Archive for category: Hunger

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How Unfold is Combating Hunger With Vertical Farming

Unfold is Combating Hunger With 5 Vertical Farming Techniques
Unfold is a new startup company in Sacramento, California. It has committed itself to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations for 2030. Unfold has a partnership with Temasek, a Singaporean holding company, and Leaps by Bayer (LBB), a company that invests in life sciences breakthroughs that can improve the world. LBB has a vision: Health for All, Hunger for None. In addition, Jürgen Eckhardt, head of LBB, explains how Unfold is combating hunger through its transformative, creative approach in agricultural product development. The company aims to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables, “supporting sustainably grown, hyperlocal production and addressing food security challenges faced by growing urban populations.”

Vertical farming is still relatively new but there are advancements to boost its development. Vertical farming has two main components; the framework and the biology. The framework involves components like temperature, humidity and lighting. Meanwhile, the biology aspect comprises of making seeds that produce better and faster in the vertical farming environment. The latter is Unfold’s target area.

5 Facts About How Unfold is Combating Hunger

  1. Seed Genetics: As opposed to framework upgrades, Unfold is committed to vertical farming solutions related to seed genetics. It is most common for vertical farms to use refined seeds to grow vegetables in other types of settings like greenhouses or fields. Additionally, Unfold breeds seeds specifically for the vertical farming environment so that plants can mature faster and have higher crop yields. One way Unfold will accomplish this is with a combination of seed genetics and agricultural technology.
  2. Germplasm: Through Unfold’s partnerships, the company raised $30 million in initial funding. It has an agreement with certain privileges to Bayer’s vegetable portfolio, a one-of-a-kind opportunity. Through these means, Unfold is combating hunger using germplasm. Germplasm refers to living genetic resources, such as seeds, to manage breeding, preservation and research. To start with, the team will begin working on a variety of consumer-pleasing vegetables.
  3. Crop Varieties: Initially, Unfold will focus on lettuce and spinach because leafy greens have less restrictive light requirements and grow quickly. However, Unfold will need to expand into more varieties to really succeed. The next vegetables Unfold will concentrate on are cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, because they do not need much space and grow in similar environments.
  4. Sustainability and Freshness: Unfold is combating hunger through sustainability and freshness by paying attention to the framework elements of vertical gardening. The layout, lighting, materials and sustainability features, such as reducing water and energy use, are all pieces of the overall goal. The goal is to maximize output while minimizing space. As a result, the demand for this practice is high in highly populated areas with limited land use. For example, Singapore has a personal stake in this advancement because the country has less than 1% of arable farmland.
  5. Thinking Long-term: Global food challenges are a dynamic issue. This is due to overpopulation, food deserts, growing environmental concerns and global health issues, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. This forces companies, like Unfold, to constantly rethink conventional methods. Unfold will be conscientious of traceability and nutritional value as it navigates these new vertical farming methods that it will implement right in the heart of the benefiting communities to shorten the supply chain.

Unfold is an innovative key player in vertical farming to end hunger. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global vertical farming market is expected to reach $12 billion by 2026. This is because of deficiencies in groundwater, decreases in viable farmland and increased demand for fresh produce. Unfold’s CEO, John Purcell, says that vertical farming is “an important player in the food ecosystem.” It might be the answer to global poverty as farmers could grow more varieties of food and faster. Partnerships with vertical farmers and retailers are also part of the equation to bring local, fresh products directly to community members. In addition, it will build up the economies at the same time.

– Heather Babka
Photo: Flickr

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Food Insecurity in New Zealand: A Hidden Reality

Food Insecurity in New Zealand
New Zealand, an island country located in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, is home to a population of about 4.8 million people and comprises of nearly 600 islands. In 2019, New Zealand received the rank of one of the world’s richest countries, ranking fifth after Switzerland, Hong Kong, the United States and Australia. Despite its status as a rich country, New Zealand still has hidden issues with poverty, food insecurity and hunger.

Hunger and Poverty in New Zealand

Nearly one in five children in New Zealand are living in “relative poverty,” according to a report done by Stats NZ in June 2019. This number rises to one in four in the case of the Māori population (New Zealand’s indigenous people). Though it is a relatively wealthy country, many New Zealanders live with food insecurity. Defined as a lack of access to healthy and nutritious food, food insecurity has negative effects on families, children, health and even mental health.

New Zealand’s Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimated that the weekly cost to feed a person ranges from 29 to 74 NZD (depending on age and sex). For a family of four, that means food costs can average over $400 NZD a month on top of other costs like utilities, rent, clothing and education. According to CPAG, about 7% of New Zealanders experienced severe food insecurity in 2008/2009, and 3% — one-third of New Zealanders — experienced moderate food insecurity. The implications of this, even when dealing with moderate food insecurity, were large. CPAG reported on families struggling to feed their children, often opting for unhealthy food because it was cheapest, going through garbage to salvage food or forgoing food altogether to make sure their children did not go hungry.

COVID-19’s Impact

Food insecurity, fortunately, has reduced to about 10% of New Zealanders in 2019. But with the outbreak of COVID-19, the Auckland City Mission estimated that that number had rocketed to 20%. Between citizens losing jobs, panic-buying at grocery stores and other factors, the pandemic is threatening more widespread food insecurity in New Zealand. Emergency food assistance services have seen large spikes in demand. Additionally, many essential workers may be working full-time but are still not making enough to put food on the table.

Though it expects the winter months (June through August) to be harder on families, especially with the pandemic, Auckland City Mission was able to provide emergency food to over 23,000 families and individuals who were “in desperate need” over the last financial year. Additionally, when New Zealand released its 2020 budget in May 2020, Auckland City Mission released a statement noting that its social services support package meant the mission could help even more families who are facing food insecurity this winter.

The Future of Food Security

Food insecurity in New Zealand remains an important problem. In the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, these problems are becoming harder to ignore. Recently, CPAG released a paper about its ideas to solve food insecurity for New Zealand’s youth, including food programs in schools. It showed that with awareness and advocacy, people can begin to find solutions to these problems. In fact, the 2020 budget plans to expand an existing school lunch program to ensure that by the end of 2021, 200,000 students will receive a healthy lunch every day at school, up from the 8,000 currently receiving aid from the program. This sort of increase is a promising step to reducing the amount of food insecurity for New Zealand’s children.

Additionally, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Auckland City Mission has gone from supporting 450 families to over 1,200 and expect that number to stay high throughout the winter. Thanks to the 2020 New Zealand budget, Auckland City Mission will be able to continue helping those in need.

It is an unprecedented time for food insecurity in New Zealand, especially on top of existing challenges lower-income families have been facing. However, with help from the government and organizations like Auckland City Mission, the country is beginning to put more focus on providing food to those who need it most.

– Sophie Grieser
Photo: Pixabay

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Hunger in Comoros

Hunger in Comoros
Comoros is an archipelagic country in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar and the Mozambique Channel. With nearly 300 inhabitants per square mile, Comoros is densely populated, which often culminates in natural disasters that place intense pressures on food supply. Today, an estimated 44% of the population faces either moderate or severe food insecurity. Hunger in Comoros is therefore a precarious dilemma that requires immediate intervention. Without the appropriate aid, thousands of people – especially children – are at risk of health concerns or mortality.

Natural Disasters

The high population density of Comoros strains both natural resources and the environment. Combined with the nation’s topography and location, this puts the country at constant risk of a variety of natural disasters including tropical storms, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides. Hydrometeorological disasters in particular are expected to increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Projections indicate that the average annual temperature will rise an estimated 1.35°C by 2040-2059, 0.8-2.1°C by the 2060s and 1.2-3.6°C by the 2090s, raising the risk of extreme heat and floods. 

While the impact of such disasters on food security is often observed in the destruction of food supply and arable land, the damage caused to transportation infrastructure obstructs local communities from access to key food products. In April 2019, Cyclone Kenneth damaged the substructure of Port Boingoma, one of the three major ports in the country, in addition to an estimated 10% of Comoros’s total road network. In 2023, the port was further degraded by Cyclone Cheneso, rendering it inaccessible an average of two working days per week. Due to ongoing transport issues, staples like seafood and rice in the Comorian diet have become unavailable or deteriorated beyond safe consumption. International commodities and goods that have managed to arrive without defects are subject to high prices to offset demand and transportation costs, excluding them from a vast majority of households in need. 

Despite rationing and periodical shipments offered as recent solutions to supply chain interruptions, many Comorians today still suffer from hunger. With more than two-thirds of the population residing in rural areas and thus dependent on imports for survival, natural disasters and the resulting fragmentation of interisland connectivity play a large role in Comoros’s current hunger levels.

Children

Children are one of the most food-insecure groups in Comoros. According to the World Bank, chronic malnutrition currently leads to stunting in 31 out of every 100 children. In the Bambao region, more than one in five children under 5 are stunted and more than 13% are underweight or wasted. Factors such as low economic productivity, high unemployment rates and low quality of health care have been identified as major contributors to undernutrition. Additionally, waterborne diseases and unsanitary drinking water infrastructure have been correlated with common child health concerns such as diarrhea. Lastly, challenges to maternal health during pregnancy, which are directly linked to high adult food insecurity levels, frequently result in complications during birth that increase the risk of chronic health conditions for children that can manifest in the years leading up to adulthood.

World Bank and UNICEF

Comoros is in dire need of structural reform to alleviate nationwide food insecurity levels. Fortunately, organizations such as the World Bank and UNICEF are dedicated to helping hungry households by implementing several initiatives designed to improve interisland connectivity and child health care. 

Formed in May 2022, the World Bank’s Comoros Interisland Connectivity Project prioritizes the strengthening of maritime transport resilience, connectivity and safety between the islands, specifically by rehabilitating Port Boingoma. The first phase of the project in 2022 primarily focused on constructing a breakwater to protect the port against waves, providing structural support to withstand extreme climates and maritime travel. Building upon the first phase, the second phase aims to expand port capacity, develop infrastructure at selected priority sites to assure safe passenger operations, and pilot a new passenger boat program. Although the project has yet to publish substantive metrics to illustrate its results, it hopes to establish overall improvements in the economy and reduce the likelihood of consumer product shortage throughout the archipelago by 2028.

Chiefly focused on improving the lives of children, UNICEF has continued to partner with Comoros’s Ministry of Health in a number of projects intended to reduce neonatal mortality and support child health service delivery. As of November 2023, UNICEF’s endorsement of the “kangaroo mother care” practice benefitted 1,478 preterm and low birth weight infants, resulting in a recovery rate of 90%. By implementing solar power in three Moheli health facilities, vital enhancements were made to medical infrastructure and quality of care, directly benefiting 15,452 women and 10,301 children under 5. UNICEF has also played a crucial role in boosting child nutrition rates throughout the country by distributing micronutrient supplements such as Vitamin A to an estimated 133,818 children.

Looking Ahead

The 2023 Global Hunger Index has categorized Comoros as having a level of hunger that is serious. The country’s high vulnerability to natural disasters places transportation systems at great risk of structural damage, resulting in the isolation of local communities that depend on trade for sustenance. Among the groups marginalized by systemic barriers, Comoran children are especially disadvantaged and often suffer from health conditions that arise from malnutrition such as stunting. However, organizations such as the World Bank and UNICEF are looking to provide innovative solutions to these issues by maximizing the use of their resources and existing state partnerships. Persistent intervention and reform by such groups will be the deciding factor for the relative health and security of Comorans in the years to come.

– Moon Jung Kim
Photo: Flickr

Updated: September 18, 2024

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The Fight Against Food Insecurity in South Sudan

Food Insecurity in South Sudan
Since the country’s independence in 2011, South Sudan has been in a state of instability as it recovered from a six-year-long conflict with Sudan. This instability has had quite an effect on the nation’s nutrition, with 51% of the country’s total population reporting food shortages in 2020. Some of the main causes of the continued food insecurity in South Sudan include flooding due to poor land management, destruction of agriculture and businesses due to conflict, elevated food prices and lack of access to livestock products that would enable citizens to cultivate a reliable food source. Additionally, the ever-present conflict in the area often prevents people from being mobile, meaning they are unable to search for food, find better agricultural land or access markets that may be nearby.

The World Food Programme (WFP)

Despite this situation, many humanitarian organizations have allocated resources towards fighting food insecurity in South Sudan, including the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP). The effort provides direct food aid to roughly 5.32 million South Sudanese people. Each year, the WFP transports 325,000 metric tons of food into 50 warehouses across the country, helping to fill the large gaps in domestic agricultural production.

The U.N.’s program has also introduced a new means of efficiently and evenly distributing aid called SCOPE, a database in which individual aid recipients register by fingerprint. The database records who receives food and how much, and even tracks an individual’s health and nutrition levels, noting when signs of malnutrition cease or appear. So far, the SCOPE system alone has registered 1.4 million people. Since 2018, the U.N. has also administered over $30 million USD in vouchers that one can redeem in exchange for food through the SCOPE system.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Similarly, the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been working with farmers to boost domestic crop production in hopes of reducing food insecurity in South Sudan. Due to constant displacement and poor land quality, creating a strong agricultural sector has proven to be challenging for the nation.

However, FAO’s program works to distribute seeds and hand tools. Moreover, it conducts land assessments across the nation to determine which plots might produce the highest yield. As a result, the cultivated land area increased by 15% from 2017 to 2018, and cereal production rose 10% from 2018 to 2019. In 2018, the program also began its seed distribution effort, administering 5,970 metric tons of seeds across the nation, benefiting 406,408 households.

Action Against Hunger

Nonprofit organization Action Against Hunger has also worked alongside the U.N.’s efforts to reduce food insecurity in South Sudan. The organization has worked with 7,215 farming families, with a focus on dyke and irrigation system construction to ensure farms are resistant to the region’s heavy flooding.

Additionally, volunteers and locals constructed and/or rehabilitated 5,000 water points, where people can easily access potable water and plumbing. In an effort to solve the issue of lack of mobility in the nation, Action Against Hunger also constructed 71 kilometers of roads, which allow the average South Sudanese person to access markets, clinics and other vital services.

Without intensive aid from humanitarian organizations, the state of food insecurity in South Sudan would be much worse than the recent statistics show. As the nation builds its foundations and recovers from its violent past, access to nutrition will undoubtedly become more widely available. However, with more than half the population unable to fill their stomachs each day, much work is still necessary.

– Jane Dangel
Photo: Flickr

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Poverty and Hunger in Chile During COVID-19

hunger in Chile
Chile is a coastal country located in the far southeast of South America. With a population of more than 18 million people, it is the sixth most populous nation on the continent. Chile has recently achieved a thriving economy recognized by its peers, but it still experiences high levels of hunger. Income inequality is a significant factor contributing to this issue, which has roots in the country’s historic neoliberal policies.

Neoliberalism and Income Inequality

Championed by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet during the late 1900s, neoliberalism sought to privatize state assets, concentrating wealth and resources in the hands of the elite. The privatization of key public services such as pension funds, education and health care subjected most working class Chileans to rising prices and low wages, rendering them unable to provide for their households. 

Continued marginalization of the public sector throughout the early 2000s culminated in protests and demonstrations across the country in 2019, calling for an end to wealth disparities. However, despite the government’s subsequent decision to reform its social agenda in the larger public’s favor, its proposals have been widely deemed as insufficient, especially with regard to the informal labor market. Today, one in every four workers in Chile are informally employed due to the lack of financial and structural development in the country’s rural and peripheral areas. Among other health-related risks, informal workers are highly vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity. Yet proposals by the state to counter the effects of neoliberalism, including raising the mandatory contribution rate of pensions from 10% to 16%, revolve around social security and therefore do not extend to this subset of the population. Accordingly, progress in Chile has been limited, and does not truly encompass those in desperate need of better wages and social protections.

The Pervasiveness of Hunger

Although Chile has been assigned a low level of hunger in the 2023 Global Hunger Index, food insecurity remains a pervasive issue that still affects a large number of Chileans today. An estimated 17.6% of the Chilean population experienced moderate to severe food insecurity from 2021 to 2023. In particular, the Araucanía region of central Chile has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, with over 17% of the population currently living in poverty. Poverty in this area is perpetuated by low levels of education and underdeveloped infrastructure, which has disproportionately affected the indigenous Mapuche population. Conflicts between this group and the state over the targeted criminalization of the Mapuche people have isolated them even further from the resources needed to sustain themselves, putting them at high risk of food insecurity. 

Viewed as a whole, as in many other countries worldwide, the effects of COVID-19 have also exacerbated poverty and income inequality throughout the country. Despite Chile’s widely acknowledged success in having recovered its economy, the unemployment rate still remains high at 8.5%. Similarly, gender gaps in the market continue to persist, with women’s labor force participation at 52.6% in comparison to men’s at 71.4%. Overcoming these challenges – which are often linked to food insecurity – requires inclusive productivity growth, which may be achieved by improving job recruitment efforts and implementing labor integration policies.

Improving Conditions

One group working to address the problem of hunger in Chile is Desafío Levantemos Chile, a nonprofit organization that has provided aid to thousands of Chileans by distributing food, providing microloans and advocating for public education reform. Recently, the foundation raised a total of $9,705,288,880 to support those affected by the sudden fires and intense rains that hit Licantén and Coltauco in 2023. Through its “Let’s Lift Up the South” campaign, the organization donated 10,237 food kits and 64,024 liters of water to families in need. Other initiatives centered around alleviating hunger in Chile include the reconditioning of 10,000 smallholder farmers and the construction of housing in Vilcún, Purén and their surrounding rural areas. 

Conclusion

Many of the factors related to the high levels of hunger in Chile are endemic to the country’s socioeconomic and political status quo. The effects of neoliberalism have created a stark division of wealth and resources in the country, putting millions at risk of hunger. As in many countries around the globe, and especially in South America, the lingering effects of COVID-19 are expected to continue creating hardships for impoverished Chileans. Fortunately, groups such as Desafío Levantemos Chile have dedicated their efforts towards curbing all motivators of food insecurity, whether they be immediate emergencies or perdurable issues. 

– Jason Beck, Moon Jung Kim
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Updated: September 23, 2024

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Global Maker Challenge: Innovative Solutions For Global Prosperity

Global Maker Challenge
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity (the Global Prosperity Initiative) launched the second cohort of its Global Maker Challenge in late 2019, in Abu Dhabi. The challenge is an innovation-based contest that brings together entrepreneurs from around the world to present ideas and solutions for promoting global prosperity and improving living standards.

Global Maker Challenge 2019 Themes

The Global Prosperity Initiative partnered with 10 U.N. agencies as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Solve, a marketplace for social impact initiatives, to select four themes that Global Maker Challenge submissions must follow. This cohort’s themes are (1) Sustainable and Healthy Food for All, (2) Climate Change, (3) Innovation for Inclusive Trade and (4) Innovation for Peace and Justice. Nearly 3,400 participants submitted cutting-edge ideas — including web and mobile applications, machine learning algorithms, artificial intelligence and cloud-based solutions.

The Finalists

In the end, 20 finalists (five from each section) were chosen by a select group of experts from U.N. agencies, global organizations, digital innovation companies, NGOs and academia. The final projects selected stood out among the rest because they were both affordable and scalable — two characteristics that are critical when working with disadvantaged communities. Limited infrastructure and resources  are often some of the greatest challenges that must be overcome.

Category Objectives and Finalist List

  1. Sustainable and Healthy Food for All: Ideas submitted to this category aim to address issues regarding access to sustainable and nutritious food among growing urban populations, as well as reducing hunger and malnutrition. Finalists presented solutions for storing fresh produce and extending the shelf life of foods. Finalists accomplished this using temperature control hubs and sustainable packaging that reduces waste. Another finalist introduced an idea for a social enterprise that makes affordable and nutritious food more accessible to low-income communities.
  2. Climate Change: Contestants focused on promoting sustainability and efficient resource use to lower carbon emission and eliminate waste. Several finalists addressed the textile industry and how to make its materials more sustainable. Submissions included technologies to create biodegradable textiles from plant-based materials, upcycled plastic and ethical sourcing. Other projects addressed the issue of climate change in different ways, such as generating electricity from wastewater and creating a circulation system to convert compost into fertilizer.
  3. Innovation for Inclusive Trade: This category aims to increase the market inclusivity of rural populations to promote global, economic growth. Finalists introduced several digital platforms that provide access to financial literacy tools and empower small business owners. Ideas included an application providing financial tools and market information to emerging enterprises. Also, platforms for connecting rural farmers to international markets and mapping tools — which increase the visibility of small retailers.
  4. Innovation for Peace and Justice: Contestants provided solutions for displaced populations and refugees seeking essential services and resources. Several finalists focused on making education more accessible. Ideas included virtual reality classrooms for students in underserved communities. Also, technology training and legal services for residents of refugee camps and solar-powered learning hubs. Other finalists presented solutions for improving the quality of life of displaced populations, such as user-managed identification and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) learning technology and games.

Final Pitch

Finalists will present their solutions in a series of virtual pitches, starting in late August 2020 and commencing in early September of the same year — during the Global Maker Challenge Award Ceremony. Prizes include project funding and mentorship worth up to $1 million.

Seeing the Big Picture

The second cohort of the Global Maker Challenge comes at a critical time. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable groups lack humanitarian aid, social protection and stimulus packages. Unless action is taken, as many as 50 million people could fall into extreme poverty, as a result of the pandemic. Innovation and collaboration are powerful tools for developing solutions to unprecedented challenges. Today’s entrepreneurs and designers provide hope for overcoming setbacks caused by the pandemic and maintaining progress towards the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

– Sylvie Antal
Photo: Flickr

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Hoarding Toilet Paper Versus Feeding Children in Africa

feed hungry children in AfricaDuring the early weeks of the pandemic, many Americans were buying extra items that were hard to find in grocery stores, such as toilet paper, paper towels, rice and cleaning supplies. Now that supplies are back on the shelves, using those items can help feed hungry children in Africa.

Grocery Shoppers Are Stockpiling

According to a survey conducted between March 13 and 15, 2020 among American grocery shoppers, 54% said that they had stockpiled supplies that would last them for two weeks. Almost one-fifth of the shoppers purchased items that would last between three and four weeks, while 20% stockpiled enough for one week, and 7% were supplied for over a month.

Toilet paper was not the only item being hoarded. This spring, worried consumers bought staples such as rice and pasta in record numbers. But does a family really need that second oversized bag of rice gathering dust on the pantry shelf? Statistics show that many people in the United States were over-supplying their pantries. For example, a five-pound bag of rice equals about 13 six-ounce servings, which would feed two people for almost a week if each person ate a serving of rice every single day. Similarly, five pounds of uncooked pasta is equivalent to 13 servings, which feeds two people each a serving of pasta every day for about a week. Instead of stockpiling and letting these items linger on the shelf until their expiration dates, it makes sense for people to use just five pounds each of rice and pasta per week. Doing so could save close to $20 at the grocery store.

Now that supplies such as toilet paper are back on the shelves, families can also use stockpiled paper goods regularly instead of storing them indefinitely in the closet. By not buying two 12-roll packages of toilet paper this month, and instead using the rolls already in the closet, a family could save around $25. This amount could feed a child in Africa for an entire month, according to the World Food Program.

Feed Hungry Children in Africa for an Entire Month

If a family also uses the package of paper towels sitting in the pantry instead of buying a new package, they would save around $20, which would feed a child in Africa for another three weeks. And using the extra cleaning supplies that are stashed under the sink — such as laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, hand soap and spray cleaners — could save another $25, which would feed yet another child for one month. To sum up: dusting off and using just a few stockpiled paper goods, cleaning supplies and five pounds each of rice and pasta could cut around $90 from the next grocery bill. According to the World Food Program, $15 could feed a hungry child in Africa for one month. With the savings gained simply from using these items and not buying new ones, a person or family could feed six hungry children in Africa for an entire month.

The Pandemic Increased Global Hunger

The global need for aid is greater than ever. Prior to the pandemic, around 149 million people suffered from extreme hunger, but as the coronavirus spreads, that number could reach 270 million by December 2020. According to the World Bank, the prevalence of undernourishment in Zambia’s population is over 46%. This means that almost half of all people in Zambia do not have enough to eat. In the Republic of the Congo, 40.4% of people are hungry, while the same is true for 29.4% of Kenyans and 13.4% of Nigerians.

In addition, South Sudan has declared a famine, with an estimated one million children acutely malnourished. As of March 2020, South Sudan is one of the most food-insecure countries in the world, and the pandemic has exacerbated the situation. Around 6.5 million people, or about 51% of its entire population, could face acute food insecurity and require urgent food assistance this year. The need to feed hungry children in Africa has never been more pressing.

Easily Save $90 and Give

Again, simply clearing out those crowded pantries and kitchen shelves and using the stockpiled items could save around $90 in one month. What to do with the savings? Why not simply cross those stockpiled items off of this week’s grocery list and donate the money? The pantry shelves will be less crammed — and that is a good feeling, along with the knowledge that using these stored items has helped to feed hungry children in Africa.

– Sarah Betuel
Photo: Flickr

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5 Vegan Groups Fighting World Hunger

Fighting World Hunger
Vegans are often the butt of every joke in pop culture, from comments on their hair and hygiene to their fondness for eating “rabbit food.” Yet, vegans are more than their food choices; veganism is a form of activism. This article will explore five vegan groups fighting world hunger.

Veganism and Global Hunger

Plants produce 9.46 quadrillion calories each year, enough to feed every human 2,700 calories a day for a year, with 2 quadrillion calories leftover. If this is the case, why do people go hungry? Unfortunately, humans only consume a little over half of these calories, with 36% going to animal feed and 9% to industry. This leaves humans with only 5.6 trillion calories — well below the amount necessary to solve world hunger. When consuming animals, a staggering 89% of calories of these plant calories disappear when humans consume animals secondarily.

Moreover, animal-based diets require 1,000% more crop growth than plant-based diets. Moving to a plant-based diet creates 70% more room to grow crops, and, even accounting for population growth, could bring an end to global hunger.

Fortunately, many activism groups are working to fight global hunger and poverty while serving healthy vegan meals. Here are five vegan groups fighting world hunger.

5 Vegan Groups Fighting World Hunger

  1. Food Not Bombs: Anti-nuclear activists founded Food Not Bombs in 1980 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their goal was to spark an anti-violence movement against war, poverty, food waste and global hunger through education, protests and providing individuals with meals from recovered food waste. The organization feeds people in 1,000 cities in 65 countries around the world. Food Not Bombs believes that food is a right, not a privilege.
  2. World Central Kitchen: World Central Kitchen uses food to empower communities and provide relief during difficult times. Jose Andrews and his wife founded the organization to cook meals, including vegan and vegetarian ones, for those suffering from hunger abroad. The organization works by giving women in other countries access to cooking supplies, training chefs in Haiti to cook and providing healthy meals to families in need. WCK does international frontline work during natural disasters, providing over 3.7 million meals to victims of Hurricane Maria in 2o17.
  3. Food Empowerment Project: Lauren Ornelas, a woman of color, founded Food Empowerment Project as a way to educate people about making ethically sustainable food choices. Among fighting for animal rights, Food Empowerment Project also fights for racial equality, poverty reduction and environmental justice. By making ethically sustainable food choices, people can prevent deaths and empower those with fewer resources. Through its website, Food Empowerment Project provides the public with education about veganism, including access to sustainable, vegan recipes.
  4. Food for Life: In 1974, the founder of Srila Prabhupada told his yoga students to begin serving food to the hungry, believing that “No one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry.” From there, his yoga students began creating food kitchens around the world, creating the basis for Food for Life. The organization aims to promote Vedic values of equality by giving vegan meals to those in need and during times of crisis. To date, volunteers have served over 6 million meals since the organization’s start, amounting to nearly 20 tons of vegan food.
  5. Vegans Against World Hunger: Helen Wright and Julian Wilkinson founded Vegans Against World Hunger in 2019 as a way to fight global poverty and hunger through vegan meals in the U.K and abroad. The nonprofit works to create food forests that provide food stability, combat deforestation and establish food banks around the globe. While it is a new organization, Vegans Against World Hunger has a bright future ahead.

These vegan groups fighting world hunger show that vegans around the world are using their plant-based diets to help solve one of the quintessential issues facing the world today: global hunger. While the transition to a completely plant-based diet brings challenges, scientists see that it could be a step forward in fighting global poverty and hunger through ethical and sustainable food choices.

– Breanna Bonner
Photo: Pixabay

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Hunger in Kazakhstan: Past, Present and Future

hunger in kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has made great strides in reducing hunger within its borders. Once vulnerable to famine, the country has demonstrated significant progress in increasing its agricultural productivity and curbing food shortages within the past two decades. However, despite notable improvements to food insecurity and malnutrition levels, Kazakhstan remains steady in its efforts to reduce persistent risk factors. In the coming years, the nation hopes to achieve food self-sufficiency by maximizing the use of state programs and international aid. 

The Past: Devastating Famines

Despite its relative stability today, Kazakhstan has historically been vulnerable to famine. Between 1920 and 1939, more than 8.5 million Kazakhs starved to death as a result of Soviet-induced famines. Asharshylyk, one of the most devastating famines in Kazakh history, directly contributed to the eradication of over a third of the country’s population in the early 1930s – a crisis perpetuated not only by climate change but also by the forced collectivization of previously nomadic Kazakhs under Soviet rule. 

Agricultural collectivization had particularly debilitating effects on Kazakhstan’s overall food security. During the famine, approximately 90% of the nation’s herds perished as a result of the Kazakh people selling or slaughtering their livestock in order to meet grain quotas set by the Soviet regime. This rapid depletion of livestock – namely, cattle – resulted in significant income loss and widespread starvation amongst nomadic herders. Amongst escalating violence and competition for food, several communities were reported to have turned to extreme methods of survival such as cannibalism to avoid succumbing to hunger. 

Ethnic Kazakhs disproportionately suffered the highest percentage of deaths of any group at the time, estimated to be as high as 42% of their total population. Many fled the country to seek relief in surrounding countries such as China and Turkmenistan. As a result, ethnic Kazakhs were a minority within their own country for decades up until the Soviet collapse in 1991. 

Hunger Today: A Stark Improvement

Significant progress has been made within the past century to reduce food insecurity in Kazakhstan, primarily through the country’s expansion of its oil sector. Over the span of 30 years, Kazakhstan has increased its oil production by nearly 3.8 times its pre-independence levels, reaching an annual output of 84.2 million tons. As such, oil has provided most of the country’s export earnings, playing an instrumental role in driving productivity and development. 

Rapid and sustained economic growth has thus allowed hunger in Kazakhstan to decline below rates of global concern. According to the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Kazakhstan has successfully achieved a low level of hunger. Less than 2.5% of the total population is undernourished, and the country’s vulnerability to food security based on its food sector capabilities is lower than the world average, standing at a score of 0.42 as of 2022. Composed today of an upper middle income population and a wealth of domestically produced crops, the country instead focuses on supplying the world with the means to combat food insecurity and malnutrition.

Looking Forward: More Solutions

Moving forward, Kazakhstan intends to continue making strides toward reducing hunger both within and beyond its borders. In 2023, the Kazakh government allocated $2.5 billion to the agricultural sector for subsidies, loans and investment projects. One of these initiatives plans to introduce a unified state information system for subsidies that will be free and easily accessible for farmers. Another aims to allow farmer greenhouses to apply for subsidies in order to cover electricity, gas and coal expenses during their crop off-season. If such state programs are effectively implemented, Kazakhstan is expected to enhance its food security rate from 127% to 143%. 

Kazakhstan is predicted to become a leading producer of food surpluses by 2035. The state plans to expand to additional agricultural markets, particularly targeting China, the Middle East and Africa in an effort to double its exports by 2029. By maximizing its current state of growth and cooperation,  Kazakhstan may serve to provide the world with the resources needed to reduce global hunger, establishing the country as a paragon of success within a post-Soviet space.

– Julia Canzano, Moon Jung Kim
Photo: Pixabay

Updated: November 7, 2024

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Hunger in Turkmenistan

hunger in turkmenistanThis time last year, the London-based Foreign Policy Centre reported that Turkmenistan was “a country teetering on the edge of catastrophe.” An economic crisis has exacerbated hunger in Turkmenistan. Additionally, Human Rights Watch calls Turkmenistan “an isolated and repressive country.” Without freedom of speech or information, the authoritarian government leaves no room for economic autonomy, thus resulting in hunger among citizens.

Economic Crisis and Hunger in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan sits on 9.9% of the world’s gas reserves, with 19.5 trillion cubic meters. Statistics like these attract foreign investors, which in theory should boost the nation’s economy. However, in 2019 Turkmenistan entered its worst economic crisis since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The state heavily controls the economy, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) lists Turkmenistan as the “least competitive economy among the EBRDS’s countries of operations,” meaning that economic autonomy is essentially nonexistent. The Foreign Policy Centre’s report labeled Turkmenistan’s economy as a “Potemkin economy,” meaning its public record of ordinary, satisfactory GDP figures — a result of strictly regulated state companies — hides a crumbling economy.

In 2018, a video of a Turkmen student cutting up his debit card, salting it and cooking it for dinner circulated around media sites. The student, who was studying abroad in Ukraine, spoke on the matter, saying that “the [bank] cards stopped working and, as a result, I’ve lost 15 kilograms.” While the banks never released explanations, economists suggest that the debit card failures may be a result of Turkmenistan’s active black market. Officially, the exchange rate is three and a half Turkmen manats to one U.S. dollar. But the black-market rate is closer to 22 manats to one U.S. dollar. The government would lose large sums of money with students trying to withdraw from their banks in foreign countries.

The Turkmen government lacks transparency about its crop supply as well; in 2018, Deputy Chairman Esenmyrat Orazgeldiev released data stating that Turkmenistan had overshot its yearly harvest goal, and had harvested 1.099 million tons of cotton. However, reports from the Agriculture and Water Resources Ministry and the International Cotton Advisory Committee said that the country had harvested between 300 and 450 thousand tons. A similar inconsistency in reports occurred for the wheat harvest. These economic and agricultural struggles have led to widespread hunger in Turkmenistan, particularly in the form of major food shortages across the country.

Food Shortages

For the past three years, hunger in Turkmenistan has resulted from dire food shortages. The Diplomat conducted an interview with Turkmen “activist-in-exile” Fareed Tukhbatullin in 2018, and Tukhbatullin recalled fights breaking out among citizens waiting to purchase necessities such as bread, flour, vegetable oil and eggs, all of which are in short supply despite being government-regulated foods. Inflation and the disparity between the official manat’s value and the black-market manat’s value have made importing ingredients and farming equipment nearly impossible. In the interview, Tukhbatullin emphasized that there are no official news coverings or statistics released in Turkmenistan about this crisis, but he estimated that 60% of the population is unemployed and living with food insecurity. Last month, Turkmenistan increased its regulation of subsidized foods by enforcing the use of registration books by individual households. Families are instructed to bring their books, which have a certificate containing their address and the number of people in their household, to food stores, where their purchases will be documented.

Foreign Aid Reducing Hunger in Turkmenistan

Currently, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is working to stabilize Turkmenistan’s economy and strengthen its international connection around Central and South Asia. USAID also provides assistance to dairy and meat-producing livestock farmers to keep their livestock healthy, and it works to connect the farmers to local and international markets. In July 2020, USAID announced the launch of its hotline for Turkmen farmers. The hotline is accessible over email and telephone, and it offers necessary advice on the exportation of goods to foreign markets. USAID claims that this extra support will help the Turkmen farmers “maximize their revenues, stabilize seasonal sales, and expand the markets for quality Turkmen products.” USAID also worked between 2010 and 2019 to introduce Turkmenistan into the International Financial Reporting Standards, which allows the country more access to the global economy.

Turkmenistan has not known peace or stability since its independence in 1991. Inflation, food shortages and disconnect from the rest of the world have plagued the country for almost 30 years, and government officials worry that this instability will soon lead to catastrophe. Helping the citizens of a highly isolated country is extremely difficult, but organizations like USAID are doing what they can to end hunger in Turkmenistan.

— Anya Chung
Photo: Flickr