Archive for category: Hunger

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8 Quotes About How to End Hunger

8 Quotes About How to End HungerMore than 820 million people are suffering from hunger. Further, 2 billion are suffering from malnutrition. However, there is enough food, knowledge and resources to end hunger. First, society must address the root cause to effectively end world hunger. Here are 8 inspiring quotes about how to end hunger.

8 Quotes About How to End Hunger

  1. “If with so little we have done so much in Brazil, imagine what could have been done on a global scale if the fight against hunger and poverty were a real priority for the international community.” -Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva. Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva is a former Brazilian president, with enormous popularity across Brazil. Lula Da Silva made the poor his central focus. He put into place many social welfare programs and was able to bring millions out of poverty.
  2. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” -Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa is widely known for feeding the hungry one person at a time. She also set up programs that assisted in resolving world hunger.
  3. “You cannot tackle hunger, disease and poverty unless you can also provide people with a healthy ecosystem in which their economies can grow.” -Gro Harlem Brundtland. Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland was a physician and scientist for the Norwegian public health system and the Prime Minister of Norway. She later became the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Brundtland believes in being the moral voice in improving health and alleviating suffering for people around the world.
  4. “We cannot fight against the poverty and hunger in the world when our stomachs are full of delicious food… the fighters must feel the poverty not imagine it.” -M.F. Moonzajer. This quote comes from M.F. Moonzajer’s latest book titled “Love, Hatred, and Madness.” Moonzajer is a journalist and a former intern for the United Nations Secretariat in Bonn as well as a policymaker for an international NGO in Afghanistan.
  5. “Nowhere in the world, in no act of genocide, in no war, are so many people killed per minute, per hour and per day as those who are killed by hunger and poverty…” -Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro was the former Prime Minister of Cuba. Castro felt strongly about human rights, particularly the right to food accessibility. He accused wealthy nations of tolerating the genocide of starvation. He addressed the United Nations during the organization of a multinational force to aid “1 million Rwandan refugees in eastern Zaire where rebel fighting cut off the country’s food supply.”
  6. “When you see in places like Africa and parts of Asia abject poverty, hungry children and malnutrition around you, and you look at yourself as being people who have well being and comforts, I think it takes a very insensitive, tough person not to feel they need to do something.” -Ratan Tata. Ratan Tata is an Indian philanthropist working to improve conditions in India by honing in on the malnutrition of children, fortifying staple foods and aiming to alleviate poverty. The Tata Trusts are providing 60,000 meals a day.
  7. “If you want to eliminate hunger, everybody has to be involved.” – Bono. Bono is a band member of the group U2 and is a leading voice for the world’s poor. His efforts mainly pertain to fighting hunger and poverty, particularly for those in Africa. The musician donates his time to philanthropic causes such as creating charities such as the ONE Campaign and the clothing line EDUN to stimulate trade in poverty-stricken countries.
  8. “If everyone who wants to see an end to poverty, hunger and suffering speak out, then the noise will be deafening.” -Desmond Tutu. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa is an advocate for human rights, particularly the right to food and clean water. Tutu received the Global Champion Against Hunger award from the United Nations World Food Program for his efforts to defend the weak and the hungry.

These 8 inspiring quotes about how to end hunger show that there are people in the world trying to make a difference. But, as Bono said, everyone has to be involved to truly end world hunger.

– Na’Keevia Brown
Photo: Flickr

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Number of Deaths from Starvation in Asia

Starvation in Asia
The number of deaths from starvation in Asia is significant in many different regions, including South-East Asia and South Asia. Several global organizations including the United Nations have come forward to claim that malnutrition and a lack of food distribution are major global issues.

The Facts About Starvation

In 2018, Time Magazine reported that nearly half a billion people in the Asia-Pacific region suffered from starvation. Meanwhile, according to Mercy Corps, nine million people die from starvation every year, which is more than the deaths from malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis combined. Whilst the causes of starvation-related deaths vary from region to region, there are common factors that have lead to their increase. Using India as an example, the organization Action Against Hunger lists poverty, low availability of food, disease, climate change and violent conflicts as just a few factors that contribute to malnutrition and starvation rates.

Whilst no one knows the exact number of deaths from starvation in Asia, the website Hunger Notes breaks down undernourishment based on region. According to Hunger Notes, South-East Asia, including areas such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, and South Asia, comprising of India and Pakistan, account for the highest percentage of undernourished citizens. Over half (56.5 percent) suffers undernourishment and 27.8 percent of South-East Asia’s population does not have adequate nourishment.

The facts from Action Against Hunger mentioned earlier, provide a clear indication as to why the South Asia region has such a high malnutrition rate. As for South-East Asia, according to a World Bank report, some of the underlying causes of malnutrition for Vietnam include diseases, infections, parasites and a lack of food security. The rate of starvation in South Asia has seen a 6.6 percent increase in growth from 1992 to 2014 in the percentage of the world’s hungry people. The organization explains that both an increase in global malnutrition and an increase in malnutrition in the region have caused this. India alone accounts for 22.3 percent of the world’s malnutrition rate, according to Action Against Hunger. Meanwhile, UNICEF states that the malnutrition rate in South Asia has decreased since WorldHunger.org published its report. In 2018, the malnutrition rate stood at 27 percent, compared to the reported 37.5 percent in 2014.

Organizations Fighting Against Starvation in Asia

Mercy Corps, Action Against Hunger and Food Aid are helping to fight against deaths from starvation in Asia. The Mercy Corps aims to assist farmers by providing them with what they need to help supply their regions with food and improve sustainability. According to The Mercy Corps, there has been a 17 percent increase in the amount of food on a per-person basis in the last 30 years. The Mercy Corps also states that whilst the world produces enough food to supply the population, the distribution of that food is the real cause of starvation and deaths from starvation both in Asia and worldwide.

Action Against Hunger aims to provide emergency care for malnourished children and help governments give their people clean water and improved nutrition. In 2018, it worked with the Indonesian Ministry of Health on a joint project to help fight malnutrition. In 2018, Action Against Hunger provided over 1,800 people in Indonesia with food security programs and livelihood programs. It also assisted the Indonesian government in creating a Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition Project that helped provide sanitary water to the people of Indonesia.

Food Aid works as a global food pantry, providing unused food to communities in need. It has also helped supply soup kitchens, welfare programs and families with the food necessary to function.

Whilst the number of deaths from starvation in Asia continue to be a part of the larger issue of global starvation, there have been progressive strides towards improving the statistics. The United Nations, however, did warn in its 2018 report that these numbers need to fall much quicker in order for the world to see a significant change in global malnutrition. Several global organizations have been working to help fix the major problem areas, though, such as food distribution, sustainability, hydration and malnutrition among youth.

– Jacob Creswell
Photo: Flickr

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Food for Education is Feeding Kenyan Schoolchildren

Food for Education is Feeding Kenyan Schoolchildren
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Africa has the highest rising rates of hunger in the world. In Eastern Africa, where Kenya is located, almost a third of the population is said to be undernourished. Additionally, 40 percent of the world’s stunted children live in Africa. Luckily, Food for Education is feeding Kenyan schoolchildren to help solve the problem.

Food for Education

Wawira Njiru founded Food for Education in 2012 to provide nutritious, subsidized meals to children in Kenyan primary schools. When she began, Njiru only fed 25 children from Ruiru Primary School. Now, her organization has provided over 500,000 meals to more than 10,000 children across 11 different primary schools. Food for Education has four head chefs and eight assistant chefs who prepare food. The organization delivers the food to the 11 partner schools by lunchtime. Parents pay $0.15 for the lunches using mobile money, which then credits into a virtual wallet. The wallet links to a smart wristband that students wear that they then use to pay for their meals.

Effects of Hunger on Students

Food for Education is feeding Kenyan schoolchildren and this is important because hunger affects both the physical and mental development of children. Estimates determine that 23 million children go to school without anything to eat in Kenya. Chronic undernutrition impacts one in four children, stunting their growth. Children who are hungry fall behind in classes because they have trouble learning and paying attention. The child may also fall behind in class as a result of missing classes to help their family put food on the table. In addition, they are also more likely to have behavioral problems. All of these challenges may result in the child having to repeat a grade, which contributes to the family’s financial strain. In the long run, it affects the child’s productivity and future economic potential.

There has been a positive impact since Food for Education began its work feeding Kenyan schoolchildren. The organization reports that other than the improved nutrition for the children, there has been an improvement in school attendance, school performance and the transition rates from primary to high school. The U.N. deputy secretary-general, Amina Mohammed, at a school visit by Food for Education, noted that stunted growth costs Africa $25 billion annually. Therefore, the work that Njiru and her organization does is helping lift people out of poverty.

The Benefit to the Community

Food for Education does not only benefit the student, it also feeds the community around them. For example, the organization utilizes food sourced from local farmers. Njiru also makes an effort to only hire locals. The 35 employees who help her meet her goal are all from the Ruiru community. This is important because it enables the members of that community to earn an income and support themselves.

Food for Education efforts are helping Kenyan children receive an education without worrying about a lack of stable access to food. In fact, Njiru’s contribution has not gone unnoticed. In 2018, she was the first recipient of the Global Citizen Prize, Cisco Youth Leadership Award. Among other things, the award came with a cash prize of $250,000 which has significantly helped boost the organization. She hopes that she can one day scale up from 10,000 meals a day to providing one million meals a day.

– Sophia Wanyonyi
Photo: Flickr

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Kelvin Beachum Fighting to End World Hunger

Kelvin Beachum

As an offensive tackle in American Football, Kelvin Beachum is accustomed to being in tough circumstances. But as a child, he remained unaware of the harsh reality of food insecurity that his hardworking parents struggled with. His family grew up poor but his parents always found a way to provide, sometimes having to rely on government programs like food stamps or WIC (Women, Infants and Children) to put food on the table. Now, the football player does his part by giving back to ensure that fewer families have to worry about where their next meal will come from.

Beachum and World Vision

There are 795 million hungry people throughout the world, and malnutrition is the cause of almost half of all deaths of children under the age of 5. These sobering facts have inspired Beachum to take his cause for food security international. In the summer of 2016, he traveled to Honduras with World Vision, a global Christian humanitarian organization, to witness how another country deals with the issue of childhood hunger. He was surprised to discover that finding a source of clean water is just as difficult as finding food within the country.

During his travels, he visited a rural school where he witnessed a water tank system that is part of a World Vision water project and will eventually provide access to clean water for more than 200,000 people. In another community he visited, World Vision facilitated the growth of an economic empowerment project, which provides clean drinking water for the entire community as well as water for agricultural irrigation.

Beachum and World Food Day

Beachum also advocates for World Food Day, which is celebrated every year on October 16th to honor the founding of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945. For World Food Day 2018, he created a match challenge for five food banks throughout the U.S. His plan entailed donating $5,000 to each food bank and doubling his donation if members of the community matched his contribution.  Eventually, he reached his goal of $70,000, which provided 327,000 meals for hungry individuals throughout the U.S.

“It allows me to keep things in perspective,” Beachum states. “I was…on food stamps growing up…We had people who helped us out. So, for me, that keeps me grounded, honestly, because I was there.”

Kelvin Beachum and Feed the Future

His advocacy extends Feed the Future (FTF), the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative. FTF works with partner countries to break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger by developing their agricultural sectors and working to sustainably grow enough food to feed their people. They are also leading the implementation of the Global Food Security Act of 2016, which promotes global food security, resilience and nutrition. FTF draws on resources and expertise from multiple U.S. federal departments and agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The progress speaks for itself; it is projected that 23.4 million more people are living above the poverty line, 3.4 million more children are living free of stunting, and 5.2 million more families do not go hungry within the countries that FTF partners with. The Global Food Reauthorization Act, signed by President Donald J. Trump in 2018, ensures that funding continues for FTF so the assistance they provide for hungry individuals around the world will persist.

Conclusion

Through his advocacy and partnership with organizations such as FTF, Kelvin Beachum is breaking the mold of the stereotypical football player. His interest in humanitarian issues all started with a canned food drive in college and has blossomed into global efforts that are making real change. His hope is to inspire others to take action through advocacy, donations, and volunteering. “The world is going through a lot right now,” Beachum writes. “Anything [one] can do to bring light to it—that’s impactful.”

– Rachel Baum
Photo: Flickr

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The Truth About Starvation in Africa

starvation in Africa
In East Africa, hunger is a major crisis. In fact, about 20 percent of the entire African population experiences hunger daily. While the claim that African children die from malnutrition every few seconds is a bit exaggerated, the true number of deaths from starvation in Africa is still quite alarming. Here are the causes and facts about the African hunger crises, as well as potential solutions to ebbing them.

The Causes

Hunger and malnutrition are not instantaneous, and there are many factors involved, such as poverty, drought, conflict and governance. Historically, famines and hunger crises from drought or war have plagued Africa’s poor since 1968. More often than not, extreme weather and climates will yield unsuccessful crops, which in turn subtracts from the profit that families can make from farming.

People suffering from poverty often cannot afford to purchase food, both in quality and quantity. Conflict and violence further instigate the food crisis by causing food insecurities and lessening the availability of food imports and incomes. Lastly, insufficient access to food can also be the result of poor governance and policies. Without proper leadership and guidance from governments, conflict and poverty can affect the quality, availability and affordability of food.

The Facts

As aforementioned, 20 percent of the African population—257 million people—suffer from hunger and famine. In the Sub-Saharan alone, 237 million suffer chronic undernourishment. As of June 2019, nearly 60 million children in Africa are underfed despite the continent’s recent economic growth.

Statistically, nine out of 10 African children do not meet the World Health Organization’s criteria for a minimum acceptable diet, and two in five children do not eat meals on a regular or scheduled basis. Children who suffer from such hunger also experience stunted growth and impaired cognitive development.

In truth, this is due to malnutrition, which is different from hunger in that while a child can fill its stomach with food and water, he or she will still suffer from a lack of essential nutrients that do not exist in the food they are eating. This is true for adults in Africa as well. While the number of starving, malnourished Africans is alarmingly high and ranging in the millions, however, the number of deaths from starvation in Africa is surprisingly low at approximately 400,000 deaths per year.

The Solutions

In order to prevent these numbers from increasing, the poor and the malnourished require accessible, affordable, good-quality food, as well as innovations to improve the harvests. In fact, the nonprofit World Vision has been doing so for over 40 years, providing emergency aid and long-term assistance to African communities and families.

In the event of a food crisis, World Vision offers food assistance, including emergency feeding those who are starving and treating malnourished children. It also provides fresh, clean water and sanitation to those in need. For the long term, World Vision offers business training and equipment to families to prepare them for another onslaught of adverse weather and gives families cash to support and provide for themselves.

In other words, with the right assistance, families and communities can avoid another hunger crisis and ebb the number of deaths from starvation in Africa. People either downplay or exaggerate the hunger crisis in Africa. The truth about starvation in Africa needs to come out.

– Yael Litenatsky
Photo: Flickr

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12 Shocking Facts About Hunger in the Philippines

12 Shocking Facts About Hunger in the Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelagic country of more than 7,000 islands located in Southeast Asia in the Pacific Ocean. Hunger is a very serious problem in the Philippines, affecting a large percentage of the population and causing many serious health concerns. Here are 12 shocking facts about hunger in the Philippines.

12 Shocking Facts About Hunger in the Philippines

  1. More than 33 percent of Filipino children suffer from malnutrition due to hunger problems in the Philippines. The problems with hunger and resulting malnutrition have long-term negative effects on children’s health.
  2. Out of the countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines has one of the highest hunger severities. The only country facing a worse hunger situation in the ASEAN is Indonesia.
  3. The most recent Global Hunger Index (GHI) calculated that the Philippines ranks 69 out of 113 countries with a GHI of 20.2. Factors such as undernourishment and health statistics such as weight and mortality rates, and particularly with children, determine the GHI for a country. The higher the GHI value, the more serious the hunger situation is. A GHI value of zero indicates no undernourishment in the population. The Philippines’ high ranking displays the country’s serious struggles with hunger.
  4. With a GHI of 20.2, the Philippines has one of the most serious scores on the GHI scale. However, this score does not place the country into an alarming category. This shows that while the situation is serious, it is not unsalvageable.
  5. There are approximately 520 million malnourished people in the world. The Philippines has amongst the highest number of citizens suffering from malnourishment. The Asian region, in general, has an extremely high malnourishment rate, which includes the islands of the Philippines.
  6. During recent years, effective results against malnourishment in the Philippines have gone down. The high rate and stagnant poverty make it difficult to find positive outcomes for this problem.
  7. High rates of hunger and malnourishment in the Philippines are primarily due to high food costs and a large low-income population. Additionally, the government lacks focus on addressing the problems associated with hunger, such as regional agricultural laws. The Philippines has passed some bills to reduce the hunger problem including the Philippine Food Fortification Act of 2000. This law mandates “fortifying with essential micronutrients staple food items like rice, flour, oil, and sugar.”
  8. The current strategy for addressing malnutrition in the Philippines is the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN). This initiative has promoted many recent laws and bills. These laws address solving the malnutrition problem in the Philippines on specific levels or issues such as aid and security to small businesses, farmers and fishermen.
  9. The Duterte administration that currently runs the Philippines garnered an increase in foreign investments of 43.5 percent in 2018. While this brings in more money for the Philippines, a significant proportion goes toward building skyscrapers and big business centers, rather than providing methods to increase the sustainable food supply for the poor. A shift toward fixing hunger needs to become the primary focus in order to begin solving the hunger and health problems of the population.
  10. The organization Rise Against Hunger has been fighting hunger in the Philippines since 2011. Rise Against Hunger coordinates the distribution of food and aid to the most susceptible regions around the world. Rise Against Hunger hopes to end hunger in the Philippines and other countries by 2030.
  11. Feed the Children is another organization that strives to improve the lives of Filipino citizens since 1984. Feed the Children hopes to meet the immediate and long-term needs of children and their families. One of its main focuses is providing individuals with food, nutrition and clean water. It has been able to reach approximately 38 communities.
  12. Action Against Hunger has also worked in the Philippines since 2000 with a focus on humanitarian needs. It specifically looks at needs stemming from physical and emotional issues resulting from natural disasters and their consequences on family and living. In 2018, it was able to help 302,014 people with their programs of nutrition and health, food security and water sanitation.

This concludes the 12 shocking facts about hunger in the Philippines. The country has made small improvements, but there is still a long way to go. Many organizations are doing impactful work to bring real change to the Philippines. However, there are other ways to help, such as contacting congressional leaders or making a donation to one of the organizations mentioned.

– Haley Saffren
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Hunger in Azerbaijan

10 Facts About Hunger in AzerbaijanAzerbaijan is a small country that was formerly a part of the Soviet Republic. The country consists of both urban and large agricultural areas, and some call it the Land of Fire due to a continuous, naturally burning mountain fire in its Caucasus mountains. Over the past decades, Azerbaijan has been steadily addressing its hunger issues and making important improvements. Here are 10 facts about hunger in Azerbaijan.

10 Facts About Hunger in Azerbaijan

  1. Azerbaijan had a Global Hunger Index of 6.9 in 2023, which is a low level of hunger that ranked the country 34 out of the 125 countries with sufficient data for the calculation of a GHI score. The GHI is a scale ranging from zero hunger to 100 being the most severe hunger and is based on four factors – child stunting, child mortality, undernourishment and child wasting. 
  2. The proportion of the population that is undernourished has decreased from 16.8% to less than 2.5% since 2000. 
  3. Child stunting refers to the proportion of children under the age of 5 who experience low height as a result of chronic undernutrition. According to the Global Health Index, child stunting in Azerbaijan has decreased from over 24% in 2000 to 12% in 2023. 
  4. A 2019 Memorandum of Understanding between UNICEF and Azerbaijan’s State Agency for Mandatory Health Insurance included integrating baby-friendly standards into hospital maternity departments, training on monitoring child development, and counseling on infant and child feeding for frontline health workers. This was capacity building for essential child health and nutrition services. 
  5. Child wasting refers to children who are underweight for their age as a result of severe undernourishment. The 2022 Global Nutrition Report cites wasting in Azerbaijan children under 5 at 3.2%, which it notes is below the Asian region average of 8.9% and is “on course” to meet the global nutrition target. While 14.1% of children are overweight, this metric is also seen as on target to prevent an increase. 
  6. Iron-deficiency anemia is a condition in which a person does not have sufficient healthy red blood cells. This can often lead to headaches, shortness of breath, severe fatigue, weakness and multiple other symptoms. Iron-deficiency anemia in Azerbaijan affects 38.2% of women of reproductive age and 39.5% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 months. This leads to low-birth-weight babies and underweight children, respectively. 
  7. A solution to combat iron deficiencies is flour fortification, which is the addition of nutrients such as folic acid and iron to flour.  UNICEF for several years has worked with government partners to achieve wheat flour fortification legislation. The Cabinet of Ministers in 2023 approved guidelines for the fortification of food products, with a national working group established to begin a pilot program.
  8. In 2015, the U.N. Member States adopted the 2023 Agenda for Sustainable Development, comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The 2024 Sustainable Development Report notes that for SDG 2, Zero Hunger, Azerbaijan is moderately improving but major challenges remain, and the improvement will be insufficient to attain the goal of zero hunger by 2030. The goal objectives are to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” Azerbaijan has achieved objectives relating to undernourishment, child wasting and cereal yield, with its most severe challenges related to child stunting, obesity, and sustainable nitrogen management. 
  9. In March 2023, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization joined Azerbaijan State Agrarian University to hold an event to explore the role played by science and innovation to ensure food security. Participants in the event included government bodies, academics and experts. Specific topics focused on sustainable animal livestock in the country and integrated pest control measures. Sharing information with students on novel technologies to move from conventional farming practices to more advanced methods was seen as one means to address food security, especially within the context of climate change. 
  10. In November 2021, the FAO reported on the Azerbaijan project, “Improving food security and living conditions in rural areas by increasing women’s economic power.” This initiative addressed SDG 2, Zero Hunger, SDG 5, Gender Equality and SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth. The intention was to provide women equal access to economic opportunities as male farmers by increasing their technical knowledge in various areas, as well as supporting business development and marketing skills and agricultural innovations. The expectation is that by increasing the productivity of women in small farms, food security will also increase. 

With the rise of innovative programs and worldwide discussions, Azerbaijan has improved the state of its population’s hunger levels. By working with the United Nations and UNICEF, the country has been able to incorporate important research regarding child nutrition and farming techniques into achievable goals and programs. These 10 facts about hunger in Azerbaijan show the government’s dedication to further reducing hunger levels through educational resources and economic changes.

– Jane Burgan

Photo: Flickr
Updated: July 12, 2024

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Project Healthy Children in Tanzania

Project Healthy Children

Global hunger is one of the most pressing and visible poverty-related issues in our world today. People can easily recognize the defined ribs, sunken eyes and bone-thin limbs of starvation. However, there is another side to hunger that is not as obvious: micronutrient deficiency.

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals such as zinc, iron, iodine, vitamin A and folic acid. In developed nations like the United States, most people get these critical nutrients from maintaining a well-rounded diet or taking a daily supplement. But it isn’t always that simple in some other parts of the world. In fact, micronutrient deficiency remains a big problem in Eastern and Southern Africa but often does not get the attention it deserves because the effects are not immediately visible. For this reason, micronutrient deficiency has been nicknamed “hidden hunger.”

Hidden hunger has real and long-lasting consequences. Insufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals can result in learning disabilities, mental retardation, low work capacity, blindness and premature birth. These deficiencies lower overall health and weaken the immune system, thus making it much harder to survive infections like HIV and measles. They can cause extreme birth defects in children and are the leading cause of maternal death during childbirth.

Background

Clearly, micronutrient deficiency is a pressing issue that deserves the attention necessary to mitigate it. An organization called Sanku’s Project Healthy Children (PHC) is doing just that through a process known as food fortification: essentially, they add critical micronutrients to the flour people already consume.

PHC is based in Tanzania and currently supplies almost 2 million people with fortified flour to help them get the vitamins and minerals they need. Flour is a staple food that many people consume regularly; according to the PHC website, “over 50 million Tanzanians eat maize flour every day,” but more than 95 percent of it is produced without added nutrients in small, rural mills. Countries like Tanzania are in desperate need of better access to micronutrients—here, about 35 percent of children under 5 years old have stunted growth due to under-nutrition. Project Healthy Children uses the mills and distribution systems already in place to simply add essential micronutrients to the flour with no additional cost for the consumer. This way, people can get the nutrition they need without changing their eating or purchasing habits.

Why Food Fortification?

  1.  It is cheap: Food fortification is very inexpensive, typically costing no more than $0.25 per person annually. In other words, one quarter donated is enough to supply someone with adequate nutrients for an entire year.
  2. It is effective: Improving nutrition can be highly beneficial to overall health, work capacity and productivity. Women who sustain good nutrition before getting pregnant greatly reduce the risk of maternal death and birth defects.
  3. It has a huge payback: The economic rewards of food fortification are astounding. The WHO estimates that the consequences of micronutrient deficiency (birth defects, learning disabilities, premature death, etc.) can cost a country about 5 percent of its GDP per year. Supplying people with critical vitamins and minerals puts less pressure on a country’s health care system and allows for a more productive workforce. In addition, the Copenhagen Consensus estimated that for every dollar spent on nutrition in young children, a country will save an average of $45 and sometimes as much as $166.

The Future of Project Healthy Children

In the past few years, Project Healthy Children has become even more streamlined in its approach to food fortification. A partnership with Vodafone, a mobile network based in the United Kingdom, allows PHC staff to remotely monitor flour mills so that they instantly know when a machine is down or a mill is low on nutrients. The partnership saves money, time and manpower, allowing PHC to run more smoothly.

Project Healthy Children currently helps nourish about 1.7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa but hopes to reach 100 million people by 2025, an ambitious goal that would be instrumental in lifting communities in Southern and Eastern Africa out of extreme poverty.

– Morgan Johnson
Photo: Flickr

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What You Need to Know About Food Waste and Global Hunger

food waste and global hungerAccording to World Food Program (WFP) USA, food waste and global hunger are directly correlated. Food waste, alongside conflict, lack of resources and chronic poverty, is a key cause of hunger in the world today. Annually, as much as one-quarter to one-third–approximately 1.3 billion tons–of all food is wasted or lost globally. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, $4 billion in food was lost in 2011, significantly exceeding the amount of foreign assistance the region received that year.

Lack of Access

The issue of global hunger is generally a lack of access to food, rather than lack of food supply. Considering that $1 trillion in edible food, enough to feed roughly 2 billion people, is discarded around the globe each year, it would seem that examining and addressing food waste could be a significant step in alleviating global hunger.

Projections indicate that a 25 percent decrease in global food waste could provide enough food to feed all who are malnourished in the world today. Food waste has multiple root causes, depending on the region and level of development where it occurs. In developing countries, food loss and waste is usually the fault of lack of technology and infrastructure in the agricultural and transportation sectors. Conversely, developed countries tend to create food waste because of overproduction or consumers purchasing more food than needed.

Combating Hunger

To combat food waste and global hunger, the United Nations (UN) and other organizations have created initiatives to increase efficiency in food production and minimize waste. One such initiative is the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), to which the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with nine countries, pledged about $1.4 billion over the course of three years.

Since its creation in 2009, GAFSP has been able to target 2.5 million farmers, deploy approximately $332 million, approve 61 investments spanning 27 countries and approve 67 advisory projects across 30 countries in the developing world. Today, GAFSP is working on projects ranging from modernizing the dairy industry in Mauritania to promoting the growth of sustainable development in the palm oil sectors of Liberia and Sierra Leone.

These contributions, in addition to the $4.4 billion invested in the private sector by the International Finance Corporation in 2013, jumpstarted projects to provide access to seeds, equipment, information, markets and finances for producers and farmers in developing countries. The Global Irrigation Program (GIP), created by the IFC, continues to support irrigation suppliers and farmers by creating access to and availability of effective irrigation equipment, thus helping to manage water use in farming communities.

The Impact of Aid

The World Bank notes that initiatives such as these have led to significant improvements relating to food waste and global hunger in recent years. As a direct result of the International Development Association’s efforts, over 210 million pregnant and/or lactating women, children under the age of five, and adolescent girls in developing regions gained access to basic nutrition services from 2003 to 2013.

Food waste, along with other factors such as poverty and conflict, is a root cause of global hunger. Initiatives to address hunger and malnourishment worldwide have sought to improve the efficiency of food production and minimize sources of food waste; these initiatives are making significant progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating hunger by 2030.

– Shania Kennedy
Photo: Pixabay

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How Eating Plant-Based Can Help Save Lives

eating plant-based
Many people (820 million) around the world fall asleep hungry every night. Some have taken significant steps to help feed those who lack the significant food necessary to survive, but those steps have not yet been enough to completely combat hunger and poverty. One easy step that every person could take to make a small difference in helping the hungry, though, would be eating plant-based. Studies show that decreasing one’s meat intake could ultimately help save lives and feed those who cannot afford to feed themselves.

The Effects of Meat-Eating on Poverty

Estimates determine that global meat production will steadily increase due to a rise in the pork and poultry industry in developing countries. According to Livestock Production Science, almost two-thirds of all livestock around the world are in developing countries. Yet many of these farms are industrial animal farms that require the importation of grains, animal units, tractors and other necessary processors necessary to raise livestock. Because of inadequate wages for farmers and the excess of tools needed to produce and sell meat, the rise of poultry and livestock farms is creating more poverty in developing countries.

In addition to insignificant wages for farmers, industrial animal agriculture creates problems such as how it can detrimentally affect the environment and human health, put small family-run farms out of business and use food sources inefficiently. According to a joint report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the U.N. (FAO), cheap food, such as legumes and cereal, could feed hungry people, but instead feeds livestock. The result of eating more plant-based is that one will waste less energy, save more water and gain additional space and money.

Fighting Poverty

Although the rise of meat production is doing more harm than good, the rise of veganism and vegetarianism is uncovering data that highlights the benefits of eating plant-based. According to a report in The Lancet, “almost two-thirds of all soybeans, maize, barley, and about a third of all grains are used as feed for animals.” Another study highlights that eating less beef and more legumes would open up 42 percent more croplands, which could grow plant-based foods to feed more people.

In addition to opening up more croplands, eating more plant-based can allow farmers to grow more food with the land that they have. According to the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, it takes 56 million acres of land to grow feed for animals in the United States alone, while farmers use only 4 million acres to produce plants for humans to actually eat. By using this land for plant-based foods rather than meat, farmers could harvest a much larger quantity of food and feed those who are hungry and in poverty.

Every Step Makes a Difference

Scientific research has found that eating plant-based can make a huge impact on human health, the environment and poverty. Although veganism and vegetarianism may not be an option for everybody, every small step can make a huge difference in feeding the hungry and saving lives.

– Paige Regan
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