Archive for category: Hunger

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Pope and Catholic Church Target Hunger in Vatican City

Hunger_in_Vatican_CityOn July 4, 2017, Pope Francis made a vibrant statement regarding the world’s suffering and hungry. He declared world hunger to be a direct result of nothing less than indifference and selfishness. Further, he saw the effects of these same problems in his immediate surroundings—there is hunger in Vatican City. Since the beginning of his service, Pope Francis has made addressing poverty, hunger and homelessness some of the most important goals for the Catholic Church in hopes to lead by example.

Due largely to the Catholic Church’s presence in the world’s smallest country, many of the poor and needy draw near to the Vatican. As the impoverished seek refuge, hunger is becoming a bigger problem for the Church to address. With Pope Francis at the helm of the Vatican’s efforts, the needy are being tended to with a vigorous priority.

Pope Francis has personally addressed hunger by appealing to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and pointing out the “uneven distribution of resources and the lack of agricultural development.” The Vatican has sponsored several refugees and their families facing the challenges of displacement, especially hunger. Further, the rest of Europe’s Catholic community has been encouraged to follow suit in accepting, housing and aiding those seeking refuge.

Contrary to tradition, Pope Francis insists on mobilizing the church by sending out the Vatican’s almoner. In the past, the almoner waits for letters from the poor for guidance on how to meet needs. However, Polish Archbishop Konrad Krajewski has taken to the streets of Vatican City in attempts to help the poor and hungry. Krajewski’s method aligns with the rumors of Pope Francis instructing him to “sell his desk” since he would not be needing it.

One of the more controversial techniques to fight hunger in Vatican City came with a corporate lease of a Vatican building to McDonald’s in 2016. While some members of the Church and the Catholic community responded with alternative uses of the building, like housing the homeless, that attitude has since shifted as McDonald’s promised to hand out over 1,000 meals to the poor in their first six months of operations.

The 2030 Development Agenda of the U.N. reflects this same commitment of the Catholic Church. The fight for universal food security cannot be put off and Pope Francis recognizes that it is a demanding task. However, intentions to provide for everyone are not enough. Rather, people need to make a commitment to their country to increase the level of nutrition, to improve agricultural operations, to improve living conditions of rural communities and promote effective distribution of resources like food supplies. When a country is unable to provide for its people, then intergovernmental institutions need to step in. As Pope Francis said in his July 4 address, every person has a right to be free from poverty and hunger. Further, it is the duty of the entire human family to intervene and actually do something about it.

– Taylor Elkins

Photo: Flickr;

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Poverty and Hunger in Finland

Hunger in Finland

In America, Finland (along with its fellow Scandinavian nations) is often portrayed as a utopia bereft of human suffering and a model for the rest of the world. The simple truth, however, is that economic troubles in Finland are real, and the nation has had its own set of struggles in the wake of the Great Recession.

The Finnish labor market has experienced three recessions since the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Business Insider reports that Finland suffered the worst economic contraction of any Eurozone nation during that same crisis. The country’s public debt doubled to more than 60 percent of its GDP by 2015.

According to Eurostat, as of August 2017, Finland’s unemployment rate stood at 8.7 percent. That number is not bad, but could be better. Today, 35 percent of Finland’s unemployed are long-term unemployed, representing a significant challenge for the nation as a whole.

However, the potential for these issues to cause poverty and hunger in Finland has been mitigated by the nation’s public welfare system. No one in Finland lives below the international poverty line due to a wide net of benefits covering both the young and the old. According to OECD data, the poverty rate ratio is only 0.04. Social spending at 30.8 percent of GDP and a well-funded, efficient public schooling system undoubtedly contribute to these successes. And there are other innovative ideas as well.

Those who pay close attention to American politics will know that 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton recently revealed that she considered running on a platform of universal basic income, a plan she scrapped because she could not make the numbers work. Earlier this year, the Finnish government started a test run for that very same idea.

Finland’s idea was to give 2,000 Finns ages 25 to 28 who had been unemployed for a year or more, or had less than six months of work experience, a monthly subsidy of €560 for two years, regardless of whether they found work.

However, after a government pushing austerity came to power, the trial size was cut to one-fifth of the original plan, making it too small to be scientifically useful, and regular social programs were scaled back, making it even more difficult to measure the program’s effects. The program may or may not help alleviate poverty and encourage economic growth, but it will be hard to know given the small sample size and lack of controls. Still, the presence of ideas like this show a healthy willingness to experiment by trial and error.

Earlier this year, the Finnish central bank affirmed that Finland finally seems to be emerging from the Great Recession. The bank forecasts that this year will see exports recover and GDP growth reach 1.3 percent, in part due to the Competitiveness Pact signed last year. Strong social programs, powered by economic activity inherent in free and open markets, will hopefully keep poverty and hunger in Finland at a historic low.

– Chuck Hasenauer

Photo: Flickr

Hunger in Ukraine Amid Conflict

Hunger in Ukraine

Once seen as the “breadbasket of Europe” because of its rich resources, Ukraine has since had tumultuous issues regarding hunger.

Hunger in Ukraine is a prevalent issue due to years of war and conflict. The 2014 Ukraine crisis — in which Russia controversially annexed Crimea — soon led the eastern part of the country to erupt in war, creating widespread political and economic upheaval. Since 2014, there have been multiple ceasefires, but none have been able to successfully quell the conflict.

Facing the Effects of Conflict

The war exacerbated hunger in Ukraine, particularly in the easternmost regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. A 2019 U.S. Agency and International Development report found that approximately 558,000 people in Ukraine were food insecure and 103,000 people were severely food insecure. In 2016, Ukraine was the only European country to receive assistance from the World Food Programme, an organization that began its efforts in the region in 2014.

In 2016, the WFP reported that as eastern Ukraine reeled from this geopolitical conflict, 1.5 million people were left hungry and nearly 300,000 people needed near-immediate assistance. The WFP gave 370,000 people monthly food packages and 180,000 people assistance through cash transfers, according to a 2016 press release.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization stated in a December 2017 report that Ukrainians living in rural areas most heavily affected by the war were the most at risk for hunger. The report concluded that the most at-risk populations in the region needed $5.9 million in immediate assistance.

Before the FAO released the report, the organization delivered $2.3 million worth of seed potatoes to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The initiative was part of the organization’s attempt to bolster agriculture in the conflict-ridden regions and stymie issues of hunger and food insecurity.

“This is a hard time in the conflict area, and it is important that we use the short window of planting season,” said Farrukh Toirov, FAO’s emergency response program coordinator in Ukraine circa May 2017.

Toirov continued, “I see an essential need to continue distributing high-quality inputs like vegetable seeds that can improve the self-production of food for household consumption and also enrich local markets.”

To combat hunger in Ukraine, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace donated more than $4 million during its 2019 fiscal year to non-governmental organizations to offer food assistance to people in the most affected regions.

Changes in Aid for Hunger in Ukraine

Despite the ongoing crisis, Ukraine has seen some improvement in food security over the last 20 years. According to the Global Hunger Index, Ukraine had a score of less than five in 2019, indicating that it had an overall low level of hunger. In 2000, the Global Hunger Index gave Ukraine a score of 13.7, showing that the country had moderately higher levels of hunger.

But even though most of Ukraine does not deal with pervasive hunger, millions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions continue to deal with food insecurity, and international efforts have slowed in recent years.

The WFP halted its efforts in tackling hunger in Ukraine in 2018, citing a lack of funding and access. Even in four years, the WFP delivered food assistance to millions of Ukrainians and pumped $60 million into the Donetsk and Luhansk economies.

“In those four years, WFP touched many lives across the country and those lives touched us too,” the organization wrote in a Medium post. “WFP will continue to monitor the food security situation in the country while other humanitarian actors will take over assisting the most vulnerable.”

Currently, organizations like the FAO and USAID are continuing to pump millions of dollars in food assistance and agriculture, hoping to eventually relieve hunger in eastern Ukraine amid immense conflict.

– Meghna Maharishi
Photo: Flickr

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Organizations Working to Relieve Hunger in Guinea

Hunger in GuineaSituated in West Africa, Guinea is a country populated with around 12 million people. As in many impoverished countries, hunger and malnutrition are issues primarily affecting the rural areas of the nation. Over half of the population lives in extremely poor conditions, and 17.5 percent are food-insecure. Coupled with poor socioeconomic conditions and a weak government, natural disasters and disease further add to the chronic malnourishment issue. There are several programs, however, that have contributed to alleviating the consequences of hunger in Guinea over the past few decades.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been working on reducing hunger in Guinea since the mid-1960s. In the time the organization has spent in Guinea, WFP has effectively improved nourishment by promoting education programs in schools, providing nourishment to women and children specifically with HIV, tuberculosis and Ebola and promoting locally grown foods. Another area of focus for food insecurity that the WFP is addressing is access to healthcare supplies by supporting government incentives for air transport.

Similarly, Action Against Hunger (AAH) is helping Guinea move forward in food security and nutrition. AAH began work in the mid-1990s and has worked to fight disease such as cholera, while also promoting better practices relating to hunger in Guinea. AAH assisted 264,124 people in 2016.

Earlier in 2017, two native Guineans were celebrated on International Women’s Day for their contributions to the fight against hunger in Guinea. The food security, resiliency and archeology project team of the Stop Hunger foundation awarded the two women for their work in involving local parboiling in schools in rural areas that experience food-insecurity. Supported by local government, the program is an excellent example of mobilization of local communities and the effectiveness that larger nonprofits have in sparking efforts toward reliving hunger in Guinea.

– Casey Hess

Photo: Flickr

Addressing Hunger in Taiwan and the World

Hunger in Taiwan

Hunger in Taiwan is addressed by the current welfare system in place. The Taiwanese government is not only helping its own people, it is also committed to becoming an international leader in feeding the hungry worldwide.

The welfare system in Taiwan is a contributing factor for the decline of hunger in Taiwan. Different welfare programs are distributed to help those in specific age groups. For example, welfare for children and youth is designed to give homeless kids day-care centers so they can be helped and provided for. It also provides school dropouts with study opportunities and enforces parental responsibility.

A similar system is in place for the elderly. The government provides “benevolent homes” to help homeless people over the age of 70, providing them with food and shelter. It is not uncommon for adults to receive welfare aid as well.

The welfare system is in place for those under the poverty line, yet only 2-3 percent of the population is considered for monthly welfare help. Although the Taiwanese government is doing what it can to provide help to the families that need it, they do not want the population to depend on welfare.

The government wants more family intervention and assistance to help each other in need. The local non-profit organization, Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, assists those who are just over the poverty line.

The government also wants to help reduce world hunger. The Taiwanese government has committed to donate 300,000 tons of rice to 33 different countries. Over 17,300 tons of rice has been distributed in 2016. This commitment to feed hungry people in the world has gotten the Taiwanese government praise from African nations.

The organization, Food for the Poor, has also praised Taiwan for its continued contributions. According to Food for the Poor, Taiwan has provided food for tens of thousands of people around the world.

By providing assistance to residents in need, as well as others around the world, Taiwan has proven its commitment to ending hunger worldwide. It stands as a good example for handling hunger domestically and abroad.

– Daniel Borjas

Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Namibia: Fighting Aftereffects of Apartheid

NamibiaNamibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, it is still dealing with the result of socioeconomic inequalities that came from the apartheid system during colonization. The government has achieved the UNDP Millennium Development Goal of cutting its poverty rate in half, but has unfortunately failed to eradicate hunger in Namibia.

Namibia has a Global Hunger Index (GHI) of 31.4, as reported by the International Food Policy Research Institute. This shows an alarming level of hunger in Namibia. What makes it more serious is the fact that Namibia has the lowest percentage reductions in GHI scores since 2000. Though child stunting, child wasting and child mortality have declined, undernourishment has increased to 42.3 percent. The factors that lead to hunger in Namibia include frequent droughts and flooding, putting pressure on the country’s agricultural and livestock production.

Chronic droughts, lack of agricultural land and water shortages result in crop failure. This means that agricultural production is severely low, even though about 70 percent of the population depends on the agricultural sector for their subsistence.

15.8 percent of Namibia’s population lives on less than $ 1.25 per day. Its economy is largely dependent on extraction and limited processing of minerals like diamonds, gold and zinc. It is also one of the largest producers of uranium in the world. However, only 10 percent of the labor force is employed in the mining sector.

Poverty is the most important of the causes of hunger in Namibia, limiting access to food. Another problem is that Namibia is heavily reliant on food imports (60 percent of all its food requirements), which means it is subject to high prices. The proportion of food insecure individuals was estimated at 25 percent in 2016.

Recently, the World Food Programme and Namibia’s National Planning Commission launched a five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP) with an aim to end hunger in Namibia. The CSP is aligned with the Fifth National Development Plan and the Zero Hunger Roadmap, meant to achieve two strategic wins: enabling the vulnerable population to meet their food and nutrition requirement and ensuring government policies and programme designs are more informed of hunger issues. The support includes implementation of food-based safety net programmes, food management and monitoring system as well as capacity development to sustain the improvements and achieve zero hunger in Namibia.

– Tripti Sinha

Photo: Flickr

Five Facts About Hunger in Southeast Asia and How to Help

Hunger in Southeast AsiaDue to the ongoing mistreatment of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, humanitarian issues in Southeast Asia have been front and center in conversations among the international community. Hunger in Southeast Asia is one of many complex issues that need to be addressed for the region to improve its quality of life. Here are five things you need to know to better understand the problem as well as four ways to help.

Five Facts About Hunger in Southeast Asia

  1. In Southeast Asia, 9.8 percent of the total population is undernourished. This amounts to 27.8 million people, the equivalent of the entire population of Texas.
  2. Over 80,000 children in Muslim-majority areas of western Myanmar are classified as wasting (low weight for height). One-third of homes in the Maungdaw region of the country are suffering from extreme food deprivation. These are the areas where the violence against the Rohingya has taken place. This crisis has also led to 480,000 refugees fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 25, 2017. Many of these refugees are now suffering from malnutrition.
  3. The U.S. cut assistance to Southeast Asia from $182.1 million in 2010 to $147.6 million in 2015, a 19 percent drop. During that same time frame, the U.S. increased assistance to the Middle East by 19 percent, from $6.7 billion to $8 billion.
  4. In Timor-Leste, one of the most malnourished countries in Asia, half of all children suffer from stunting (low height for age). Lack of access to nutritious foods as well as lack of nutrition education can lead to stunting. The country’s extreme reliance on agriculture also leaves it open to food shortages caused by natural disasters and climatic cycles such as El Niño.
  5. An Asian Development Bank study found that climate change could cause Southeast Asia’s agriculture-dependent economies to contract by 6.7 percent by the year 2100. This would cause food shortages and poverty to increase across the region.

Four Ways to Help

  1. The U.S. Foreign Assistance planned budget has decreased each year since 2015 (with the largest cuts due to take place in 2018). Foreign Assistance goes toward things like health services, peace & security and environmental protections, all of which can help decrease hunger in Southeast Asia. Calling on Congress to protect the U.S. Foreign Assistance budget can help make sure that this trajectory is changed.
  2. Get involved with organizations that help fight hunger and poverty. The World Food Programme delivers food assistance in emergencies and works with communities worldwide to improve nutrition and build resistance. Oxfam tackles the root causes of poverty and creates lasting solutions. These two organizations are a great starting point, but there are many others doing great work to help eliminate hunger and improve people’s quality of life.
  3. If climate change continues at the current pace, poverty and hunger in Southeast Asia and other developing regions will increase. Live sustainably and help others do the same. Advocate for environmental protection agreements such as the Paris Accords.
  4. Stay positive and focus on the progress that has been made. The Global Hunger Index for South and Southeast Asia dropped 36 percent from 2000 to 2015. The United Nations reports that more than 1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty worldwide since 1990.

While there is still a lot of work to be done, the global community is taking many positive steps toward reducing, and eventually eliminating, hunger in Southeast Asia. The problem can seem overwhelming at times, but with ongoing innovation and advocacy, the number of people suffering from malnutrition in the region will continue to decrease.

– Aaron Childree

Photo: Flickr

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3 Causes of Hunger in Niger

Hunger in NigerNiger is a landlocked country in sub-Saharan Africa that struggles to feed its population. Three major factors that contribute to hunger in Niger are overpopulation, scarce water supply and armed conflict.

The food crisis in Niger is made worse by the staggering birth rates of the region. With an average of 7.6 children per woman, Niger’s population is growing fast.

This growth raises questions regarding how to feed these children. An estimated 2.5 million people have no secure source of food.

Niger has poor access to contraception, so the population is likely to continue increasing and put more strain on its already meager food supply.

Nigerien president Mahamadou Issoufou is working with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to better modernize the infrastructure of the country in an attempt to feed the growing population.

“We have launched the Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens initiative, aiming to reduce poverty — which mainly affects women and rural populations — to 31 percent and enabling the complete eradication of hunger in Niger by 2021,” Issoufou said.

Niger is a landlocked country located just beneath the Sahara Desert. As a result, finding access to water can be difficult.

Niger’s food sources are vulnerable since the country relies heavily on subsistence rain-fed agriculture. The variance in rainfall and the harsh climatic conditions contribute to the chronic food insecurity.

AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina addressed members of Niger’s government on Sept. 26, 2017, in an effort to show how the AfDB plans to help mitigate the lack of water.

“I am convinced that the construction of the Kandadji dam, one of the projects we are financing here in Niger, will enable your country to overcome challenges in agriculture and energy. Once complete, the Kandadji dam will produce 1.5 billion square meters, 125 megawatts, and will allow about 45,000 hectares of land to be irrigated.”

Ongoing Boko Haram-related conflict has caused an influx of Nigerian refugees. Population displacement has left locals in the Diffa region of Niger food-insecure.

Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group, has rampaged across the region for years, forcing more than two million people to flee their homes and farms. Across the border of Niger and Nigeria, trade has come to a halt. Markets have shut down because vendors have nothing to sell.

Because of Boko Haram-induced terror in Nigeria, refugees flee north into Niger. This places even more stress on the overpopulated and food-insecure country.

Farmers in Niger and Nigeria have begun to change their tactics, planting crops that lay low to the ground so as not to be easily spotted by raiding soldiers. However, this is a desperate solution to hunger in Niger that only direct actions from world powers can fix.

– Sam Bramlett

Photo: Flickr

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Solutions to Hunger in Hong Kong

A Prospect of Solutions to Hunger in Hong KongAs a cosmopolitan region with high economic prosperity, hunger in Hong Kong is often overlooked, since there are both short-term food assistance and governmental welfare systems available. However, as one of the most densely populated cities in the world with seven million residents, hunger for a healthy diet exists among low-income families in Hong Kong.

According to a 2014 joint study by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and the Social Work Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, about 70,000 people lack fresh fruit and vegetables for daily consumption, while 40,000 people cannot afford to eat three meals per day.

There is also some argument as to whether Hong Kong is a well-developed or developing region. As indicated by a 2012 census report, Hong Kong’s 15.2 percent poverty rate suggests that around one million people may experience a risk of hunger and related health issues. The population of working poor was estimated at 644,000, while one-third of senior citizens and one-fifth of children live below the poverty line in Hong Kong. In addition, there is a significant gap between the rich and the poor.

The most common ways for low-income families to reduce their living costs include purchasing food on sale in large supermarkets or accepting food donations from charitable organizations. Households that are highly dependent on cheap food have a higher risk of malnutrition and related health and social issues due to the poor quality of food.

In the past few years, several nonprofit organizations have carried out several projects to improve the diets of people living under the poverty line in Hong Kong. The Feeding Hong Kong program both collects and delivers surplus fruits, vegetables and canned foods through multiple charitable organizations and communities. The Food for Thought project focuses on seniors by arranging food donations in the basketball court of Tin Yiu Estate once a week. They provide surplus food donated by market stalls and offer it to anyone who comes, with no means testing required.

While there is still a long march to eliminate the negative impacts of hunger in Hong Kong, many organizations are working to eliminate food waste and get it into the hands of those who need it most.

– Xin Gao

Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About the Yemeni Crisis

10 Facts About the Yemeni CrisisOne of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises is currently happening in Yemen, a desert country in the Middle East on the southern point of the Arabian Peninsula. 26 million people in the country are suffering through the conflict between Al Houthi and the Saudi-led coalition that has been going on since March 2015. These 10 facts about the Yemeni crisis highlight the struggles of Yemen‘s population.

  1. The Yemeni crisis started because of weak governance that has plagued the country for decades. In 2014, President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was deposed by the Houthi rebels, and a coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been fighting them to restore the legitimate government.
  2. The conflict is dangerously affecting the availability of food in Yemen. As of 2017, the food crisis in Yemen could be considered a famine, according to the U.N.’s humanitarian chief. Many people have resorted to reducing the number of meals they eat and limiting portion sizes.
  3. 14 million people in Yemen do not have enough food or clean water, and seven million are at risk of dying of starvation.
  4. 385,000 children suffer from life-threatening malnutrition. 4.5 million citizens need nutritional aid and 3.3 million are considered malnourished. These rates are considered to be far above the emergency threshold.
  5. Schools and health facilities have been damaged or destroyed; exactly half of all health facilities are now closed in Yemen. Only 45 percent of health facilities are fully accessible, while 38 percent are only partially accessible and 17 percent are not functional. Many of the medical staff and teachers have left Yemen to avoid the conflict. At least two million children are not in school due to the Yemeni crisis.
  6. More than 40,000 people have been killed or injured due to warfare in the villages, losing their homes, their safety and healthcare. 3.1 million people have been forced out of their homes.
  7. Millions of people are living in overpopulated shelters or damaged homes, while 184,000 people have fled to other countries.
  8. Females are the most vulnerable people in the Yemeni crisis. Women and girls in Yemen are facing abuse, forced marriage, exploitation and violence. Violence against females has increased by more than 63 percent since 2015. About 2.6 million females are now at risk.
  9. The restrictions on commercial trade prevent the delivery of supplies of food, medicine and other essentials. Fortunately, Action Against Hunger has mobile nutrition teams working in Yemen to provide health care, nutrition, water sanitation and food.
  10. Organizations need financial support to help those struggling with the Yemeni crisis. The government funding that has been given to organizations is being used to increase food security and fight cholera, an infectious disease that leads to dehydration and often death caused by contaminated food and water.

– Chloe Turner

Photo: Flickr