Archive for category: Hunger

,

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

,

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

,

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

,

5 Facts About Hunger in Poland

hunger in PolandHunger and malnutrition continue to pose a huge threat to millions of individuals across the globe. Many do not think of Poland when it comes to hunger, but that doesn’t mean hunger doesn’t exist in the country. While thankfully the percent of individuals who suffer from hunger is rather low, a majority of those who do suffer from hunger and malnutrition are children. Here are five facts about hunger in Poland.

5 Facts About Hunger in Poland

  1. The percent of individuals in Poland living in hunger has been stagnant since 2000. As of 2017, Poland has seen 2.5% of its population living in hunger. While this is a huge feat on its own, this percent has not increased since 2000–Poland has had only 2.5% of its population live in hunger for almost two decades. This ranks Poland among countries with the lowest hunger rates.
  2.  Almost 120,000 children in Poland go to school hungry, according to a Polish foundation called A Piece of Heaven. By not having proper nourishment, students’ ability to perform well in both educational and extracurricular activities can be affected. Luckily, organizations such as A Piece of Heaven are dedicated to help improve the nutrition of Polish children. Most specifically, the organizations help children dealing with sickness and or living in poverty. Through their work, A Piece of Heaven has helped 150,000 individuals.
  3. 170,000 children in Poland suffer from malnutrition. While hunger may not be a large risk, malnutrition has affected Polish children at a higher rate. Malnutrition often poses a problem in rural areas of Poland, where poverty levels are higher. Because their families face financial afflictions, oftentimes nutritious food and resources are more difficult to acquire. Malnutrition in childhood can cause developmental irregularities in the central nervous system, struggles with mental health and underweight body mass.
  4. Much of the hunger in Poland is due to poverty. While of course poverty and hunger are not directly connected, Warsaw’s Department of Nutrition and Dietetic with Clinic of Metabolic Diseases and Gastroenterology has estimated that much of Poland’s hunger is due to poverty. They also suggest that poverty not only affects rates of hunger, but also malnutrition. Those living below the poverty line have limited access to more nutritionally balanced food with a higher price tag.
  5. 23,000 children living in Warsaw suffer from starvation. While Poland does have one of the lowest rates of hunger in the world, A Piece of Heaven estimates that tens of thousands of children go hungry each day in the nation’s capital. Because hunger in Poland does not pose a large issue in a global light, many are unaware of this tragic reality. Many of these children are living in poverty, though, and have little to no food with nutritional value.

While Poland has made great efforts to keep the percentage of individuals living in hunger down, there is more to be done. This is especially true for children living in poor, rural areas. Through help from organizations bringing food to malnourished and hungry children, hopefully Poland’s hunger rate that has stayed stagnant for so long can now begin to decrease even more.

– Olivia Eaker
Photo: Flickr

, , , ,

Japanese Children in Poverty

Japanese Children in PovertyThe children of Japan face a unique and difficult kind of poverty. Around 3.5 million children age six through 17 live below the poverty line in one of Asia’s wealthiest countries. Struggles arising from the 2008 financial crisis and rising inequality have put many parents in precarious situations where they struggle to feed their families. Only around 200,000 of the 3.5 million Japanese children in poverty receive necessary government assistance to help them get by. These issues have created a pressing issue in Japan that demands a greater government response and more opportunities for mothers.

Children’s Cafeterias

Japanese kids can get free or reduced-cost warm meals at children’s cafeterias. The cafeterias have become increasingly popular as childhood poverty continues to drastically increase in the country. While there were originally around 21 operating cafeterias in 2013, over 300 opened in the following four years.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many of these cafeterias have been temporarily closed, leaving many children hungry. As both COVID-19 and child poverty have continued to worsen, even the Japanese Imperial Couple has been briefed on the issue, serving as a testament to its significance in modern Japanese culture. The Imperial Couple was told around 40% of programs that support providing meals to these children have been adjourned due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Traditional Family Structure Hinders Single Mothers

Many of these children’s parents are single mothers. In general, Japan is unsupportive of single mothers and offers very little additional support to this demographic. Japan’s traditional family structure usually designates a father, or man of the house, as the breadwinner. Meanwhile, mothers stay at home to care for the children. As divorce rates have risen in recent years, many mothers are forced to return to a workforce that has changed a great deal since they had been in it. Others, never having been part of the Japanese workplace, have struggled further.

Traditional Japanese societal norms typically encourage single-income houses. For instance, the Japanese tax system favors single-income houses. Many Japanese businesses will provide bonuses to men whose wives stay at home. On top of that, a significant wage gap exists, with Japanese women earning roughly 30% less than men. There is also the practice of lifetime employment, by which many Japanese men are pulled straight out of college or university and brought into a company where they are expected to work until retirement. These factors hinder the opportunities available to single mothers and limit the progress that can be made in addressing child poverty.

A Slow Response from National and Local Government

Japan’s government has made slow strides towards helping its children in poverty. In 2019, the government amended a 2013 law focused on child poverty. The amendment was made to encourage local governments, not just the national government, to develop safety nets for children living in low-income situations. Local governments have a deeper an understanding of their citizens’ needs, so they can develop more targeted solutions in tackling poverty.

The deck is stacked against Japanese children in poverty. Many have struggling mothers who are busy trying to earn a living wage in a society where women are expected to stay home. Government support for Japanese children in poverty has been lackluster. Charity cafeterias are some of the only places these kids can get stable meals. The COVID-19 crisis seems to only be aggravating the desperate situation. In such a wealthy country, children in poverty face deeply entrenched struggles and their government is barely helping them.

– Tara Suter
Photo: Pixabay

, ,

The Fight Against Hunger in Togo

Hunger in Togo
Many West African countries have been struggling with the indirect effects of COVID-19, hunger being the worst of the side-effects that the pandemic brought on. Togo is one of these nations facing an escalating death rate due to the indirect results of COVID-19 such as hunger and malnutrition. Here is some information about the increased hunger in Togo.

Causes of Hunger in Togo

The decrease in demand for phosphate contributed to Togo’s economic struggles. Phosphate is a natural resource that the country produces abundantly. For the majority of the 19th century, Togo’s economy depended on the rare mineral, but since the early 2000s, phosphate prices have gone up and the sales have gone down. Thus, the republic is now agriculture-dependent, like many of its neighbors.

Due to the quick shift between the two sectors, the agricultural aspect of the economy does not receive adequate support. In fact, only 16% of farms in Togo currently use fertilizers, meaning that they do not function optimally. Farms also only make up 2% of bank loans nationwide, which shows that farmers are not investing in technology to improve their business longterm. For the Togolese Republic, agriculture maintains nearly 40% of the economy. This field did not have the preparation for so many to be economically dependent on it, which is one of the reasons why 58% of the Togolese population live in poverty.

The Environment and Hunger

In the past 10 years, droughts in Togo have worsened significantly, with rainfall decreasing by 2.4% per decade and temperature increasing by 1.1°C in the last half a century. While these numbers may not seem high, they have a significant negative consequence on the success of agriculture. A 2°C increase in temperature, which predictions determine could occur by 2050, could create a decrease of 62.02% in the net revenue of the nation and put an even higher percentage of the population under the poverty line and into the malnourished category. An increase in the number of floods has further subdued agricultural progress.

Hunger in Togo Statistics

With impoverishment comes hunger. Togo is 81 out of 117 countries on the Global Hunger Index. As of now, 16.1% of the population experiences undernourishment. The Togolese Republic had decreased its hunger rates from 32% back in 2001. It has successfully stabilized its depth of hunger rates, with average nutrition being around 280 kilocalories and consistently lower than that of a healthy population for the last decade. Yet, to this day, nearly 30% of children under the age of 5 experience chronic malnourishment, with spikes of up to 43% in the Savannah region, where the dry, hot climate drastically worsens hunger and poverty.

Side Effects of Hunger

Although hunger in itself is a major human rights issue, there are many side effects of hunger and malnutrition that put the population at a further disadvantage. Poor cognitive development in children, diabetes and growth stunts are all severe byproducts of population malnutrition. The effects of hunger on mental health are just as devastating. Parents of malnourished children are 53.1% more likely to go through depression and 56.2% more likely to have PTSD.

These side effects can drastically decrease productivity in both the parents and the children once the children grow up, thus furthering the poverty and hunger in the family. It is arduous for governments to control hunger in the population as when it is so widespread. In fact, malnourished workers can further worsen the economy leading to more hungry citizens. Some believe that the estimated cost of malnutrition to the global economy is around $3.5 trillion per year.

Effects of COVID-19 on Hunger

The current global pandemic has negatively affected nearly every country in the world, but it seems that West African countries like Togo will struggle much more economically. The disease severely impacted Togo’s agriculture season. With enforced social distancing and curfews, limits on working hours and enforced policies on markets and sellers, farmers have experienced economic challenges. Environmental challenges have already been decreasing the success of farming in the West African region but the pandemic might have even worse effects. The closing of schools also meant that many children who relied on in-school meal plans, now have no access to nutrition.

Fighting Hunger in Togo

As previously highlighted, without government intervention, high rates of hunger in a population after time lead to even higher rates of hunger; therefore, it is economically beneficial for the government to involve itself. Yet, the Togolese government has not made the proper investment into agriculture or hunger initiatives over the past decade.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been one of the main actors dealing with the issue of hunger in Togo. WFP has been present in Togo since 1968 and is currently participating in three main projects to help the country: United Nations SDG 2030 Fund, WFP Immediate Response Account (IRA) for emergency preparedness activity in Togo and U.N. Country Team (UNCT) for food assistance to those who experienced floods in the Togo maritime region. WFP has been working on increasing and improving food production strategies across the territory, providing technical and financial assistance to farms and training 95 national actors from northern Togo on a joint quick assessment of humanitarian needs after a catastrophe. WFP has also introduced food-for-work projects in the region, in which citizens receive nourishment for participating in reforestation or improvement of roads.

In order to help the Togolese government respond to COVID-19 properly, WFP has not only been providing food to those the pandemic has affected but also collecting data from 2,180 households about food security. However, the virus has now delayed many of WFP’s projects.

Although hunger has been rising drastically over the last couple of months globally, social response and aid have also been on the rise. Hunger in Togo will likely increase in 2020, but given the work of NGOs such as WFP, the citizens of Togo will hopefully receive the aid they need.

– Anna Synakh
Photo: Flickr

,

How the UN World Food Program Endeavors to End Hunger Through Access

How the UN World Food Program Endeavors to End Hunger Through AccessAccording to the United Nations World Food Program, food production has risen to a point that enables the entire planet to be fed, even as the population is expected to grow. Yet, the world’s supply disproportionately meets the needs of all its inhabitants. Starvation kills more children in developing countries than some of the deadliest communicable diseases that are disseminating upon the impoverished. If the solution to starvation is not production than the solution must be to end hunger through access. The U.N. has put three plans into action based on this solution.

Warehouses of Hope

Warehouses of Hope is the U.N.’s first plan to end hunger through access. The former executive of the U.N. World Food Program, Josette Sheeran coined the phrase “Warehouses of Hope” which are essentially banks for food. The villages manage these banks. In addition, it can be unlocked with three different keys, entrusted to three different villagers. Although food assistance can help many people in many countries, food banks provide a more sustainable answer. Hundreds of villages have been able to independently provide for themselves and their children with these warehouses. The program is successful to the point that the villages established school feeding programs for the village children.

Lean season in developing countries is the time between harvests. It is when jobs, earnings and food all are in short supply. As a result, this can lead to severe cases of hunger and devastating effects on the community. The idea behind Warehouses of Hope is to take the food that is supplied in the banks out during the lean season. Additionally, the villager can put some of the food back during harvest with interest by adding 5-10% more to the warehouse. When the next lean season comes, the cycle repeats. the village can consistently end hunger through access.

One Meal in Exchange for Staying in School

The second plan to end hunger through access is One Meal in Exchange for Staying in School. School feeding programs have become much more of a priority in developing countries because it will set major advancements in motion towards reaching Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While the program benefits are gaining more recognition, some communities face major obstacles in their ability to implement a school feeding program. The initiatives are costly. At the same time, in order for these programs to last, the communities need to be sure that they will be able to acquire local and consistent proportions of food.

In addition to supplying food, the children will benefit far more if interventions were put in place such as deworming. In addition, assuring that each child receives a proper amount of micronutrients in their meals will greatly benefit them. This will enhance children’s cognitive development. Moreover, the U.N. found that by offering one meal a day to children at school in developing countries, the enrollment escalated significantly, especially in young girls. Not only did it encourage attendance while providing crucial nutrition to these girls but it prolonged the span of their education. The program also decreased child marriage and nourished those who were pregnant. This will in turn decrease the risks of malnourished babies and concerning developmental consequences.

Digital Food

Digitial is the third plan of U.N.’s solution to end hunger through access. When food is available, the prices will rise. Consequently, this can still lead to scarcity amongst families in developing countries. The U.N.’s digital food cards replace the usual methods of food aid. Instead, it enables low-income families to go into regional markets and purchase nine items with the swipe of a card. Each purchase must be a locally produced and nutritious food item. These cards have created a significant rise in the dairy industry and a boost in local employment opportunities at shops and markets.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs provides us with a foundational understanding of the incapacitating effects of hunger. It very much foretells a globally dim future as hunger continues to plague society. Imagine a world where peace, security and stability allow the underserved to thrive. Without a human’s basic needs being met, that solidity will remain wishful thinking.

– Amy Schlagel

Photo: Flickr

,

Decreasing Hunger in Uzbekistan

Flags of Member States Flying at UN Headquarters: Uzbekistan
In the past, hunger in Uzbekistan showed staggering numbers. However, these rates have decreased exponentially since the early 2000s. Within the past 20 years, hunger rates peaked in 2002, where 19.8% of the population either could not afford or access a sufficient amount of nourishment necessary for survival.

The Connection Between Poverty and Hunger

Poverty drives hunger in Uzbekistan. For example, many people could not afford bread in 2005 due to the inflated price, but the rates have dropped by 14.5% since then. Moreover, many people did not even make sufficient wages to purchase a bag of flour each week to provide for their families.

Reducing Undernourishment

Globally, 805 million people experienced undernourishment in 2014. Of that number, 1.7 million lived in Uzbekistan. While these numbers may seem disheartening, there has been a turn for the better. From 2016 to 2017, there was a 0% increase in hunger rates in Uzbekistan. While there was not a reduction in hunger during that time, a 0% increase is still a victory showing that Uzbekistan is on the path to creating a country without hunger.

With these numbers in mind, it is important to highlight just how much progress there has been. Within the country, hunger in Uzbekistan decreased to 6.3% by 2017, which was the lowest it had been since 2000.

Many volunteers and organizations, such as Action Against Hunger, have provided aid to people in Uzbekistan including those that violence displaced in 2010. Action Against Hunger’s actions have directly affected the rates of undernourishment in the country. Here are some of the ways Action Against Hunger influenced the hunger rate in Uzbekistan.

3 Ways Action Against Hunger has Decreased Hunger in Uzbekistan

  1. Food Security: Action Against Hunger has workers and volunteers on the ground in countries all over the world. In the case of Uzbekistan, Action Against Hunger has been working to train local workers on farming and food sustainability. Additionally, it has been providing a work-for-cash program to help families pay for food each week.
  2. Water and Hygiene: With hunger comes the need for water. In providing and helping to secure the infrastructure in these communities, Action Against Hunger is providing the resources necessary to build and maintain sustainable water sources for those living in the country.
  3. Research: Research has allowed for Action Against Hunger to understand the leading factors influencing undernourishment in Uzbekistan’s communities. With this information, it has been able to find solutions to provide aid during even the most desolate of situations. Once Action Against Hunger completes its research, it goes into the advocacy stage. This is where the organization asks for others all over the world to support its work.

Hunger and malnutrition can come from many places but mostly stems from insecurity within the economy, poverty and job instability. With help, Uzbekistan should be able to eradicate these problems and increase food security. The fight to end hunger in Uzbekistan continues, but the numbers show that change surely is possible.

– Natalie Belford
Photo: UN Multimedia

, , ,

Family Legacy Combats Child Poverty in Zambia

child poverty in ZambiaZambia is a landlocked country that lies between Southern and Central Africa. The majority of Zambia’s 17.5 million population is under the age of 18, and over half of the population earns below the international poverty line of less than $2 per day. According to the World Bank, the estimated median age is 16.7, making evident the country’s severely imbalanced dependency ratio. This means that the dependent population (younger than 15 and older than 65) is much larger than the workforce can adequately support. While in the past few years Zambia has made progress in increasing access to nutrition and education, children in Zambia still lack a variety of necessities. In Zambia, 45.4% of children live in extreme poverty and 800,000 children still do not attend school.

What Is Family Legacy?

Family Legacy is a nonprofit organization based in Irving, Texas that seeks improvement in both of those areas for the most affected children of Lusaka, Zambia. In a variety of ways, the organization aims to reduce child poverty in Zambia by ensuring that these children have the opportunity to attend school. There, they get one hot meal every day and extra food to take home when they have good attendance. “This makes the parents more likely to let the kids go to school, and not be forced to work,” a Family Legacy volunteer said.

What Is Being Done to Fight Child Poverty in Zambia?

Family Legacy has four programs to meet its goal of alleviating child poverty in Zambia. The first, Legacy Academy, focuses on the Academics pillar, one of the organization’s four pillars of care. This main school program ensures that the children it serves receive primary and secondary education with all the necessary materials. The second program, Tree of Life, focuses on the physical and emotional pillars. Tree of Life is a residential community that provides children who have been through physical or emotional trauma with a safe place to live while they attend school. The third program, Excel Beyond, also focuses on the academics pillar. This program is designed to support the high school graduates of Legacy Academy while they build the foundation of a successful career. Finally, Camp Life represents Family Legacy’s spiritual pillar. The week-long experience seeks to bring hope and emotional growth to the Academy students.

Family Legacy’s success can be attributed to its three-tier approach, combining education, nourishment and the inclusion of benefits to the families of these children in need. The organization’s programs saw a ninth grade completion rate that was 18% higher than the national average last year. In addition, it has 156 students currently pursuing higher education. To help with curbing hunger in Zambia, Family Legacy distributes 4 million meals annually.

What Can We Do to Help?

Family Legacy’s progress is achieved via activities in multiple parts of the globe. In Dallas, volunteers pack meals, distribute clothes, gather supplies and find sponsors. Sponsorships are programs in which a family or individual provides the financial means for a child in Lusaka to attend school and receive meals and extra food. In Lusaka, volunteers make up the summer staff of Camp Life, participate in medical internships, assist with the graduation ceremonies of Tree of Life and Legacy Academy and participate in activities with the other Tree of Life children. Beginning to get involved in the fight against global poverty seems like a daunting task, but Family Legacy makes it easier than ever to fight child poverty in Zambia.

– Carolina Larracilla
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

, ,

Countering Hunger in Estonia

countering hunger in Estonia
Estonia is a country located in Northern Europe, directly below Finland. Throughout the 1980s, it was under the illegal control of the U.S.S.R., but Estonia officially declared its independence on August 20, 1991. However, the country had been heavily dependent on the U.S.S.R., which was the source of 92% of Estonia’s national trade. This made the path to independence long and arduous for the small country. Despite the challenges of gaining economic independence, the citizens of Estonia remained persistent and diligent. Their successful bid for independence marks the end of one hurdle and the beginning of another. Countering hunger in Estonia is a challenge in which the nation continues to make significant strides forward.

Incredible Decline in Hunger Since the 1990s

After declaring independence, Estonians had to stand in long lines for many hours, just to buy food. In 2000, 5.6% of the population was undernourished. In 2019, this percentage was reduced to 2.9%, according to the Global Hunger Index (GHI).

The Estonian Food Bank and the European Aid Fund have been working together with local governments in countering hunger in Estonia. They have provided food for those in need of it since 2015 with roughly 25,000 people aided each year. In 2016, the Estonian Food Bank and the Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre created the “Consume food wisely!” campaign. Its goal is to reduce food waste while also spreading awareness about the issue. In a concerted effort, large stores and restaurants also supported the campaign.

The Estonian Animal Breeding Association set forth a project named “Implementation of cattle breeding and feeding measures in Georgian dairy farms”. The main aim of the project; to increase the efficiency of dairy farms. Lasting from 2016 to 2017, the project focused on teaching farmers how to properly cultivate cattle and operate husbandry technologies. Estonia’s agricultural productivity was €9,465, in 2016. Continuing this trend, in 2018 the agricultural productivity had reached €15,812.

Decreased Child Mortality Rate

Children are the most vulnerable group when it comes to death caused by hunger. In 2000, the amount of under five-year-old child deaths was at 1.1%. Moreover, this number shrunk to 0.3%, by 2019.

When it comes to malnutrition in children, weight and height are efficient indicators. In 2000, underweight children accounted for 2.4%, according to the GHI. After much fluctuation, the number remained at 2.4%, in 2019. Furthermore, children with stunted height accounted for 3.6%, in 2000 and this number dropped to 3.4% by 2019.

Based on information from the OECD, 16% of the population of Estonia lives in relative income poverty. If the country’s population had to forgo three months of their income, 40% would be at risk for slipping into poverty. When looking at households, 18% use up to 40% of their income on housing, which leaves little left for food, after additional costs.

Progress Continues with Estonia’s Economy

Estonia’s economy has been progressing exceedingly well since it gained its independence from the U.S.S.R. With the help of innovative government projects and outside funds, the people have taken many great steps toward countering hunger in Estonia.  The nation is one of just 17 countries who have a GHI score under five — out of the 117 total qualifying countries. Estonia is a shining example of what inquisitive thinking, research and aid can do to improve a once starving nation.

– Emma Green
Photo: Pixbay