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With, Without: How Greed Perpetuates Hunger

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There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but due to a variety of factors, global hunger persists. In fact, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO,) the world produces enough food for everyone to intake 2,700 calories a day, much more than the recommended 2,000.

Nevertheless, nearly a billion people go to bed hungry. The reason behind this is multifaceted. Astounding amounts of food are wasted due to poor transportation and storage infrastructure. Even more goes in the trash uneaten. A great deal of grain crops are used for bio-fuels and animal feedlots rather than starving people. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact hunger is caused by inequality.

How are people to combat this inequality? Countries such as Brazil and Ghana have shown success through raising their minimum wage, giving cash to poor people, and investing in small-scale farms. World hunger comes down to the fact that many people simply cannot afford food, with over a billion people living on $1 a day.

The history of poverty begins with globalization and colonialism. When land is privatized and controlled by the few, the majority of people are forced into selling their work for food. Land ownership in the hands of the few is the main cause that spurred income gaps throughout the world.

Colonies exploited the resources and land of their colonies and kept them saddled in debt by claiming ownership in order to maintain this advantage for the long run. Today, less than 25 percent of people use more than 80 percent of the world’s resources. This is a direct result of the economic repression that so many populations are under and have been under for hundreds of years.

Greed led to colonial powers gaining monopolies and establishing claims on resources that were not theirs. Greed led them to effectively enslaving their colonies under shackles of labor and heavy debt for land and resources that originally belonged to the colonies. Although there are many great NGOs and advocacy agencies that have brilliant ideas for solutions to global hunger, few acknowledge colonialism as the original foe, and lack of land ownership as the original problem.

Perhaps people can examine this complex issue more clearly if they perceive it as a parable. In a sun-drenched country, men live peaceful lives on their own farms. One day, a greedy man takes over, burning all their farms and forcing them to work for him. This man builds one massive farm, and exploits their labor and pushes growth, seeking to eat up the rest of the smaller farms in the land. In the end, he is the one who gets all the profits, while the rest barely survive.

This is not a story anyone wants to hear, but it is one that has been in action for centuries. Let us acknowledge this past and seek ways to start a new story.

– Jordan Schunk

Sources: Alternet, The Economist, The Guardian, Huffington Post

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Food Aid in Puntland, Somalia

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On November 10, a deadly cyclone raged through the region of Puntland, located in Somalia’s northeastern coast. Though the cyclone has reportedly killed up to 300 people, the death toll has not yet been verified. Many of these victims were children and elderly, both of which are more vulnerable to hypothermia and exposure. Moreover, the United Nations says as many as 30,000 people are in need of food aid.

Whole villages have been washed away by the storm, thus forcing local aid workers to struggle to reach the stranded victims due to the damaged infrastructure. Furthermore, large portions of roads have been damaged, driving aid workers to deliver food aid on foot. Many people are also missing, especially in coastal towns where fisherman and their boats have been lost at sea.

Pastoralists have been hit the hardest since their livestock and poorly built homes and barns have been washed away. The region does not normally experience rain so the area’s infrastructure has not been built to withstand this sort of storm. In fact, some of the worst hit villages have lost 90 percent of their livestock to icy rain and flooding.

Moreover, areas infamous for pirates such as the port of Ely are some of the worst affected. This is worrisome as the 2004 Tsunami was considered one of the major triggers of the pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia where 736 people and 32 ships were held hostage.

The World Food Programme (WFP) recently arrived in Puntland and transported 340 metric tons of food including cereal and vegetable seeds to the worst affected areas of Bossaso, Banderbayla, Dongoroyo and Eyl. In total 27, 000 people have been given a month’s worth of food rations. In addition Puntland’s government sent 32 trucks of emergency supplies throughout the needed areas.

Once emergency aid has been distributed and the region is no longer in a state of disaster the WFP will begin recovery work to rebuild the infrastructure of the area. The Food-for-Assets initiative is a recovery program run by the WFP that assists communities in rebuilding their infrastructure in a way that would better withstand a future natural disaster. Moreover, community workers are paid in food rations for assisting with the development.

Further south in Middle Shabelle, flooding has devastated the town of Jowhar and surrounding areas, pushing over 10,000 people to flee their homes. Their water supplies have, furthermore, been contaminated increasing the risk of waterborne diseases, while all standing crops and livestock in the area have been destroyed or lost. The International Committee of the Red Cross has provided 25,800 people with emergency essentials such as kitchen sets, clothes and sleeping mats.  They have also been able to stop flooding and repair riverbanks in five locations and distributed emergency food aid and water.

– Lisa Toole

Sources: AllAfrica: Food Aid, AllAfrica: Twin Natural Disasters, Yahoo, World Food Programme, Aljazeera

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Hunger Games Promotes Hunger Awareness

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This Friday marks the premiere of the second film installment of the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire. While thousands of people will wait in line to see its midnight premiere, the film is more than just a blockbuster.  The film partners with Feed America and the World Food Programme to raise awareness and advocacy for world hunger.

While the films’ website is a favorites spot for fanatics, it also offers an educational aspect, exploring hunger worldwide.  The site specifically targets the younger audience, aiming to educate fans of the film about hunger and poverty. The site features a world map with five interactive factoids and links to both Feed for America’s county-level hunger map, and the World Food Programme’s interactive map of worldwide hunger.  The five hunger facts are as follows:

Fact #1

1 in 5 kids suffers from hunger worldwide.

Fact #2

1 in 6 kids is underweight.

Fact #3

700 billion pounds of food are wasted every year in the U.S.

Fact #4

It costs 25 cents a day to provide a child with proper nutrition

Fact #5

This one is a video factoid. It features the personal impact of Feed for America in rural communities across the country.

Facts 1, 3 and 5 are sponsored by Feeding America and feature links to the organization’s interactive county-by-county hunger map.  The map is the first of its kind to investigate the effects of hunger and poverty at a county level.  Web users are able to explore how the most impoverished counties in America are affected by hunger and learn about Feeding America’s efforts to serve those communities.

Facts 2 and 4 are sponsored by the World Food Programme (WFP) and lead readers to the WFP’s world hunger map. More than 842 million people go hungry every night, and the WFP’s hunger map explores the severity of hunger country by country. The interactive map ranks countries based on prevalence of hunger and offers pertinent demographic information about each country. The site also provides information about WFP’s efforts and accomplishments to reduce hunger in each country.  The map is easy to navigate and clearly communicates the need for hunger advocacy and awareness.

The Hunger Games also sponsors charitable merchandise for sale.  The limited edition “Love Thy Neighbor, Feed Thy Neighbor” fan t-shirt is available for purchase, with all proceeds going towards Feeding America.  The film’s star actress, Jennifer Lawrence, also partners with several charitable organizations.  She has donated to DoSomething.org, Feeding America, the World Food Programme, and the Thirst Program. The film’s website presents a strong message to film fanatics that they must be educated and active against world hunger.

– Mallory Thayer

Sources: Hunger Games, Feeding America, WFP, Look to the Stars
Photo: Forbes

Imagine There’s No Hunger Campaign

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The Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign is in its sixth year this year. The goal of the campaign is to help children in impoverished regions who suffer from hunger and poverty related issues. The campaign was inspired by John Lennon’s vision for a world at peace and without hunger; it teaches children all over the world to recognize their own power in making a difference in their living conditions and food scarcity. The campaign encourages rural families in impoverished communities to grow their own food, offering sustainable agricultural programs and training in 34 grassroots organizations. Spearheaded by Hard Rock International and WhyHunger, the campaign has accomplished huge gains in the war on poverty. This year, Yoko Ono Lennon has teamed up with Hard Rock International and is advocating for widespread support for the campaign.  Thus far, the Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign has provided enough food in communities to ensure 5.5 million meals for children in 22 countries.

In the months of November and December, the campaign receives special media attention as they encourage the public to get involved in their mission and make donations to help end world hunger for children. A number of musicians have joined the Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign, and participate in fundraising concerts and visits to grassroots organizations. The musicians involved in the campaign use their star power to help bring fans on board with Imagine There’s No Hunger.

By working with grassroots organizations across the world, Imagine There’s No Hunger helps to develop agricultural systems in places that have a weak agricultural condition. The campaign encourages healthy eating and homegrown food; they have helped launch programs that feed children farm-fresh food and teach farmers the proper methods of farming. Imagine There’s No Hunger doesn’t just want to supply a quick order of food for starving countries, but help implement systems and training programs so that countries can subsist on their own and receive income well into the future.

This year, the Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign wishes to make a greater impact than ever before on children living in poverty. With the help of teammate Yoko Ono Lennon, the campaign has received an increase in public attention and advocacy. Ono is scheduled to make an appearance in December in Tokyo to continue her goal of rallying support for the campaign.

– Chante Owens

Sources: Imagine Peace, Why Hunger
Photo: Daily Mail

Africa Hopeful To Be Hunger-Free by 2025

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On Friday, Jose Graziano da Silva, head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency, stated that hunger in Africa can be eradicated by the year 2025. He then added that this can be achieved through the political commitment of all African political leaders and utilization of currently available resources. “We are not talking about sending a man to the moon or something that complicated”, he explained “We have the technology. We have the expertise. We have the things that we need to do it.”

Graziano believes that this goal can be achieved by examining worldwide efforts to alleviate poverty and reach the first United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by half by 2015. Based on these efforts, Graziano listed three factors that are vital in targeting world hunger.

The first requirement is political will and leadership by leaders of the countries as this effort requires improvement in various aspects including health, nutrition, water supply, etc.

Secondly, Graziano highlighted the importance of agricultural performance and access to food. Statistics show that the world has more than enough food produced to feed the hungry; however, this food isn’t easily accessible and is often wasted. Between one-third and one-half of food produced today is lost or wasted due to improper storage methods, poor transportation and unnecessarily large portions.

The third factor that Graziano cited was the poor nutritional value of much of the food provided to the hungry. He stated that, “you see in families with the lowest income a proportion of obese and malnourished (youngsters) similar to the families that have high level income.”

Graziano and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization hope to see all of the aforementioned factors addressed and innovative solutions invented at the African Union Summit in January of 2014.

– Lienna Feleke-Eshete

Sources: Huffington Post, Food and Agriculture Organization
Photo: Ebru News

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Action Against Hunger Foundation

Action Against Hunger Foundation
Action Against Hunger | ACF International (ACF) is recognized as a leader in the fight against malnutrition. It’s a global humanitarian organization with missions of saving the lives of malnourished children in the world and bringing impoverished communities out of poverty.

ACF integrates activities in emergency nutrition, longer-term food, security, and water, sanitation & hygiene. So far, the organization has run life-saving programs in about 40 countries and benefited around 5 million people annually for 30 years. More than 4,200 professionals work around the world, helping ACF bring solutions to scale to save millions of lives.

Although the programs run by ACF may vary from country to country, they all share the same strategies, which are “context-specific, needs-based and customized through direct community participation.”

ACF is on the frontline and reach out to many destitute communities in the world. For example, in 2012, ACF treated more than 157,000 seriously malnourished individuals and helped 662,000 people reach essential water, sanitation and hygiene solutions in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, South Sudan, D.R. Congo and Pakistan.

In Congo, it trained thousands o health workers, equipped hundreds of hospitals and health centers and provided lifesaving therapeutic care for over 42,000 severely malnourished kids.

In Nigeria, ACF worked with Nigerian government to strengthen the capacity of its health systems and ensure access to nutritional care for children. The number of children treated for malnutrition was also tropled from 12,000 t 36,000.

Also, about 550,000 farmers in the world were provided with tools after drought and displacement in 2012.

ACF, due to its contributions to global poverty, has been named one of the top nonprofits of 2012 by Great Nonprofits reviewers.

– Liying Qian

Sources: ACF International 1, 2, 3

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10 Ways to End Hunger

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There are an estimated 852 million hungry people in the world – an astounding number. However, with some simple ideas, the number of hungry people in the world can easily be reduced.

1. Education

Even if hunger was eradicated right now, it would only be temporarily so if education is not a priority. Educated children are prepared children. A good education equips children to provide for themselves, as well as their communities, in the future. Education ensures that the steps taken in the fight against hunger are sustainable.

2. School meals 

School meal programs are one of the easiest ways to feed lots of children, since the children are all gathered in one place. It is also very cost-effective. For 25 cents per meal, the World Food Program feeds 24 million school children annually.

3. Food security programs

The World Food Program defines food security as “when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Food security programs aim to meet these needs by training farmers in developing nations through agricultural methods that will provide their communities with food – both now and long-term. The World Food Program reports that it has provided 200,000 farmers with agricultural training since the beginning of its food security programs.

4. Focus on women

It is estimated that women account for 60 percent of the hungry worldwide. If a mother is not able to provide for herself, she will most likely not be able to provide for her children either. This means that hunger is continuously being inherited by children. When women are helped, entire communities are helped.

5. Raise awareness

The simple act of bringing attention to the problem of hunger goes a long way in fighting it. People can’t contribute to a cause they aren’t informed of, and as more people become aware of how hunger affects the poor around the world, more people will engage in the fight against it. It’s that simple.

6. Donate

This is one that tends to be taken for granted. Many people talk about the importance of monetary donations, but relatively few actually donate. This is unfortunate, because donations of any amount can go a long way. There are billions of people in the world that do not suffer from chronic hunger. If all of these people contribute even the tiniest amount that they can afford, hunger will be exponentially closer to being eradicated.

7. Live simply

People in developed nations put so much money towards things they don’t need, while people in the developing world struggle just to get by on a daily basis. Practicing some restraint in spending would free up money that could then be used towards eradicating hunger. This could be as simple as forgoing a cup of coffee each day.

8. Reduce food waste

Excess waste ties up resources that could be used elsewhere in the fight against hunger. It is important for people in developed countries to be mindful of those in developing nations by doing their best to consume only what they need.

9. Be involved in government

Exercise the privileges that come with living in a democratic society in the fight against hunger. Elected officials are in place to represent the voice of the people. If enough people express their concern about global hunger to elected officials, the collective voice cannot be ignored, and action must be taken.

10. Fight for livable wages

It is not enough to simply provide the world’s hungry with food. They must be equipped to provide for themselves. Otherwise, the problem of hunger is not actually solved. Many workers in developing nations are exploited by employers and are not paid nearly enough to provide food for themselves, much less their families. If global hunger is to be defeated, all people must be provided with opportunity to earn livable wages.

– Matt Berg

Sources: YSA, WFPUSA, Huffington Post, World Hunger

Photo: World Food Programme

Socks that Solve Social Problems

Inspired by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of meeting the needs of the world’s poorest through international collaboration, Conscious Step sells fashionable dress socks to create a positive impact on the world. Each sock the organization sells is connected to a different cause, allowing customers the freedom to choose the cause most important to them.

So far, Conscious Step has created three socks that are associated with three different causes. The first sock is inspired by the first MDG of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. In partnership with the global humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger, Conscious Step supports nutrition programs in Kenya, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Purchasing this sock provides three therapeutic food packets to malnourished children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The second MDG of achieving universal primary education inspires Conscious Step’s second sock. This sock partners with Engineers Without Borders to provide clean water sources and increase the number of children in primary schools in Nepal.

Conscious Step’s final sock addresses the seventh MDG of ensuring environmental sustainability. Purchasing this sock allows Trees for the Future to plant 30 trees in rural Ghana and teach agroforestry techniques to women and children, which then generates income, provides material for food and fuel and protects the environment.

Buying Conscious Step socks not only helps solve poverty, but also provides a big bang for the buyer’s buck. These socks are made from 200-needle count, organic, fair trade cotton and are sweat resistant. Each of the three styles of socks is embroidered with a distinguishable symbol, allowing supporters to wear their cause with pride and stimulate discussion about poverty alleviation.

Conscious Step helps “give an ordinary purchase an extraordinary purpose.” Supporters can purchase ethically made, high-quality socks that give them the power to consume for a cause. You can help launch the organization into gear and get your pair from Conscious Step’s Indiegogo campaign here.

– Tara Young

Sources: Indiegogo, Good Magazine
Photo: Indiegogo

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World Hunger is Biggest Threat to Global Health

Though it is rarely featured in the daily headlines, world hunger has become the greatest problem facing the world today. Every day, 1 in 8 people go hungry worldwide. The situation has become so severe that experts now recognize hunger as the largest risk to health – surpassing AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Hunger is the worst in developing nations, where nearly 98 percent of the world’s hungry reside. Africa has the greatest number of countries with the highest categories of hunger – in at least 19 of its nations more than 25 percent of the population goes hungry. These issues are exacerbated by war and crisis. For people forced from their homes by violence and for other refugees, food is scarce.

The United Nations spends about $30 million weekly to keep food aid flowing to these problem areas. The efforts of the UN alone are not enough, however. In order to combat this global health risk, the hunger problem needs to be addressed on a global scale.

“It’s getting to a point where if the international community doesn’t wake up and realize that they have to, they must make efforts to find a political solution, otherwise we are not going to be able to sustain this level of response,” said Mathew Hollingworth of the World Food Program. Without the help of the international community, world hunger will continue to endanger people around the world.

– Sonia Aviv

Sources: ENCA, World Food Programme, 15 Min. News
Photo: The Inspiration Room

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Optifood Software Analyzes Diets to Address Malnutrition

Working through the World Health Organization (WHO), a team of scientists and programmers have created a new software that is capable of analyzing a person’s diet and determining what in their geographic area can be used to supplement nutritional deficits cheaply. The software is currently undergoing USAID-approved trials in Guatemala, with promising results.

According to the Food and Nutritional Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA), malnourished children in the two studied Highlands communities of Huehuetenango and Quiche can be adequately fed for 25-50¢ US each day. The study consists of randomly selected children in the two communities between the ages of 9 and 11 months, and suggests that in addition to breastmilk, potatoes, beans, eggs, tortillas, and fortified cereal, a local powder called Chispitas would complete the children’s diet. Currently, Chispitas is only available to some communities in Guatemala.

With the average Guatemalan woman giving birth to three children, and the average Highlands household earning US$3.15 per day, even Optifood’s findings will require effort to become reality. Most families simply cannot spend 8-15 percent of their income feeding a single baby. And despite the fact that the ingredients in Chispitas can be found locally, the finished product is most available in urban areas where poverty is more severe than in the Highlands.

Whatever the practical limitations, Optifood takes a great step forward by simply identifying, in almost real time, what the nutritional problems are and the optimal, if ultimately impossible, solutions. With workshops being offered in Guatemala and a handful of other countries, to educate local aid workers in the use of the software, hard data can begin to emerge from poor areas and provide international agencies like the WHO the information it needs to assess priorities. It also gives national programs, such as Guatemala’s Zero Hunger Initiative, with a clear set of objectives to accomplish.

As one of the major criticisms of aid organizations is the uncertainty about what funding can actually accomplish, Optifood is able to provide a nutritional “before and after” comparison, elucidating the problem and demonstrating the effects of policy changes or investments.

– Alex Pusateri

Sources: USAID Blog, Google Translate, CIA, INCAP, FANTA Project
Photo: Hunger and Undernutrition Blog