Archive for category: Hunger

Zero Hunger in Bhutan

Zero Hunger in Bhutan
Bhutan, a small agricultural country in the eastern Himalayas between India and China, has come a long way in its war on poverty as the country has halved its poverty rates — from 23.4 percent to 12.04 percent in five years.

The launching of a five-year program in 1961 and the establishment of a national airline in 1983 spurred economic development, ensured equitability and environmental sustainability for the country; however, research on the health and nutritional status of Bhutanese children is lacking.

A substantial amount of work needs to be done to target malnutrition and hunger in Bhutan, especially among young and school-aged children.

UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador and Bollywood actor Aamir Khan notes, “While Bhutan has made amazing progress in areas of health and nutrition, there’s still work to be done and every child is yet to be reached.”

Moreover, according to a report by BMC Pediatrics, 47.7 percent of young children at the age of six to 59 months are stunted, 34.9 percent of preschool children are facing malnutrition and 10.4 percent are underweight.

These rates of stunting require significant attention in Bhutan’s efforts in alleviating poverty, as malnutrition at an early age can lead to many functional consequences including poor cognition and educational performance, low adult wages and loss of productivity. These consequences also affect and slow down the development of the nation’s economic infrastructure in the future.

As a member of the U.N., Bhutan has agreed to the Sustainable Development Goals in which Goal Two strives to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” By 2030, there are hopes that there will be zero malnutrition and hunger in Bhutan.

Moreover, the World Food Program (WFP) is working to combat child malnutrition by encouraging school enrollment and attendance through a development project called “Improving Rural Children’s Access to Basic Education with a Focus on Primary Education.”

The WFP provides school meals to children to combat child malnutrition and encourage school enrollment and attendance, supporting the country’s development plan to reduce poverty. This initiative will also help relieve the financial burden on poor rural parents.

WFP Bhutan encourages teaching various methods to students to break the inter-generational cycle of malnutrition. This is accomplished by training teachers at the College of Natural Resources (CNR) for agriculture and nutrition coupled with the School Agriculture Program (SAP).

Piet Vochten, the head of WFP in Bhutan explained, “We want to educate every child on agriculture and nutrition so that they are able to grow into healthy adults who will have healthy and well-nourished children to break the inter-generational cycle of hunger and poverty.”

Although Bhutan has made drastic improvements in its poverty rates over the last few decades, malnutrition and hunger in Bhutan must be addressed in order to secure the progression and growth of the economy.

– Priscilla Son

Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Hunger in Hong Kong by Reducing Waste

Hunger in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s growth in the global financial economy has made the country a beacon of rapid development and opulence. Behind the image of luxurious expansion lurks a harsh reality of inequality and growing rates of hunger. A Hong Kong nonprofit aims to help the city’s bounty feed all.

As a major port city and a booming hub of global trade, Hong Kong’s GDP continues to grow. Trading Economics’ data indicates that Hong Kong’s GDP growth in 2016 has nearly doubled since its GDP growth in 2015. This wealth, however, is distributed disproportionately.

The CIA World Factbook designates Hong Kong’s level of income inequality as the tenth worst in the world, and the U.N. Development Program claims Hong Kong has the highest level of income inequality among highly developed nations.

Data on poverty and hunger illuminate these inequities. According to Trading Economics, the poverty line in Hong Kong is HK$ 3,275 per month (about $422) with an hourly minimum wage of HK$ 32 (roughly $4). Twenty percent of Hong Kong’s population currently lives below this threshold, leaving many citizens food insecure.

In light of these concerns, the South China Morning Post reported that the U.N. considered opening a World Food Program (WFP) office in Hong Kong in 2013, citing the region as an appropriate candidate for further attention.

However, the U.N. never established an office, leaving Hong Kong without a concrete inter-governmental organization to deal with the growing issue of food insecurity. Gabrielle Kirstein, co-founder and executive director of Feeding Hong Kong, aimed to address hunger in Hong Kong by creating a nonprofit that would divert food waste to feed those in need.

Feeding Hong Kong (FHK) is a self-proclaimed “Hong Kong food bank with a difference.” By accepting usable food donations from corporate partners, restaurants, grocery stores and delis, FHK creates a supply chain that directs surplus food into the hands of over 25 charities and community organizations that address poverty and hunger. It is the only nonprofit of its kind in Hong Kong.

To ensure the continued effectiveness of the program, FHK thoughtfully distributes the food it collects to its constituent organizations. For example, FHK deliberately addresses the needs of children’s welfare programs differently than those of adults. FHK aims to address hunger in Hong Kong by supporting these already established organizations in their endeavors to provide essential services.

FHK functions in a dense urban environment by harnessing the resources around it. For FHK’s annual event, “Chefs in the Community,” culinary professionals volunteer with local charities to improve their food services. The Feeding Hong Kong Cookbook Collection is sold to generate funds for the nonprofit, while spreading awareness of how to reduce food waste, even in a personal kitchen setting.

Despite growing rates of hunger in Hong Kong, FHK has established a network to solve several issues associated with rapid urban development. By creating an organization that supports those around it, FHK aims to spread the wealth of the nation by eradicating hunger, one meal at a time.

– Laurel Klafehn

Photo: Flickr

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WFP ShareTheMeal App Supports Food Relief in Malawi

ShareTheMeal
The World Food Program (WFP) is the world’s largest organization dedicated to fighting hunger and promoting food security. As a branch of the U.N. the WFP is funded solely through voluntary donations which allow the organization to reach around 80 million people annually in 80 countries.

Though the WFP has a strong impact on the battle against world hunger, over 795 million people remain undernourished globally. Often people in developing countries become undernourished when faced with external factors like natural disasters or political instability. These factors can cause entire communities to lose access to necessities like food and water.

Currently, southern Africa is experiencing drought due to the year’s El Nino weather pattern — it is believed that Malawi was hit the hardest of the countries affected. The drought coupled with severe flash floods has devastated the country’s crops.

Up to 40 percent of the population of Malawi may need emergency assistance. In an attempt to provide food relief to vulnerable populations like those in Malawi, the WFP created an app called ShareTheMeal.

ShareTheMeal allows users to help those in need with the touch of a button. By choosing to share a meal, users donate 50 cents, the cost to feed one child for one day, to school children in Malawi. Of course, more than one meal can be donated at a time, but allowing users to donate as little as 50 cents makes food relief an affordable act for all.

At this time, WFP is focusing ShareTheMeal towards food relief in Malawi, but the app has been used to help several other vulnerable communities since its inception in the summer of 2015. In fact, the ShareTheMeal website states that donations on the app have provided over 7.5 million meals to those in need.

Recently, between June and July of 2016, all donations on the app went to feeding Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. The donations from those two months were enough to provide one year worth of food to 1,500 children.

While these numbers may seem impressive, the WFP is setting the bar even higher for relief in Malawi. Through ShareTheMeal, the WFP’s goal is to provide 58,000 school children with food for an entire year. If the goal is reached, those 58,000 children will have better chances of staying in school and learning the essential skills that could one day lift them out of poverty.

– Weston Northrop

Photo: Flickr

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Small Island, Big Appetite: Seven Facts About Hunger in Japan

Hunger in Japan
While Japan enjoys one of the largest economies in the world after the U.S. and China, hunger in Japan is an undeniable threat to one of the most highly developed nations. Here are the top seven facts you should know about the imminent food crisis of the most populous island nation:

  1. Nearly 16 percent of two-parent Japanese families are financially unable to provide enough food for their children — this figure jumps to 32 percent among single-parent households.
    As a leader in child nutrition programs, Japan is tackling food insecurity by improving its meal programs for children who live in food-insecure households.
    Non-profit organizations such as Second Harvest Japan help fight hunger in Japan by serving 100 families, 75 percent of which are single mothers, with weekly or monthly food shipments.
  2. Japan relies heavily on food imports.
    Producing only 39 percent of the country’s food demand, Japan currently has the lowest food self-sufficiency ratio among all major developed countries, compared to Britain producing 70 percent and France producing 120 percent of what each country consumes respectively.
    Reliance on food imports puts Japan’s meager food supply in a vulnerable position as hunger worsens.
  3. Japan’s traditionally pescetarian diet has embraced the high protein and high fat “Western diet” which has spiked demand for imported food — especially beef.
    From living off of what the local marine life offers, Japan is now the largest meat importer in the world. Not only is Japan’s food supply more fragile because it relies on imports, but studies also show that global meat production has severe environmental consequences.
    Even if Japan began domestically producing meat, Japan would need to devote 50 percent of its arable land to meet the demand for just chicken and pork.
  4. Current overpopulation and fears of future underpopulation are complicating Japan’s hunger crisis.
    Tokyo alone boasts nearly 14 million residents, making it the most populous city in the world. However, Japan’s population has shrunk by 1 million in the past five years and is aging quickly.
    As the population ages and low fertility rates prevail, Japan’s economy is expected to shrink and projected to have fewer farmers and fewer people to pay for food imports.
  5. Japan’s agricultural sector has shrunk to one percent of its GDP.
    In the wake of Japan’s industry and tourism boom, farmers found that they could make more profit selling their land or renting it rather than cultivating it.
    The agricultural shift to a more industrial focus is the primary culprit to blame for Japan’s food insecurity.
  6. Hunger in Japan is driving the country to set its sights on developing arable African land.
    Instead of focusing on domestic efforts to prevent further food insecurity, Japan is helping Mozambique and other developing regions of Africa to become future exporters for Japan’s food demand.
    Japan’s ProSavana project has been criticized as a “neo-colonialist economic exploitation” that is sold to Mozambique and the international community as sustainable agricultural development, according to the Journal of Global Initiatives.
    The UNAC President Augusto Mafigo voiced his concerns for the possible consequences of the ProSavana project: “We are extremely frustrated that the ProSavana program is not designed for the weak. It is designed for facilitating companies to acquire land. If that really happens, that would destroy our community.”
  7. Japan Today reports that annual food waste in Japan amounts to as much as 18 million tons.
    A projected 5-8 million tons of wasted food is actually edible but is discarded because of small blemishes or visual imperfections. If Japan would take a cue from France, who recently made it illegal for supermarkets to waste edible food, the amount of edible food waste rescued in Japan would be equivalent — or even surpass — the amount of annual global food aid.

As one of the most prosperous nations in the world, Japan risks underestimating its fragile food supply. To address the roots of hunger in Japan, solutions centered on domestic development rather than international food importing is crucial.

– Daniela Sarabia

Photo: Flickr

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Strides Made Toward Defeating Hunger in Pakistan

Hunger in Pakistan
Almost a quarter of the population in Pakistan goes to sleep hungry every night according to the latest Global Hunger Index released on Oct. 12, 2016.

While many Pakistani economists and commentators are pleased that the levels of hunger in Pakistan have been downgraded from “alarmist” to “serious,” conditions remain concerning.

The World Food Program estimates that six out of 10 Pakistanis are food insecure and almost half of women and children under 5 years of age are malnourished. The sad part is that food insecurity persists although food production is sufficient to feed all Pakistanis.

The problem stems from wrong priorities in terms of food crops throwing the nutritional balance completely out of kilter. Hunger in Pakistan isn’t as much a result of lack of food as it is of deficiencies in diet ranging from protein to iodine, along with other health problems due to insufficient intake of essential nutrients.

These have serious implications for economic growth and development. Thus, just three types of malnutrition are responsible for a loss of three to four percent of GDP in Pakistan in any given year, according to the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) fifth report on the world nutrition situation.

In human terms, the impact of malnutrition is even more serious and gut-wrenching. Figures obtained from multiple governmental and non-governmental organizations by Pakistan’s newspaper The Express Tribune reveal that around 352,000 children who are under the age of five die every year in the country.

In addition, the country has the highest rate of first-day deaths and stillbirths at 40.7 per 1,000 births. What’s worse, 28,000 mothers die every year during childbirth, show reports prepared by the PDH Survey, the World Health Organization, Save the Children and United Nations’ Children Fund. More than 204,542 children died within the first 28 days, the figures show.

The PDH Survey 2006-07 says that Pakistani children are more likely to die young in rural areas. That’s because one of the major causes for poor nourishment is that women have little access to health services and education and consequently little nutritional knowledge while feeding their children. Of course, large family sizes are another reason for food shortages.

Agriculture is vital to the Pakistani economy since it employs almost half the workforce and contributes over a fifth of GDP. The answer to the chronic hunger in Pakistan then lies in finding a way to modernize the sector and increase productivity as well as improve the choice of crops.

– Mallika Khanna

Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Hunger in Burkina Faso is a Community Affair

Hunger in Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, over 29% of children under five years old suffer from stunting, which is a form of malnutrition and a direct result of hunger. This occurs due to a lack of nutritious foods in the womb and throughout their first few years of life. These children are more susceptible to disease, poor school performance and difficulties as they grow older.

Statistics on Hunger in Burkina Faso

  • Two-thirds of children suffering from undernutrition do not receive medical attention.
  • About 40% of infant deaths in Burkina Faso are linked to undernutrition.
  • Stunted children with a height deficiency, relevant to age, completes an average of 0.3 years less of education, than children who are not stunted.
  • Burkina Faso’s workforce has decreased by 13.6%. Infant mortality rates are associated with undernutrition.
  • On a national scale, only 11.4% of children under two-years-old receive the recommended number of daily meals.
  • Roughly 499,000 children, under five years old, suffer from acute malnutrition.
  • Even though food is accessible in local markets, chronic poverty and disasters reduce food availability. Over 1.5 million children are at risk of food insecurity, while 350,000 need emergency assistance.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is a prominent organization helping the country increase farming and food production techniques. Their program, called FASO, supplies a women’s group with locally fortified flour, specifically for infants, and helps them establish a distribution and marketing network. These local sources of nutrition improve the availability of food and expand the local economy.

In order to end malnutrition and hunger in Burkina Faso, increasing the supply and affordability isn’t sufficient. Burkina Faso’s communities will need to be taught proper health, nutrition and hygiene. CRS has helped establish care group leaders in villages to aid pregnant women and new mothers. These women encourage conventional breastfeeding, sustainable nutrition for infants and accessible health care for pregnant mothers and children roughly two-years-old, or younger.

To hold each other accountable for health improvement, community members tend to a scoreboard, which tracks the village’s progression of health achievements. The physical scoreboard captures the public’s health efforts and visually invokes competition for more successful results.

“Having the scoreboard reminds us there is still a problem to address. We’re still facing challenges. The scoreboard is our motivator and reminder. There are still women who don’t practice exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months. We need to work. Even if we can’t get rid of all the red [on the scoreboard], we can reduce it,” Tiga Ouedraogo, a health promoter, told CRS.

On top of improved access to safe drinking water and community sanitation, construction of facilities is important in reducing diarrhea and infections. Open defecation is common in many villages, where latrines, or toilets, are not present. People lack privacy, but they are also susceptible to snake bites, or other animals attacking them while using the bathroom. Rainy weather spreads this human waste, which heightens the susceptibility to disease.

Each year, hunger in Burkina Faso costs roughly $409 billion, which equates to 7.7% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These costs riddle healthcare and education, which affects worker productivity. In 2014, roughly a quarter of Burkina Faso was deemed undernourished. However, the construction of at least 600 toilets has impacted 36 villages, and more than 16,500 people in 55 villages have potable water now. Progress is slowly being made with organizations, such as CRS, improving the health and hunger of Burkina Faso.

– Rachel Williams

Photo: Flickr

Bahamas National Feeding Network: Eradicating Hunger

Bahamas National Feeding Network
The Bahamas National Feeding Network (BNFN) and AML Foods Limited have collaborated to award 60 single mothers with $100 gift vouchers for the purchase of staples, ground produce and other food items. This initiative is one of their many attempts to expunge hunger among local Bahamians.

Selection Process and Statistics

In 2013, the Commonwealth Government of the Bahamas, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Department of Statistics conducted a household outlay revealing 12.5% of the population in the Bahamas lives in poverty conditions. The poverty rate is significantly higher in the Family Islands at 17.2% and New Providence at 12.4%.

The women were selected by community leaders who believed that they would be suitable beneficiaries of the Bahamas National Feeding Network Initiative. These women are faced with the economic hardship of single parenthood.

AML Foods Limited recognizes this concern and drives the impetus to help eradicate hunger. “We at AML Foods Limited feel strongly about hunger prevention and healthy living,” said Renea Bastian, Vice President of Marketing & Communications of AML.

What is the BNFN?

The Bahamas National Feeding Network is a non-profit group that consists of 13 individual organizations who have decided to tackle the hunger crisis evident among the archipelago of islands. The Feeding Network started in 2013 and has been in operation for the past three years. The main function of the organization is to collect and distribute food items to the indigent living among the Bahamian enclave.

AML foods have committed to donating 100,000 over the next three years towards eradicating hunger in Grand Bahamas. The company has contributed over $30,000 in food coupons through the BNFN. The BNFN has donated more than $350,000 to its web of 110 partners in its three years of operation.

The Bahamas National Feeding Network also provides the foundation for self-empowerment and independence in a sustainable way for poor families. “While we are giving, we are also teaching people to grow,” said diplomat, businessman and philanthropist Frank Crothers, Bahamas Feeding Network Chairman.

More on the Ground

The BFN has also played an integral role in the funding of the Bahamas Children’s Emergency Hostel presenting a $1,000 donation. The temporary childcare facility relies primarily on donations for maintenance and daily functioning such as providing food, supplements, clothes and healthcare for children who have been abandoned or neglected.

– Shanique Wright

Photo: Flickr

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How Can Impossible Foods Inc. Reduce Poverty in India?

Impossible Foods
The goal of Impossible Foods Inc. is not only to protect animals but also to create more sustainable sources of food by creating replicas of meats, eggs, cheese and other animal-based foods with plant derivatives. Patrick Brown, a biochemistry professor at Stanford University, founded the company, based in Redwood City, California. The company raised an impressive $108 million in funding from many wealthy donors including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing who support the business and its cause.

Brown started the company while he was on sabbatical when he realized his science background could impact the animal industry and reduce its carbon footprint. He creates beef substitutes with plant-based molecules, which taste, smell and feel like beef. Brown and his team of scientists are working to improve the taste and the cost-efficiency of the product.

With the global population expected to rise to almost 9.5 billion humans by 2050, Impossible Foods hopes to provide food for everyone, especially those who are in poverty. Moreover, Impossible Foods strives to be environmentally friendly. It argues that a quarter-pound burger patty will save as much water as a 10-minute shower, reduce 18 miles of greenhouse emission gas and free up 75 square feet of farmland.

Impossible Foods’ model is not only environmentally friendly but also has the potential to contribute to poverty reduction in religiously vegetarian countries like India. India’s population growth is concerning despite the fact that the nation’s economy is growing at a fast pace. The Gross Domestic Product increased 4.5 times and the country itself is producing enough food to feed everyone; however, many women and children are still starving in India.

Almost 40% of the fruits and vegetables and 20% of the food grains produced in India are lost due to an inefficient supply chain and do not reach consumers. Hunger and poverty in India could be reduced by Impossible Foods invention of the plant-based burger.

When you get the same amount of protein that you need daily and it is produced using 95% less land, 74% less water and 87% less greenhouse gas emissions, there is no reason to oppose Impossible Foods’ idea.

Currently, Impossible Foods is working on how to be cost-effective and make the taste more similar to real meat. As the company grows and develops further it will make a huge impact on the global food chain supply and further reduce poverty around the world.

– Gulyn Kim

Photo: Flickr

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Agriculture in Haiti: Hope Grows from the Ground Up

Agriculture in Haiti
Convoy of Hope’s Agriculture Initiative helps families and farmers by providing them with the skills and tools to grow healthy crops. This plan generates tens of thousands of meals to feed starving children while simultaneously providing much-needed work and income to the impoverished farmers.

Food security is a top priority in the fight against poverty. When people are hungry, they cannot focus on becoming economically independent, as their primary focus is to feed themselves and their families. Convoy of Hope helps farmers to ensure the food security of local communities while also playing a major role in lifting disaster-ridden communities through agriculture in Haiti and around the world.

The Agriculture Initiative was piloted in Haiti where food aid became a burden instead of a benefit. After years of receiving food in the wake of disasters, local farmers had lost the knowledge of proper farming techniques. This agricultural team is led by Jason Streubel. Streubel is a Senior Advisor for Agriculture at Convoy of Hope, associate professor of applied science at Evangel University and holds a Ph.D. in Soil Science from Washington State University. Streubel and Convoy of Hope have launched projects for agriculture in Haiti and several other countries worldwide.

Streubel and a team of agronomists from Convoy’s partner, Mission of Hope Haiti, facilitate this process by providing local farmers with resources that were previously unavailable to them.

Convoy’s team trains local farmers in agronomy, which is the science of soil management. After participating in the program, these farmers are able to grow their own crops, produce enough food to feed their families and provide some food for Convoy’s children’s feeding efforts in the country. The program is growing as quickly as the farmers’ crops; their efforts are expanding to reach the rest of the hungry world. Convoy of Hope now offers programs on how to start and maintain urban gardens in countries like the Dominican Republic and the Philippines.

Much of the program’s success can be attributed to its well organized three-step approach.

  1. Assessment
    Convoy uses the best tools available to analyze the environment, looking at everything from the local culture to the economic situation in order to understand and deal with the food security needs of a given community.
  2. Education
    Convoy provides curriculum, workshops and professional agronomists to teach the people how to farm properly. They also encourage farmers to share the information with as many people as possible, helping to grow the agricultural industry in Haiti and around the world.
  3. Implementation
    Once underway, a trained agronomist assists local farmers in applying the best agronomic practices in the fields, allowing for a much greater crop yield.

Convoy of Hope’s implementation of successful agriculture programs provides a sustainable solution to address hunger and poverty. Rather than simply feeding the hungry, Convoy of Hope gives them the tools to feed themselves and grow as their crops do: from the ground up.

– Aaron Parr

Photo: Flickr

Japan Gives $21 Million to Relieve Hunger in Africa and Asia

Hunger in Africa and Asia
The fight against hunger in Africa and Asia remains a life-threatening issue. However, in an attempt to end this crucial battle for good, the government of Japan has generously donated a total of $21.6 million to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Distributed among 11 countries, the cash contribution will be used strictly to provide both food and nutrition assistance while consciously adapting to each country’s current needs, necessities and issues.

Countries receiving a majority share of the funding include Guinea ($3.8 million) and Uganda ($2.5 million), while Sri Lanka, the lone South Asian country benefiting from the endowment, will obtain $2.2 million.

In Guinea, the money will be specifically focused on assisting an estimated 150,000 school children in areas where food insecurity has significantly worsened as a result of the recent Ebola outbreak, while mothers in Uganda will receive essential education in health and growth monitoring.

Worldwide, malnutrition and undernutrition are two serious problems for children under five. Nearly half of all deaths in this portion of this population can be connected to undernutrition, while estimated one-in-five children under five are directly affected by malnutrition.

Food insecurity issues are immensely consequential and severe as they greatly increase the harshness and rate of contractible common infections, stall recovery and reduce one’s education.

In addition to this contribution, a number of organizations and initiatives such as The Hunger Project and Feed the Future are currently working to end hunger in Uganda.

The WFP was established in the early 1960s and is presently the world’s largest humanitarian agency dedicated to fighting hunger worldwide. The voluntarily funded organization reaches more than 80 million people in 82 different countries on average annually.

In 2015 alone, total contributions to WFP reached $5 billion, and as of Sept. 25, donations for 2016 are at $4.3 billion.

This funding from the government of Japan will surely go far in ending hunger in Africa and Asia. With a multitude of organizations and momentous contributions annually, the fight against food insecurity truly doesn’t stand a chance.

– Jordan J. Phelan

Photo: Flickr