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Hunger is on the
march, fueled by
the food and
financial
crisis, which
has added more
than 100 million
people to the
ranks of the
malnourished.
Today, for the
first time in 40
years, more than
one billion
people are
hungry; one out
of every six
people on earth
does not get
enough food to
sustain a
healthy life.
Every six
seconds a child
dies from
hunger.
No strategy will
end hunger
unless it both
secures
individual
access to
affordable
nutrition as
well as
increases world
wide
production.
Food security
may be the
single most
critical issue
of our time.
Malnutrition
permanently
stunts bodies
and minds in
children under
two. We are in
danger of losing
a generation.
Today, for the
first time in 40
years, more than
one billion
people are
hungry…
Ending hunger is
not only about
growing more
food. Last year,
we had enough to
feed the world.
But skyrocketing
food and fuel
prices drove
desperately
hungry people to
riot in more
than 30
countries.
Hunger can lead
to dangerous
destabilization.
Without food
people riot,
migrate or die.
None of these
are acceptable
options.
As economist
Amartya Sen, who
won a Nobel
Prize for his
work on the
causes and cures
for famine,
demonstrated
famine is a
result of lack
of access to
food saying,
“Starvation is
the
characteristic
of some people
not having
enough to eat.
It is not the
characteristic
of there being
enough to eat.”
The World Food
Program last
year reached 100
million of the
world’s most
vulnerable. With
food prices
higher than a
year ago in 50
developing world
countries, and
the economic
crisis hitting
the incomes of
the world’s
poorest people,
we see a
compounding
crisis of urgent
hunger.
In each nation,
region and
community access
to food was cut
off for a
variety of
reasons –
conflict in
regions from
Pakistan to
Somalia forced
millions from
their land,
long-term
drought in
sub-Saharan
Africa left once
productive lands
barren, global
economic forces
in financial
capitals far
from their
shores made food
unaffordable.
A half century
ago, the world
created
institutions,
including the
World Food
Program,
designed to be
counter-cyclical,
to expand – not
contract – when
times are bad.
WFP is the
safety net for
the world’s most
vulnerable.
Even with a
doubling of
contributions to
WFP last year,
global food aid
supplies are at
a 20 year low –
just when they
are needed the
most. At this
moment of
dramatically
growing need, it
is vital that we
continue to
ensure access to
food to those
who have no
other solution.
We need to tap
into the
knowledge of how
to leverage food
aid into food
assistance – how
to work with
nations so they
inherit targeted
nutrition safety
net programs
toward food
self-sufficiency.
The world knows
how to solve
hunger. Over the
last two
centuries many
nations have
done just that.
Just a few
generations ago
Ireland was
ravaged by
famine. Twenty
years ago China
received more of
WFP’s food than
any other
country. Today
they provide
resources for
our work in
other countries.
Brazil is
busting the
hunger curve by
creating
sustainable
safety net
programs for its
people that cost
less than .5
percent of its
GDP.
It’s false logic
to choose
between an
investment in
agriculture or
an investment in
individual food
access.
It’s false logic
to choose
between an
investment in
agriculture or
an investment in
individual food
access. As we
help small
farmers get more
from their land,
we also need to
build a world
where every
person has
affordable
access to
adequate
nutrition.
The United
States has
written the book
on combating
hunger at home
with
agricultural
production
combined with
food safety
nets, such as
school lunches.
This country is
a leader in food
fortification
and nutritional
knowledge. We
urge the United
States to put
the hungry
individual,
along with the
small holder
farmer, at the
center of its
food security
call to action.
If we do this
right, today’s
investment in
nutrition could
be the end of
food aid
tomorrow.
RF
Josette
Sheeran is the
Executive
Director of the
World Food
Programme. She
previously
served as Under
Secretary of
State for
Economic, Energy
and Agricultural
Affairs in the
administration
of President
George W. Bush.
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