Hunger Crisis
Watch this and you’ll understand why hunger still exists
After journalist-turned-agriculture activist Roger Thurow witnessed the 2003 famine in Ethiopia first hand, he dropped everything and devoted his life to answering this mind-boggling question: Why are Africa’s small farmers some of the continent’s hungriest people?
Kudos to Roger for not only being brave enough to ask this question, but for doing all the research to be able to answer it, too. I’ve worked with Roger for over a year now at ONE (and read both his books too) – and this TEDx Talk from him brought tears to my eyes. I have never seen such die-hard passion and sincerity in an activist until now, and I am proud to say I work with him.
Please find 20 minutes today to watch this video – then let him know what you think in a comment below.
Did Roger’s TEDx Talk inspire you? In just a few weeks world leaders are meeting in the UK to make big decisions on global nutrition, and we need your help to call for the right action. It could help 25 million children escape malnutrition by 2016 and grow up to reach their full potential.
VIDEO: Powder paint fight for global hunger
Young activists in the UK have been getting messy to raise awareness about the biggest ever national campaign to end global hunger.
Ten points if you recognised the Rudyard Kipling poem If which has been re-worked for this film, and ten bonus rock-geek points if you knew that alternative metal band Enter Shikari provided the soundtrack and voiceover.
Enough Food for Everyone IF is a movement of over 100 organisations, including ONE, who have come together in 2013 to influence a series of big opportunities in the UK that could kick start the end of global hunger – including the G8 Summit which is being held in Northern Ireland in June.
The message is simple: there is enough food in the world for everyone, but not everyone has enough food to eat. The solutions to end global hunger are there, but we need to come together and make world leaders act if it’s ever going to become a reality.
If you’re 16-25 there are three exciting campaign missions to get involved in, including a creative challenge that led this group of activists to hold the paint fight. Find out more and download the campaign toolkit.
And if you are over 25 and feeling really annoyed that someone has decided you’re too old to throw paint and like alternative metal, you can either join in anyway (we won’t tell), or see what else you can do to support the campaign.
150,000 call for action on hunger
Yesterday I delivered over 150,000 signatures to Stephen O’Brien MP, the Prime Minister’s Envoy & Special Representative to the Sahel.
12 million people are still at risk in the Sahel region of West Africa due to the worst droughts for 60 years, so we wanted the UK government to hear our call to end the cycle of crisis and expand the New Alliance.
The New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security will “increase responsible domestic and foreign private investments in African agriculture, take innovations that can enhance agricultural productivity to scale, and reduce the risk borne by vulnerable economies and communities.”
It’s an ambitious commitment, and although the petition is now out of our hands, we’ll be sure to hold the UK government and New Alliance partners to account.
150,000 people are watching, while 12 million wait for these words to become actions.
Bono’s Georgetown speech on social activism uplifts and inspires
ONE Co-founder Bono gave a powerful speech on activism and global social movements to a crowd of 700 students at Georgetown University last night. His nearly hour-long speech received a standing ovation and praise on Twitter and Facebook. Many students walked away feeling inspired and uplifted.
“Best speech ever,” one student remarked as he left the building. “This is going to be all over YouTube tomorrow,” another said.
Click on the image below to watch the full speech:
UK appoints new Special Representative for the Sahel
Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced the appointment of Stephen O’Brien MP as UK Special Representative for the Sahel. It’s good to see this crucial issue receiving renewed attention from the UK government.
As a former minister at the Department for International Development, Mr O’Brien will know well the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in this part of West and Central Africa. More than 18 million people are facing a desperate food crisis and cannot find, harvest or afford the food that once nourished them.
It is vital that we lay the right foundation for lasting change in the Sahel – a region that has plunged into crisis for the third time in under a decade. The challenges of development and security are complex. But six countries in the region already have long-term, vetted plans to give people the tools they need to lift themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty. Some of the world’s most powerful countries have pledged to help fund these plans. But unless they act right now, these plans will just gather dust.
Almost 152,000 people have already signed our petition calling on world leaders to act urgently, including by funding the UN’s humanitarian appeal in the Sahel, and in particular supporting plans for long-term investment in farming to help end the cycle of crisis. If you haven’t already done so, add your name now. We hope that Mr O’Brien will too.
Hunger Summit: A fitting legacy from the Olympics
This weekend UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Bazil’s Vice President Temer hosted global hunger event in London, with the aim of focusing the world’s attention on combating hunger and malnutrition.
On Friday, ONE members working with Concern Worldwide, UNICEF, Save the Children and Oxfam helped hand in a petition of 643,486 names calling for action on hunger by World Leaders:
Poverty means parents can’t feed their families enough nutritious food, leaving children malnourished. Malnutrition leads to irreversibly stunted development and shorter, less productive lives. Less productive lives mean no escape from poverty.
Adrian Lovett Europe Executive Director of ONE said:
“In the last two weeks, London has seen the best of human ambition and achievement. The Prime Minister and the Vice President of Brazil deserve real credit for seizing this moment to insist on the same ambition in the race to end extreme hunger and malnutrition. For too long, this scourge has failed to receive the global attention it deserves. Efforts to provide children the nutrients they need to grow and thrive have been under funded and under resourced. Today is an important start to putting nutrition more firmly on the agenda.
“Earlier this year, leaders committed to a long-term World Health Organisation target to dramatically reduce the number of children affected by stunting. What is needed now to achieve this is much more political will to galvanise the resources, capacity and attention that are essential to accelerate progress.
“If world leaders deliver on the direction set here today, over 21 million children could be saved from stunting by the next Olympics in Rio. Among those children will be future doctors, entrepreneurs, scientists, political leaders – even the next Mo Farah. Giving those children the chance not just to survive but to thrive will be a fantastic and fitting legacy from this inspiring Olympics.
“Having laid these firm foundations, David Cameron must build on them next year. Just as Britain’s athletes have excelled in 2012, UK leadership in the fight against hunger must be world class in 2013.
“It is fitting that the next Olympics are in Brazil – a country that has made remarkable progress in reducing stunting over the past 3 decades. Brazil has shown that success is possible. For the world to succeed, the Prime Minister and Vice President Temer will need the private sector, civil society and other world leaders to join them in taking up this challenge.”
You can take action against hunger on our Act Now page.
Join the Race Against Hunger
Over the last couple of weeks, you might have noticed the large and exciting sporting event taking place in the UK. Athletes from all over the world have come together to compete in a spirit of peace and solidarity in the games.
With the world’s eyes on London, we have a unique opportunity to call on British Prime Minister David Cameron to launch the race against hunger.
Without nutritious food, athletes couldn’t compete at the games. But many of the world’s poorest children simply don’t get the nutrients they need to grow and develop, and won’t have the chance to fulfill their potential.
To coincide with the campaign, we’ve launched a new online game where you can compete with your friends and world leaders (and sign our petition as well).
David Cameron has announced that he will hold an event on hunger and nutrition during the Olympics, and this could be a real chance for him to take a stand.
We need to call on him to seize this opportunity and announce a commitment to save millions of children from stunting by the time of the next Olympic Games in 2016 – giving them a real chance to thrive.
And we need your help to spread the word – please play the game, email it to your friends, and share it online.
Let’s make this moment talked about for another great reason – let’s go for gold in the race against hunger.
EU announces more funding and new initiative for the Sahel crisis
Today, the European Commission hosted an international conference on the Sahel region of West Africa, where 18 million people are in danger from hunger. High-level representatives from EU, OECD and West-African countries, African regional organizations and UN agencies came together to find lasting responses to the food and nutrition crises.
During this conference, EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva announced that the EU will increase its humanitarian funding to the Sahel by €40 million. “This funding is about saving lives in an emergency. It is our last chance to get to people when the crisis peaks” said the Commissioner. In total, the EU has now spent €337 million in humanitarian aid to the Sahel.
However, the conference was not just about responding to the crisis, but about how to link up emergency relief with long-term development so that such crises can be prevented in future. EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs was also at the meeting and used the opportunity to launch a brand new initiative called “AGIR Sahel” (Alliance Globale pour l’Initiative Resilience), aimed at helping people in the Sahel to better cope with future droughts.
This comes just months after both Commissioners together launched a similar initiative called “SHARE” (Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience), which aimed to break the vicious cycle of humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa region. ONE welcomes this approach to linking up emergency relief with development. ONE Brussels Director Eloise Todd said “Investing in agriculture is the best insurance policy we can have against future food crises. That’s why we need to increase effective agriculture investments in the next EU budget”.
Commissioner Piebalgs said today that “the EU will play its part by focusing its aid on agriculture and food security in the coming years.” In order to be able to implement this focus, it is important that the EU can count on sufficient resources. The EU and its Member States are currently deciding on the next EU budget for 2014-2020 in which €51 billion is earmarked for development assistance. It is important that we protect those funds despite threats of budget cuts, so that people can invest in time for a future free of hunger. You can sign our petition here to ask European leaders to do just that.
Time for a new G8 Hunger Commitment?
The following is a guest blog from Natasha Adams, Campaigns and Parliamentary Officer at Concern Worldwide
I find it really hard to imagine how awful it must be to go without enough to eat, let alone the horror of being unable to feed my family. Most of us in the UK are lucky – although the price of food is creeping up we rarely miss meals and have access to enough of the food we like to keep us healthy. We may moan we’re ‘starving’ if we have to skip lunch, but we don’t stop to think about what this really means.
One in seven people don’t have enough to eat – in a world where enough food is produced for all. Another one in seven don’t have enough nutritious food to keep them healthy.
The recent ONE campaign research ‘Small Change: Big Difference’, highlights how important UK aid is, and what a huge difference it is making to the world’s poorest people. We should feel proud that our Government is committed to keeping its promise on aid spending, but as a leader in international development the UK can do more to encourage other countries to make a difference too.
This year the US will host the G8 summit in May, with a focus on food security, agriculture and nutrition, as the last G8 Hunger Promise comes to an end. After this year’s summit in the US, G8 leaders will meet here in the UK in 2013. This means the UK Government is in a great position to push for all G8 leaders to make a new and improved commitment to reduce world hunger, and the UK can continue to lead the way when we host the summit next year.
You can help
Prime Minister David Cameron will represent the UK at the G8 summit, and he can push for a new hunger commitment. We think the best way of getting him to hear our voices on this is to ask supporters to email their MPs, asking that MPs write to the Prime Minister. If enough MPs write, quoting emails from constituents, this will give a clear message that the UK public care about hunger.
Concern would like the new hunger commitment to be developed in partnership with poorer countries, so they can say how best money can be spent to ensure the poorest people have access to nutritious food. It makes sense to focus on sustainability as well, and this will mean support to the poorest farmers to help them grow more. Finally, we would like the new commitment to be measured not on funds committed but against impact on hunger, so we can be sure it is working.
Please help by emailing your MP today – our template email means this will only take 2 minutes, and you can edit it yourself.
ONE’s first petition in Africa delivered to President Kikwete in Tanzania
“Farming is the future. Famines should be consigned to history.”
A group of smallholder farmers and ordinary African citizens marched to State House in Tanzania today, to deliver a petition signed by more than 16,000 African ONE members. This was the first time Tanzanian President Kikwete had received a continent wide petition, and the first time ONE had delivered a petition on African soil.
ONE members and partner organisations march to State House
President Jakaya Kikwete captured the soul of the event when he explained its importance, saying:
“It is important because it reminds us that Agriculture is the life-blood of our country, sustaining our people in towns and villages and meeting their basic needs.”
ONE’s Dr Sipho Moyo presents the petition to President Kikwete
Mrisho Mpoto (aka MJOMBA) a famous East African poet, agreed:
“Hunger is not acceptable. Hunger makes people suffer, affects child’s mental growth, diminishes the honour of the family and nation. World leaders have a role to play. Invest in agriculture, support the future generation and attain the MDGs”
The petition calls on African leaders to provide greater food security for ordinary Africans by investing more in support for smallholder farmers. ANSAF, (Agricultural Non State Actors Forum), who have been key partners in the Hungry No More campaign, were also present. Campaigners called on President Jakaya Kikwete to take the lead on investment in sustainable agriculture, setting the standard for other African Heads of State.
Dr. Sipho S. Moyo, Africa Director at ONE, said:
“If you want to reduce poverty, you need to go where poverty is. Reducing poverty will mean targeting investments towards smallholders in order to employ local labor, supply local markets and spend earnings in local markets which creates multiplier effects in rural economies, improves local food self-sufficiency and reduces rural inequality.
This is why President Jakaya Kikwete’s government commitment to continue focusing on building an enabling environment for smallholder farmers, is encouraging. Currently only 7 African countries have kept their promise to do 10% – this number must increase by the tenth anniversary in 2013, and we are delighted Tanzania is leading the way”.
The petition also challenges African leaders to demonstrate their resolve in tackling famine and other agriculture related problems on the continent by:
- Targeting investments in small-holder farmers (especially women) and encouraging sustainable private resources for agricultural development
- Fulfilling the 2003 Maputo Declaration on Agriculture, which called for 10% budget allocated to Agriculture and Rural Development
- Improving transparency and accountability in budget and expenditure processes so progress towards achieve the Maputo Declaration and the Comprehensive Agricultural Development Programme can be monitored
The petition is part of a campaign led by ONE in Africa, ANSAF and other African partners stressing on the importance of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than three-quarters of the poor live outside of urban centres and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Audax Rukonge, ANSAF’s Executive director said:
“MKUKUTA and the Tanzania Five Year Development Plan commits the government to address food insecurity and poverty, among others. In the Tanzanian context, and probably most of African countries, poverty is a rural phenomenon, and agriculture is the main livelihood source. Tanzania can attain some of the Millennium Development as well as MKUKUTA Goals if we invest in agriculture and particularly smallholder farmers. Let us increase the share of agriculture that benefits smallholders and transform the sector for equitable economic growth”.
Studies show that in 2010 agriculture contributed at least 24% to Tanzania’s GDP, accounted for 60% of its labor and provided 34% of its exports. This was far more than the 17.3% contributed by the Manufacturing, 28.2% from minerals and 22.5% from the tourism industry. The strategic importance of agriculture to Tanzania’s fight against poverty is therefore not debatable.
The potential for agriculture in Tanzania and across the region is immense – the right investments now can help ensure that agriculture helps lead the economic transformation of the continent. Currently, Tanzania spends close to 7% of its budget on Agriculture. Nearly ten years ago African leaders made an historic promise to their people, – especially those amongst the poorest – it was to spend at least 10% of the budget on agriculture and farming. Few have kept this promise. Before the 10th anniversary its time they all did so as part of other improvements to beat hunger and boost wellbeing across Africa.
Following today’s event ONE and partners will take the campaign to forthcoming regional events including the AU Summit in Malawi in July.
A big thank you to all ONE members who signed the petition. With your help we really are making a difference!
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About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
TAGS: Agriculture, Food, Hunger Crisis, Nutrition, Nutrition for Growth