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Hunger in Guinea

hunger_in_guineaThe Republic of Guinea is home to nearly 11 million people; despite its abundance of resources, Guinea continues to struggle with development and hunger. Guinea faces major socio-economic and political challenges that delay aid to the hungry.

Natural disasters contribute to the hunger in Guinea. Many Guineans rely on subsistence agriculture, but the unpredictable weather conditions make crop yields unreliable. Flooding is common in the northern areas of Guinea and affects 59,000 – 69,000 people every year. Statistics show that 27.2 percent of households are food insecure and 3.3 percent of households are severely food insecure.

Organizations like the World Food Programme and Action Against Hunger, ACF International are in Guinea to alleviate the food crisis. The WFP has been helping out Guinea for nearly 45 years. The AAH has had a major impact since 1995.

The WFP has many programs helping to aid the needs of Guinea. They are currently overseeing The Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, which provides assistance to households negatively affected by natural disasters and those who are food insecure because of them. The WFP also supports communities to produce locally grown food that can be used for school feeding programs.

The AAH provides the same general concept of relief to Guinea, but in different ways. They aim specifically to evaluate, treat, and prevent acute malnutrition caused by hunger.

To evaluate, the AAH collects baseline data on key nutrition indicators like local capacities and resources, cultural practices, infrastructure and geography. The information gathered is then used to increase the effectiveness of responses. The AAH treats acute malnutrition by providing inpatient care and also outpatient programs. Ready-to-use Therapeutic Foods are given to patients to help prevent malnutrition.

By strengthening the local communities, the WFP and the AAH both have been trying to nurture Guinea into a self-sufficient state.

– Erik Nelson

Sources: Action Against Hunger 1, Action Against Hunger 2, World Food Programme 1, World Food Programme 2

Photo: Stop Hunger Now

Hunger in Mozambique

Mozambique HungerA country ravaged by war, Mozambique has many societal issues that need to be dealt with, and one of the stricken country’s biggest shortcomings is food. With 24.5 million inhabitants, one-third are chronically food-insecure with half of a million children ages six to 23 months being undernourished.

Underlying causes include inadequate nutritional intake due to poor diet diversity, low meal frequency, poor breastfeeding practices, high levels of disease and teenage pregnancy. The high incidence of HIV infection further aggravates the malnutrition that people suffer.

The U.N., the World Food Programme and The Hunger Project have all come together to help fight hunger in Mozambique. Mozambique is a “Delivering as One” country meaning that all U.N. agencies, if logistically capable, contribute toward a U.N. Development Assistance Framework. The UNDAF and the WFP have aligned priorities in Mozambique, and Mozambique is benefiting from it.

The WFP has two distinct programs that are set to run this year: the Country Program, or CP, and the Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, or PRRO.

CP pursues the WFP’s transition from food aid to food assistance, supporting and enhancing government programs to constitute sustainable, national solutions to food insecurity through prevention, protection and promotion. The program attempts to stimulate local economies using innovative delivery methods of payment such as cash, vouchers and mobile phone transfers.

The five main components of the CP are school meals, social protection, nutrition, risk reduction and market access.

WFP’s other program dedicated to fighting hunger in Mozambique, PRRO, provides food assistance in support of response and early recovery activities, targeting the disaster-affected as well as displaced persons who have sought refuge in Mozambique. CP is a program centered on sustainability and growth while PRRO is centered on disaster relief due to the surrounding circumstances of the location of Mozambique. The key approaches of the PRRO are relief activities (sudden onset emergency), early recovery activities (post-relief assistance) and capacity development.

WFP and the U.N. aren’t the only ones that are fighting the hunger in Mozambique; The Hunger Project is also on the front line. THP works to build sustainable community-based programs using their Epicenter Strategy. An epicenter is a dynamic center of community mobilization and action, as well as an actual facility built by community members. Epicenters bring together 15,000-20,000 people from rural villages and give the groups a voice that has more influence than if they did not band together.

In Mozambique, there are three epicenters. These epicenters serve a population of about 22,200 partners in 10 villages. With the epicenters functioning at full capacity, the local areas will see an increase in economic sustainability and, therefore, more food security.

The U.N., the World Food Programme and The Hunger Project have all been aiding Mozambique for the past decade. Together these organizations have been providing beneficial practices spanning from immediate emergency relief to sustainability to community building programs.

– Erik Nelson

Sources: The Hunger Project, World Food Porgramme

Photo: Flickr