Tag: food security

Africa, Blog, Children, featured, Food, Food Security, malnutrition

5 Organizations to Support During South Sudan’s Famine

In February the United Nations officially declared a famine in South Sudan. What is most disheartening about this most recent famine in the world’s youngest country is it’s largely man-made. Constant infighting among South Sudanese opposition forces and the government makes growing crops nearly impossible. And, the instability in the country continues to drive up food costs. 100,000 people are directly suffering from famine, and … Continue reading 5 Organizations to Support During South Sudan’s Famine

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Africa, Blog, child health, Children, Food Security, malnutrition, Maternal Health, Women, Women and Girls

Maternal Malnutrition Affects Future Generations: Kenya Must Break the Cycle

By Elizabeth Echoka, Kenya Medical Research Institute and Lydia Kaduka, Kenya Medical Research Institute

Nutrition of women before and during pregnancy and when breastfeeding is critical in determining the health and survival of the mother and of her unborn baby.

Undernourished pregnant women have higher reproductive risks. They are more likely to experience obstructed labour, or to die during or after childbirth. Poor nutrition in pregnancy also results in babies growing poorly in the womb and being born underweight and susceptible to diseases. These mothers also invariably produce low quality breast milk.

Maternal malnutrition has inter-generational consequences because it is cyclical. Poor nutrition in pregnancy is linked to undernourishment in-utero which results in low birth weight, pre-maturity, and low nutrient stores in infants. These babies end up stunted and, in turn, give birth to low birth weight babies. Optimal maternal nutrition is therefore vital to break this inter-generational cycle.

In Kenya, women’s nutritional needs during pregnancy has not received much attention. This has exposed a gap in efforts to improve maternal and child health.

Continue reading “Maternal Malnutrition Affects Future Generations: Kenya Must Break the Cycle”

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Africa, Agriculture, Blog, child health, Children, Ethiopia, malnutrition, Poverty

What’s Driving sub-Saharan Africa’s Malnutrition Problem?

Jane Battersby, University of Cape Town

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest level of food insecurity in the world. An estimated 220 million people lack adequate nutrition. The nature of the problem is shifting rapidly, with overweight status and obesity emerging as new forms of food insecurity while malnutrition persists. But continental policy responses do not address this changing reality.

Food insecurity is the outcome of being too poor to grow or buy food. But it’s not just any food. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation’s definition, people need:

… sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.

Current policy focuses on alleviating undernutrition through increased production and access to food. It does not focus on the systemic issues that inform the food choices people make. This may result in worsening food insecurity in the region.

Continue reading “What’s Driving sub-Saharan Africa’s Malnutrition Problem?”

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Food, Food Security, World Food Programme

How to Feed Children in Need and Make Your Kids Happy at the Same Time

If you read this blog enough you know that there are 795 million people who do not have enough to eat on a consistent basis; not even enough to live a healthy lifestyle. The vast majority of this 795 million people live in low- and middle-income countries. Sadly, nearly 100 million children are underweight because they do not have enough sustaining food every day.

A new social endeavor start-up is working to change these statistics in their own way. Cuddle+Kind, a company that creates adorable hand-knit dolls for kids also provides meals for children through the World Food Programme and Children’s Hunger Fund with every purchase. Their ambitious, yet achievable goal is to provide one million meals for children every year.

Continue reading “How to Feed Children in Need and Make Your Kids Happy at the Same Time”

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Blog, Children, Food, Food Security, malnutrition, United States, Women and Girls

Addressing Food Deserts In The Land of Plenty

Guest Post by Brian Kennell, Tetra Pak president and CEO for the U.S. and Canada

From just-squeezed juices to artisan sandwiches to colorful bunches of fresh-picked vegetables, nutritious dietary offerings have never been so bountiful or convenient for affluent Americans. They can legitimately browse for gourmet-quality dinners inside local supermarkets as well as convenience stores or trendy “small box” neighborhood groceries.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for some 23.5 million largely underserved U.S. residents who live in “food deserts,” areas where grocery stores are absent, and food options frequently range from fast food to corner mini-marts, where chips, soda pop, candy, cakes and snack packs are more likely to line the shelves than fresh fruits, vegetables, poultry and meat; whole-grain bread, pasta and cereal; or high-quality dairy and all-fruit juice drinks. Many food desert residents, without access to foodstuffs that allow them to eat three full, nutritious meals a day, regularly lack food security.

Food Deserts and Health

Unsurprisingly, because residents have access to and consume foods that tend to be high in sugar, fat and salt, food deserts are strongly correlated with higher rates of obesity and other nutrition-influenced chronic diseases, note academic studies such as “Distance to store, food prices, and obesity in urban food deserts” in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. First Lady Michelle Obama noted this four years ago when she made eradicating food deserts to stem food insecurity one of the goals of her “Let’s Move” Campaign. But the issue has proved just as intractable as it is complex.

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Blog, Children, malnutrition

A Place Where a Child Arrives Malnourished and Leaves Healthy

By Dr. Leslee Jaeger

I feel overwhelming gratitude for the many mothers in my life – the mother that raised me, the mother that raised my fabulous husband, the mother of my three children created thru egg donation  and the Korean and Chinese mothers that gave birth to my daughters and then made the difficult decision to place them for adoption. I have always imagined what their life would have been if, instead of completing reams of paperwork and writing checks for large sums of Mother and Daughtermoney, we had worked to provide for their original families so that they would have been able to be raised in their country of origin. That venture is much more difficult and involves a more long-term world view than a short-term individualistic approach. But that is exactly what the founders of Second Mile Haiti are trying to achieve. We were fortunate to spend a few hours touring their expanding facility on our last day in Haiti.

The founders of Second Mile Haiti are Jenn Schenk and Amy Syres, two young women who had a vision to create a sustainable option for families who were previously relinquishing their malnourished children to care centers, where the children were  either placed for international adoption or reunified back into their impoverished families after their malnutrition was corrected.  It didn’t seem right that the only available way to help these families was to take their kids from them. We really had to ask ourselves if there wasn’t some sort of alternative” says Amy, regarding the experiences that led the co-founders to start Second Mile Haiti.

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Blog, Children, Food, Food Security

Can Forests Help Fight Global Hunger?

A child’s daily requirement for vitamin A can be met by around 25 g of a deep orange-fleshed mango variety. Photo: Terry Sunderland
A child’s daily requirement for vitamin A can be met by around 25 g of a deep orange-fleshed mango variety. Photo: Terry Sunderland

Currently 805 million people are undernourished worldwide.  That number is based on a number of factors including chronic and systemic poverty, a lack of access to improved growing methods and resources for small-holder farmers, a lack of purchasing power, as well as a lack of highly nutritious foods.

Researchers believe forests can help remedy the hunger problem worldwide. Even though 61.3 percent of the world’s forests are wholly owned by individual governments, that is a sharp decline from 71.4 percent in 2002 according to the newly-released report, Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition [PDF].

Over 60 forest scientists contributed to the new report which outlines the best ways in which available forestland can be utilized to curb hunger. The first way is via tree crops that are often rich in vitamins, proteins, and other nutrients and are associated with more diverse diets. Examples include cashews and the African locust bean.

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Africa, Asia, Blog, Women and Girls

ONE Campaign Reports that Global Poverty is Deeply Rooted in Sexism

Featured Photo: Paolo Patruno – www.birthisadream.org

Today is International Women’s Day which calls upon the world to look at not only the seminal achievements women have made throughout history, but also assess the ways in which women and girls are being perpetually marginalized across the globe through sexist policies and cultural traditions. This sexism is further exacerbated in developing countries according to a new report just released by the ONE campaign, Poverty is Sexist: Why girls and women must be at the heart of the fight to end extreme poverty.

“It’s about time we refocused the development agenda on gender equity as a smart means of unleashing the potential for human, social, political and economic development everywhere,” says Dr Sipho S. Moyo, ONE Africa’s Executive Director. “This being the African Union Year of Women Empowerment, it is our opportunity to seize and promote the advancement of humankind by insisting on policy interventions by our African governments that promote and ensure equal opportunities for women and girls, especially in the poorest countries.

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Blog

How the United States Can Feed More People By Reforming Food Aid

Hunger is a perpetual global crisis that affects 805 million people every day. Some continents have hunger rates as high as 21 percent of its population. In fact, Africa and Asia have the highest hunger rates in the world. 791 million hungry people live in developing countries. [1]

The United States has long been a food provider for the world, but the way in which food aid is chosen and delivered to poor countries around the world is outdated. In fact, the system is bloated with nugatory, bureaucratic red tape and payments that go to middlemen instead of buying the food and transporting it that is desperately needed.

Oxfam America - food aid reform share graphic - B

Food Aid Reform has been an area of contention for quite some time in Washington. Some of our leaders want to keep the status quo intact while others are loath to waste another year through archaic feeding programs that can easily be shifted  and reshaped to feed more people.

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Africa, Asia, Blog, Charity, Children, Clean Water and Sanitation, Communicable Disease, Education, Food Security, Maternal Health, Poverty, Women and Girls, Women's Rights

International Women’s Day Puts Spotlight on Global Poverty, Gender Inequalities

International Women’s Day Twitter Chat

We will join Global Impact to discuss these aforementioned women’s and girls’ issues on Friday, March 13 at 1 PM EST. Join us using #HerDay2015.

In Ormoc, Philippines women tend to take on village leadership roles to ensure children under five get their scheduled vaccinations and routine check-ups. These women also provide medical information to mothers and families who live deep in the rural parts of Ormoc and have a harder time attaining health services.

1 billion victims of violence

These village leaders are, for all intents and purposes, the lifelines for these rural families to health care. In addition to village leaders, rural health units staffed by volunteer health workers and nutrition scholars are charged with providing essential health care and information to families who otherwise would go without medical care.

“Being a leader makes me happy, but it is difficult,” said Ludivinia Perez, a village leader in Ormoc, Philippines on Leyte island. “I feel good about it. What makes it difficult is if I don’t have enough funds and resources.”

Continue reading “International Women’s Day Puts Spotlight on Global Poverty, Gender Inequalities”

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Blog, Food, Food Security

World Food Programme Launches Hunger Awareness Campaign With Footballer, Zlatan Ibrahimović

A few days ago I had never heard of Zlatan Ibrahimović. Now, I’ll never forget his name and the 805 million people who go hungry every day. On February 15, the United Nation’s World Food Programme launched a moving hunger awareness campaign with international football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic called 805 Million Names. The campaign features Ibrahimovic with 50 names temporarily tattooed on his body symbolizing the … Continue reading World Food Programme Launches Hunger Awareness Campaign With Footballer, Zlatan Ibrahimović

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Africa, Agriculture, Food, Food Security

Infographic of the Week: Africa Can Feed Itself

In Bill and Melinda Gates’ Annual Letter that was released this week, they bet that in 15 years Africa will be able to  feed itself. For those of you who have never been to Africa you may think this is an overstretch, but it is entirely true and based on significant data. Most of the people I have met in Africa are smallholder farmers. Africa is … Continue reading Infographic of the Week: Africa Can Feed Itself

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Africa, Agriculture, Blog, Children, Clean Water and Sanitation, Ebola, Food Security, Maternal Health, newborn health, Preterm Birth, Vaccines

5 Global Health Stories We’re Following This Year

2015 will be an interesting year in global health primarily because this is the year when the Millennium Development Goals should ideally be reached. Global health experts admit that many of the goals, for example MDG5, will not be reached globally even though some of them have already been reached on a country level. Ethiopia effectively reached MDG4 along with Bangladesh, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, and Tanzania according to … Continue reading 5 Global Health Stories We’re Following This Year

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Africa, Agriculture, Blog, Food Security

805 Million People Still Remain Malnourished According to New Report

The State of Food Insecurity in the World report, a collaborative report from Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Program and International Fund for Agricultural Development, was released Tuesday. According to its topline data, there are now 805 million people around the world who are chronically malnourished; that is a steady decline of 100 million people over the last decade. Undernourishment has fallen from 23.4 percent … Continue reading 805 Million People Still Remain Malnourished According to New Report

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Africa, Agriculture, Blog, Children, Clean Water and Sanitation, Food Security, Hunger Relief

Logistics Team Visits South Sudan to Assess Road Conditions Amid Looming Famine

Last month, a United Nations team travelled to Western Equitoria,  Central Equatoria, and Western Bahr El Ghazal in South Sudan to assess road conditions, an important task when famine looms in a region that is mostly agrarian. Without passable roads it is impossible for lifesaving, critical health supplies, health workers, aid agencies,  and most importantly food to reach remote areas that are cut off from main city … Continue reading Logistics Team Visits South Sudan to Assess Road Conditions Amid Looming Famine

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