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Current mood:  worried Category: Blogging
"For those living on less than $2 a day, the financial crisis is accelerating hunger, and the worst is yet to come," predicted Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), last month. The WFP and others are finding that the global economic situation is worsening food availability and hunger for millions of families around the globe.
In fact, hunger is projected by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to reach historic highs this year, with one sixth of all people around the world likely to go hungry.
Once again, hunger is likely to affect poor women disproportionately, since women often eat less in order to give men and children, especially male children, more. Women are also more impacted by the additional time and work required when food is scarce. For example, it is they who stand in long lines to get the food at markets or distribution centers. It is they who care for family members who are weak or ill due to insufficient food or malnutrition. It is they and their babies who bear the consequences of poor nutrition during pregnancy and the first year of their babies lives.
The good news is that the FAO and others are recognizing that smallholder farmers in developing countries can provide the impetus to improve food availability globally, and even to spur broader economic growth. There is an increased call for investment in and attention to smallholder farmers – or “peasant” farmers – work that World Neighbors has been a leader in for decades. “For most developing countries, there is little doubt that investing in smallholder agriculture is the most sustainable safety net, particularly during a time of global economic crisis,” notes Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).
Says Dr. Scott Killough, World Neighbors associate vice president for sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods, “we are gratified and in whole-hearted agreement that this reality is finally being recognized by global agricultural policymakers and funders.”
World Neighbors knows from experience that World Neighbors collaboration and partnership with local farmers helps communities better survive crises like the one looming this year. During last year's food crisis, Cantave Jean-Baptiste, our then country representative in Haiti, reported that while the communities World Neighbors partners with were feeling the pressures of the food crisis, they were far less vulnerable than other villages. “The different livelihood strategies, including diversification of agriculture production, microcredit and the promotion of local production that improves diet makes our areas less vulnerable than others without such programs,” he explained.
Killough continues, “From our perspective, we would emphasize that smallholder farmers – both men and women – need to be involved in, or at least have a voice in, determining what technology, what infrastructure, what types of rural finance and markets, and so on global organizations invest in. Our experiences with seeking to ensure participation of community members and leaders is critical in setting priorities, determining action and mobilizing local resources. This type of approach is not applied often when investments are decided.”
World Neighbors helps communities to find lasting solutions to hunger and malnutrition by developing sustainable, local solutions, instead of having to rely on external, short term solutions such as food aid. Women are at the center of these efforts, both in terms of solutions and beneficiaries.
2:53 PM
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