When I wake up, I groggily roll out of bed, and half-asleep, I jump into a hot shower. Then, I fill up my water bottle with cold water from the tap, brush my teeth with water from the faucet, and wash my hands. These simple amenities that we take for granted are truly luxuries. Because in Africa, 70 to 80 percent of disease is related to water. Most people don’t have a faucet with running water, or even clean water nearby that they can drink or brush their teeth with.

We visited a joint project with USAID and Rotary International that provides clean water to thousands of people in Afadjtator, Ghana. As we arrived, the townsfolk swarmed us with welcoming cheers. Though we didn’t build the wells they are benefiting from, our tax dollars did. The United States is contributing approximately $13.4 million to improve water and sanitation in Ghana over the next four years. And thanks to this join project in Afadjtator, 86,000 more people will be able to wake up in the morning and get a glass of clean water.

Captions, from top to bottom and right to left: New well build through the joint water and sanitation project with USAID and Rotary International; Woman from the community carrying water from the well back to her house; Ed Goeas walks with children from the community; Jen Pihlaja walks with children from the community; Women filling up at the new water pump; Sheila Nix, ONE’s US Executive Director cuts the ribbon with local chiefs for the newest water pump in the community; Laurie Moskowitz, ONE’s Senior Director of US campaigns, laughs with local community members.

Beyond being a season for being merry, this is also traditionally a season for giving. As we wind down the year, we at ONE in Africa are asking you to give a thought to the 13.3 million people in the Horn of Africa, who still face extreme hunger. If this thought leaves you unsettled, you’re exactly the person who should join ONE in Africa today together with our partners, the National Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition in Nigeria and the Agricultural Non State Actors Forum in Tanzania, as we launch our Hungry No More campaign in Africa.

This campaign will be focused on challenging African leaders to demonstrate their resolve in tackling famine and other agriculture related problems on the continent by:

As part of the campaign we have also launched a video (watch in the player above) featuring a host of African stars including Didier Drogba, Nameless, Habida Malooney, John Allan Namu, Sauti Sol, Camagwini, Tumisho Masha, Dady Owen, Omotola Jalade and Sipho Mabuse. With their help we aim to focus the world’s attention once again this critical issue.

Farming is vital to African economies, where 70 percent of the population derives its livelihood from the soil. At the same time, agriculture development is crucial to poverty reduction, where food security is tied to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and especially Millennium Development Goal 1, which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. This campaign intends to elevate this issue on the global political and public agendas because there is a powerful connection between the Horn of Africa crisis and agriculture, and it is a shame that we still debate famine in the 21st century. We also need to help ensure African governments keep the promises they have made so that we can break the cycle of famine on the continent.

While the food crisis in the Horn of Africa tragically illustrates the impacts of drought and conflict, it also brings to the fore the effects of neglecting agriculture and local food systems. Reports of an emerging food crisis in the Sahel region highlight just how important this issue is.

Got to one.org/africa, sign the petition, and let’s put an end to famine.

Every year, on the first Friday of December, Ghanaians celebrate National Farmers Day in honor of the gallant farmers who feed the growing population and contributing to the nation’s GDP.

This year’s Farmers Day was centered around growing more food and promoting research for sustainable agriculture development. The event was held at Agona Nsaba in the Central Region of Ghana.

A search committee made up of members from the University of Cape Coast, University of Ghana and other organizations were dispatched to look for this year’s Ghana Best Farmer. It took them 63 days to submit their report to the chairman of the planning committee for National Farmers’ Day celebration.

Out of the 66 contestants, Ignatius Agbo emerged as the 2011 Ghana National Best farmer. He has a farm size of 480 acres, which includes 160 acres of cocoa, 12 acres of oil palm, 15 acres of citrus, 15 acres of plantain, 2 acres of cowpeas, 1 acre of sweet potatoes, 5 acres of cassava, 2 acres of coconut, and vegetables, together with his livestock occupying about 50 acres.

Agbo took home a three-bedroom, fully furnished house to be built at a location of his choice, a generator, laptop and fully loaded modem, and a trip to India. He was the central regional Best Farmer for 2002 and 2005 respectively. Ignatius Abgo called on the government to walk the talk and provide farmers with the needed resources for accelerated growth.

Vice president John Mahama said that the government is committed to make agriculture a key sector of the economy in spite of oil discovery.

The second national Best Farmer is Assemblyman Daniel Ankoma Mends, 39, from the Assin South District of the Central Region. He took home a tractor with implements and insurance coverage for a year.

Philip Kwaku Agyemang, 44, from the Brong Aharfo region came third, and was rewarded with a double-cab pickup truck and a year’s insurance coverage.

The National Best Fisherman went to Agya Kwesi, 39, and National Best Livestock farmer went to Joseph Boney, 70.

Among those rewarded was a disabled woman farmer — she has proved to the world that disability is not inability and that the future of food security lies in the hands of women farmers.

We congratulate you farmers of Ghana, AYEKOO!!!

-Ofosu Asamoah

Many thanks to ONE’s members, our collective voice has helped raise UN Appeal funding for the Horn of Africa by $1 billion and elicit another $700 million-plus in pledges. If combined and fulfilled, these pledges would more than fill the $530 million funding gap.

While ONE continues to press world leaders to deliver on their pledges and deliver much-needed life-saving support now, many Africans in the Horn are far from in the clear. Although the regions of Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle in Southern Somalia were downgraded from famine to humanitarian emergency status on November 18th, the situation in Somalia is still particularly dire.

Four million people remain food insecure in Somalia and 250,000 in Southern Somalia continue to face famine conditions. These conditions are expected to persist at least through December 2011 and depending on the favorability of rains in spring 2012, could be prolonged.

Displaced people face heightened risk of measles, cholera, polio, diarrhea and other diseases, due to malnutrition, close living quarters and inadequate toilet facilities. In Somalia, the number of children facing severe malnutrition nearly doubled in the second half of 2011. Cases of cholera and related deaths continue. Outbreaks of measles have been declining since September, but saw a small uptick in November.

The international community and local NGOs have resettled 4,000 drought-displaced Somali families (24,000 people) who were camped in Mogadishu. The returns are voluntary with most eager to take advantage of what’s left of the rainy season and start to rebuild their lives. United Arab Emirates-Red Crescent Society (UAE-RCS) in Somalia, one of the agencies involved in the resettlement process, is giving families $150 each in addition to a three-month supply of food, livestock and other resources.

A new two-part television program from Al Jazeera English, “Fault Lines” (watch in the player above) takes a look inside Mogadishu, where parents are burying their children and asking what more could have been done to prevent this crisis and what more can be done now. A very timely question as Al Shabaab ordered 16 aid agencies –- many of them from the United Nations –- to leave their territory.

After sporadic attacks and kidnappings inside Kenya’s borders by Al Shabab, Kenyan military forces invaded Somalia last month. The objective was to seize the transportation hub of Afmadow and the Indian Ocean port city of Kismayo, both important al-Shabaab strongholds south of Mogadishu. By doing so, Kenya is hoping to establish a buffer zone in Southern Somalia to prevent infiltration by terrorists and help humanitarian agencies in the region gain better access. Already Kenya has seized a few towns and is calling on aid agencies to return. Reuters reports that Kenya has been “plagued by a wave of attacks” since troops entered Somalia.

Ethiopia, despite the losses incurred from invasion from 2006 to 2009, is reported to be back across the Somali border. Although the Ethiopian government have not confirmed their participation, many eyewitnesses report Ethiopian troops in the town of Guriel. Little is known about Ethiopia’s intentions at this point.

What about the Somali government? Richard Dowden of the Royal African Society writes that with Al Shabaab withdrawn from Mogadishu in mid-August and “with the Kenyan military incursion in the south, presents the government –- known as the Transitional Federal Government -– with an opportunity to prove itself and deliver food and security to the people. But this is unlikely to happen…” He quotes from Horn of Africa specialist Ken Menkhaus “the TFG’s track record so far points to the opposite conclusion -– it has never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

In six weeks, our students completed a minimum of 48 hours of coursework related to hunger issues, international development policy, and advocacy skill-building. They reached out to policy makers, honed their persuasive writing and speaking skills, and mobilized their communities; but more importantly, they showed their passion for hunger and agriculture issues.

For their final project, we asked the griot students to plan and execute a project or event that mobilized others in the fight against hunger. The griot events were attended by thousands of people and generated 702 letters to US members of Congress, 209 letters to the editor, and 801 new ONE members. Needless to say, the events made quite an impact in the fight to maintain current and future funding for international hunger and agricultural programs. Check out our slide show to view some of the amazing events that took place all over the world.

Stay tuned to the ONE website for upcoming griot course opportunities in 2012!

Developing countries consume much less than Western nations, particularly in times of crisis, like with what we’re seeing in Somalia. However, despite a lower caloric intake, these poorer countries’ citizens spend more than 50 percent of their income on food.

Food Service Warehouse (FSW) created the interactive infographic to the left (click to launch) to explore the caloric intake of the 20 richest and poorest countries. They were expecting to see a lower average calorie consumption between the two sets of countries, but were surprised to find that the poorer countries spent more than half of their income on food.

Since FSW works with a lot of different organizations in the food industry, they have access to large sets of data. They utilize this data to explore its customers and industry, and in the process, often make startling discoveries. This food consumption infographic was developed after analyzing data for a competitive eating infographic. While conducting research on calorie consumption in the US, FSW noticed there was a huge difference in calorie intake among US citizens. These differences — attributed to factors like height, gender, activity level and geography — result in an average daily consumption of 3770 calories per person.

This seemed like an astronomical amount, especially in light of the Somalia famine. Thus, FSW turned to the FAO and WorldSalaries.org (which compiled information from local governments) to explore the differences between the 20 poorest and 20 richest countries.

Since there was so much data, FSW decided to make it interactive in order to better visualize the information. The graph below the map defaults on the caloric consumption of each country, highlighting the recommended daily consumption. Notice that all of the richest countries are above that line, while all of the poorest countries are below.

If you click on the tab to the right of the graph title, you’ll see the percentage of income spent on food by country. Note that almost all of the 20 poorest countries spend more than 50 percent of their income on food, compared to less than 25 percent among richer countries.

Each country on the graphs is labeled numerically in order for readers to find it on the map above. When you hover over the country’s numerical marker it shows more detailed information above the caloric intake versus the income spent on food.

There are some very interesting highlights in the data. First, 14 of the 20 lowest-consumption countries are located in Africa, with Angola spending the most at 80 percent. Conversely, the US spends only 6.9 percent of its income on food, the lowest in the world.

So why does all of this matter? First, the obesity epidemic is spreading quickly, particularly in the United States. Obesity leads to heart disease, diabetes, and even death. While it is slowly being addressed, obesity is still the second most common cause of preventable death in the US.

The second reason this information is important is the fact that food shortage is becoming a global food crisis according to some experts. This results in millions of deaths across the world, and billions of dollars spent on aid relief.

- Adria Saracino, Head of Outreach, Distilled Creative

This week, Bread for the World launched its 2012 Hunger Report. With the country focusing on family and food for the Thanksgiving holiday, it could not come at a better time. The report, “Rebalancing Act,” includes several recommendations for strengthening international food aid and policies. One suggestion, supported by panelists at Monday’s launch, which I had the opportunity to attend, is to make food aid more effective by allowing for more local and regional food purchases.

Kenya’s Ambassador Elkanah Odembo, one panelist at the event, drove home the importance of international food aid, declaring, “It is in the interest of the United States to invest in Africa to provide aid that is also an investment in sustainable livelihoods.”

The ambassador also talked about his hopes for the success of Feed the Future (FTF), the US government’s commitment to ending hunger in developing countries, calling it a positive beginning step toward these types of investments.

“FTF is exciting,” he said, “because it looks at food security in totality—production, accessibility and quality,” before praising other programs targeted at women, land and environment. He also warned that for the program to be successful, it must consider and insert itself in the bigger context of governance and infrastructure — it cannot be a stand alone initiative.

Domestically, the report proposes a rebalancing of farm policies to improve efficiency, encourage production and distribution of healthy foods, support rural development, and help farmers manage risk more efficiently. The report also calls for the protection of the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Since half of the program’s benefactors are children, public health professor and panelist Dr. Mariana Chilton’s announcement that “children are ingesting our policies and programs every day” rang true. These programs have a huge impact on not only child growth but also public health. For instance, for someone who is food insecure, the risk of a hospital visit increases 22 percent — a hospital visit that is more costly than food assistance programs.

Other panelists at the report’s launch included Bread for the World President Rev. David Beckmann and Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, both of whom focused similarly on child development and global health.

“Congress has a great opportunity to trim our federal deficit and fix our broken food system,” said Rev. Beckmann. “Tomorrow, the congressional Super Committee will report on how it plans to save taxpayer dollars. Today, we are offering a solution that will not only save money but save our country’s small farmers.”

So, while you’re enjoying your turkey, stuffing and other Thanksgiving traditions today, take a moment to think about how important food is. And think of others around the world who, with continued funding for programs like Feed the Future, can enjoy the same security for their own families -– all for less than just 1 percent of the US Federal budget.

Photo credit: Bread for the World

The 2011 ONE Africa Award finalists continue with the announcement of our third finalist, a model for social entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector. If you are already familiar with ONE’s recent activities then you will know that we recently launched our campaign to address the famine in the Horn of Africa. Hunger and malnutrition continue to be important issues on the continent and that’s why the work that our next finalist, Sylva Food Solutions (SFS), is doing is so important.

Sylvia Banda, the founder of SFS, is a very well known personality in Zambia and speaks regularly on the most popular private radio station in the country, Radio Phoenix, about the importance of using local foods, nutrition, and maintaining a healthy life style. With 10 employees, Sylvia started SFS in 2005 building on her successful catering business that had been around for about 25 years.

Sylvia Banda and members of her team

The idea for SFS came to Sylvia after observing the deterioration in the quality of the kinds of food being eaten in Zambia. Much of the food lacked nutritional content and she quickly noticed the opportunity for promoting the use of vegetables in the Zambian diet. Sylvia embarked on an effort to work with farmers and train them to preserve vegetables hygienically with the guarantee that she would purchase them, thereby guaranteeing a market for these goods. These vegetables, the leaves from staple crops like pumpkins and sweet potatoes, were previously discarded by the farmers but are now a new potential source of income.

Sylva Foods seeks to provide an efficient and viable avenue for rural smallholder farmers to market their indigenous farm produce to both local and export markets. The organization promotes improved quality of farm yields by training farmers to add value and focus on hygiene in the harvesting of their produce. In the last 6 years, Sylva Foods has trained over 8,500 smallholder rural farmers in Zambia, which has enabled them to scale up their production capacity and engage directly with the markets. They have also engaged in marketing and lobbying efforts to promote the consumption of indigenous foods, including working with the Zambian First Lady to participate in a national television program promoting the consumption of indigenous food. SFS also organized “Cook of the Year” competitions and involved hotels, schools and the general public to spread the message about the nutritional value of traditional foods.

Sylva Foods works with rural smallholder farmers

SFS has also impacted the consumer culture around Zambian vegetables and raised demand by advocating for a return to the traditional foods that Zambians used to eat before the global culture of fast food started impacting their diet. SFS invested profits from the catering business into the initial interventions including the cooking competitions. As they have built success, the government and donors have become involved and they have been able to access additional funding to scale up their work. The Zambian Development Agency has also featured SFS in many regional and international trade expositions leading to the development of agreements between SFS and other countries to supply their markets with indigenous Zambian food.

Sylvia Banda continues to develop her idea of transforming the agriculture sector to provide improved nutritional benefit and economic empowerment of Zambians. Her next endeavour is a catering college where she hopes that she will train the next generation of Zambian cooks who will be familiar with the nutritional value of local foods and able to respond to the increasing demand that she has helped to foster in her country.

Congratulations to Sylvia Food Solutions for all your hard work and for making it to the finals of the 2011 ONE Africa Award. We wish you the very best of luck.

Mo Ibrahim. Photo credit: Ibrahim Foundation

Recently, the Ibrahim Foundation released a report called “African Agriculture: From Meeting Needs to Creating Wealth.” This report is bursting with charts, statistics and case studies that focus on different aspects of African agriculture such as food security, land rights, food price volatility and much more.

So, what did it find?

For me, three things stand out in particular:

First, that agriculture represents 5 percent of Overseas Development Aid (ODA) from some of the richest economies.

Considering that agriculture constitutes the main source of livelihood for 80 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa, the fact that ODA accounts for such a small portion of total ODA is appalling. For Africa, agriculture is the driver of economic growth and poverty reduction and ONE encourages increased funding allocated to agriculture.

Second, just how many commitments have been made to African culture, yet how little follow through there has been.

At the very end of the report, the Ibrahim Foundation included a comprehensive list of agricultural-related agreements that have been made since 2000, what area of agriculture they focus on, and who it was made by. It demonstrates just how many commitments have been made to African agricultural and stresses just how much more action needs to be taken.

And lastly, that a framework for developing land policy to increase land security was adopted by the African governments, yet much land insecurity exists.

In 2009, a Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa was launched by the African Union, the African Development Bank and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) that focuses on ensuring that land policy provides equal access to land and resources, securing land tenure for women. Despite this, more than 90 percent of land in Africa remains under informal tenure systems. Increased efforts in implementing this framework by creating a formal land registering system can help to reduce land insecurity, increase agricultural investment, and minimize land grabs.

Agriculture has been and continues to be paramount in increasing economic growth and reducing poverty in Africa. ONE knows it, the Ibrahim Foundation knows it — but do you?

There are numerous and sundry causes and reasons for death in our world today — and there always have been throughout history. But there has never been a time in our history when it is right, expected, accepted or promoted for a child to die of hunger.

But it still happens and it continues to happen now, in Somalia, and in other parts of our world.

I am a native of a state with a rich agricultural history and a defining moment in its history when people fled the state to a better life. We know it as the Dust Bowl.

In the 1930s, while our country was struggling with an economic catastrophe known as the Great Depression, drought combined with poor farming practices such as lack of crop rotation, cover crops, over-farming and fallow fields, rendered thousands of acres of once fertile land useless.

Hundreds of thousands of people packed up their meager belongs, and fled to California and other states seeking a better life. Most did not find it. We did not call them refugees; we called them “Okies.”

Today, during a time of economic uncertainty, we face the same situation. Every six minutes a child in Somalia dies from starvation or a related cause. The children, along with their siblings, mother and maybe father, carry — while they can — their meager belongings for days upon days to a neighboring country; they hope not just for a better life, but for simply some food. We call them refugees, or displaced persons. We cannot yet call them survivors.

Death by starvation is one of the most painful and cruelest ways to die. The body begins to feed on itself, organ systems shut down, muscles atrophy, the nervous systems shuts down. No child should die this way.

Yet it is happening. And to stop it, as an Oklahoman and as an American, it is up to me to raise my voice and say, “No more.” I will call, write and use social media to let my elected leaders know it is important to me and the pride I have in my country to continue to provide humanitarian aid in times of crisis, and to continue to make a funding priority of development aid focused on sustainable agriculture.

Because no child should die of hunger.

-Martha Wyatt, Agriculture Griot