or flood. It is a political crisis turned violent… Mainly we are calling on governments to fund the aid effort before it is too late.”

The malnutrition crisis in South Sudan is a product of civil strife and contentious domestic politics. Since fighting began, 1.5 million South Sudanese have been displaced from their homes, thereby interfering with dependable access to food and water. Both of the parties fighting have also refused to respect a ceasefire agreement signed in January, leading authorities to report that nearly four million South Sudanese remain at risk of famine this year.

But while solving South Sudan’s political problems will help avert further violence, the most pressing priority for aid workers is now the nutritional needs of South Sudanese children. Many of these children are starving, and travel for days to reach MSF facilities. Others remain hiding in the bush, surviving off swamp water and roots.

Malnutrition is of course a threat in itself. But the three leading causes of death in South Sudan–malaria, diarrhea and respiratory infections–are also much more easily contracted by malnourished people. This compounds the dangers of the massive shortage of aid in the region.

“The United States’ monetary aid to the region is complicated because they don’t trust the South Sudanese government,” said Dr. Jenny Bell, a medical worker with a focus on South Sudan. “Because of this, they’ve shifted everything to humanitarian aid, and all the development efforts have been wiped out.”

Although humanitarian aid is always welcome, monetary aid is crucial to obtaining necessary medicines and nutritional requirements for malnourished children. Hopefully the global community will be able to meet the UN’s funding appeals before the situation in South Sudan plummets any further.

– Mari LeGagnoux

Sources: IPS News, All Africa
Photo: Unocha

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Fear of Famine in Somalia

In 2011, the United Nations declared a famine in numerous parts of Somalia. The 2011 famine in Somalia took the lives of 260,000 due to malnutrition, hunger and disease. Aid organizations are warning that signs of a drought are resurfacing in Somalia and cautioning that these signs cannot be ignored.

Thanks to improving conditions in Somalia, the people in need of aid has decreased from 4 million to 2.9 million. Yet, the improved situation is now at risk of relapsing because of high food prices, inadequate funding, lack of a rainy season, displacement and conflict.

Fighting between Shebab militants, international forces and the government have driven thousands to Mogadishu, where the displaced civilians live in makeshift housing.

There are still about 2.9 million people in need of live-saving assistance as well as over 300,000 malnourished children in Somalia. The number will probably increase as conditions worsen. Aid agencies are requesting immediate support in the next few months to avoid a relapse to the 2011 famine in Somalia.

Without immediate funding, aid programs could be shut down, even despite the rise of famished people in the conflict-ridden country. The 1.1 million internally displaced people would be hit the hardest.

In 2011, it took 16 warnings and a declaration of famine before sufficient funding was made available. This time, eight warnings of a probable famine in Somalia have been released since January 2014. Earlier in July, the United Nations warned that the food crisis was expected to escalate into the “emergency phase” in Mogadishu, one phase below famine.

It is essential that leaders continue to support humanitarian and developmental work in Somalia by providing sufficient funding.

Director of Somalia NGO Consortium, Tanja Schuemer, stated that the improvements made since 2011 cannot be lost due to the world losing interest in Somalia as a priority.

“Most affected people are still recovering from the massive losses of the 2011 drought and famine. This time, we must not fail the people of Somalia,” states Francois Batalingaya, World Vision’s Country Director for Somalia.

– Colleen Moore

Sources: Norwegian Refugee Council, Cross Map, Rappler
Photo: News