The Executive Director of the World Food Programme Josette Sheeran recently outlined a 10 point strategy for ending hunger. According to a WFP press release, the
“world is making headway on fighting hunger – the first Millennium Goal — but not as fast as is needed. The proportion of hungry people in the world has in fact fallen from 20 percent in 1990 to about 16 percent today — still short of the 10 percent target set for 2015.”
Sheeran emphasized that if these principles are followed, ending world hunger is an achievable goal within this generation. The 10 strategies and their explanations, according to the press release, are as follows.
(1) Humanitarian action. “Food assistance in crisis situations saves lives and is often the first step on the road to recovery. As well as safeguarding nutrition, food can also protect livelihoods and support education. In this way it is an investment in a country’s future.”
(2) School meals. School meals help fight child hunger and can help keep them in school so that they can get an education.
(3) Safety nets. Around 80 percent of the world does not have a safety net when a food crisis occurs. Setting up safety nets in linked to schools and local farmers can help create the means for a population to cope with shock.
(4) Connecting small farmers to markets. Small farmers often don’t have access to markets, sometimes simply because there are no roads. Giving access to markets can only increase agricultural development and help ensure food security.
(5) First 1,000 days. “Inadequate nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life – from gestation through 24 months – causes irreversible damage to a child’s mind and body. Nourishing children with the right foods at the right time is an investment in the future.”
(6) Empowering women. “When women are supported, whether as farmers or as food providers, families eat. Also, studies show that high rates of hunger are strongly linked to gender inequalities. The power of women must be unleashed if we are to feed the world.”
(7) Technology revolution. “Today, in Syria, the refugees from Iraq get a voucher on a cell phone to spend in a local store.” With these technological advances, efficient access to and production of food can be increased.
(8) Building resiliency. Food assistance during emergencies can help vulnerable communities cope, and help the situation go from worse to better.
(9) The power of the individual. “There is tremendous power when individuals are activated to get involved. And this power is exponentially increased through the Internet and social media. We need to explore further the power of these new communications tools to build a global community of hunger-fighters.”
(10) Showing leadership. “According to Sheeran, the single most critical factor in ending hunger is when a leader says, ‘Not on my watch.’ To end world hunger will require leadership of the sort which allowed Brazil to make huge inroads into hunger in recent years. Hunger may be the most fundamental of human problems. But it can be solved.”
Posted by Rishi Sihu.
Photo credit: WFP/Jennifer Mizgata
