Ending Childhood Hunger in Africa

Claire V. Bloom

Executive Director End 68 Hours of HungerM.S.S.I., M.S.E.L., CIRM, MBTI Master Practitioner

www.end68hoursofhunger.org

Hunger

• The uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food

• The want or scarcity of food

Malnutrition

• A condition caused by improper diet or

nutrition

Malnutrition – Three Types

• Protein is necessary for key body functions including provision of essential amino acids and  development and maintenance of muscles.

Energy Malnutrition

• The lack of enough food that provides energy (measured in calories). This is the type of malnutrition that is referred to when world hunger is discussed and is the most lethal form of malnutrition/hunger.

Micronutrient

• Vitamin and Mineral deficiency, each of which has a specific function in terms of the human body and health.

Famine

• Famine is a widespread scarcity of food

which is usually accompanied by regional

malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and

increased mortality.

Starvation

• Starvation describes a "state of exhaustion of the body caused by lack of food."

• This state may precede death.

Causes of Hunger

• The principal underlying cause of poverty and hunger is the ordinary operation of the economic and political systems in the world.

• Essentially control over resources is based on military, political and economic power that typically ends up in the hands of a minority, who live well, while those lower down struggle, and at the bottom, barely survive, if they do.

• Conflict is also a cause of hunger and poverty. The last few years have witnessed a significant increase in refugee numbers, due primarily to the violence taking place in the world.

• Poverty causes hunger. Hunger causes poverty. By causing poor health, low levels of energy, and even mental impairment, hunger can lead to even greater poverty by reducing people's ability to work and learn. 

• In the developing world more than 1.4 billion currently live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1.25 per day.

FACT!

• One Billion People in the developing world are undernourished, consuming less than the minimum number of calories essential for sound health and growth.

• Economically the effort of constantly trying to get food consumes valuable time and energy allowing poor people less time and energy for work and earning income.

• Pregnant women and new mothers who breastfeed infants and children are among the most at risk of undernourishment.

• Hunger among pregnant women in developing countries leads to 1 out of 6 infants born with low birth weight as well as learning disabilities, mental retardation, poor health, blindness and premature death.

• A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation.

• Hunger negatively affects people’s productivity, sense of hope and overall well being.

Progress

• 1996 World Food Summit goal - halve the number of undernourished people by 2015 from their number in 1990-92 (824 million).

• In 2009, the number had climbed to 1.02 billion people. 

Not enough food to go around

• Reality: Enough wheat, rice and other grains are produced to provide every human being with 3,500 calories, 4.3 pounds of food per person per day worldwide: two and half pounds of grain, beans and nuts, about a pound of fruits and vegetables, and nearly another pound of meat, milk and eggs-enough to make most people fat!

• The problem is that many people are too poor to buy readily available food, and are located too far from it.

Nature is to blame

• Reality: Food is always available for those who can afford it—starvation during hard times hits only the poorest. Human institutions and policies determine who eats and who starves during hard times. Natural events are simply the final push over the brink.

Too many people

• Reality: Birth rates are falling rapidly worldwide. Although rapid population growth remains a serious concern in many countries, nowhere does population density explain hunger. Hunger results from underlying inequities that deprive people, especially poor women, of economic opportunity and security.

Need large farms

• Reality: Small farmers typically achieve at least four to five times greater output per acre, in part because they work their land more intensively and use integrated, and often more sustainable, production systems. Comprehensive land reform has markedly increased production in countries as diverse as Japan, Zimbabwe, and Taiwan. A World Bank study of northeast Brazil estimates that redistributing farmland into smaller holdings would raise output an astonishing 80 percent.

Free market can do it

• Reality: Every economy on earth combines the market and government in allocating resources and distributing goods. The market's marvelous efficiencies can only work to eliminate hunger when purchasing power is widely dispersed.

UN Agencies - Rome

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

• FAO provides policy and technical assistance to developing countries to promote food security, nutrition and sustainable agricultural production, particularly in rural areas.

• WFP’s key mission is to deliver food into the hands of the hungry poor during emergencies and to help the transition from recovery to development.

• IFAD focuses on poor rural people, designs and implements programmes to help those people access the assets, services and opportunities they need to overcome poverty.

•  

Sustainable food

• Fund projects so people can provide food for themselves in a sustainable way, making them able to create their own, steady, supply of food.

Access to Credit

• Many organisations are helping people in poor countries to gain access to credit and they have created many industries, such as farms, that help create a sustainable provision for people and also develop nations economically.

Food Donations

• The impact of donations, both cash and food, have had an immense impact on world hunger. Organisations such as Food for All have customers donate $1-5 when checking out. Last year they raised a whopping $60 million to fight world hunger.

Transitioning

• Start by providing families with food, but then slowly find solutions to empower families to be self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency allows for a certain food income, while donations does not always guarantee food.

Urban Farming

• Almost one-quarter of undernourished people live in an urban environment. Urban farming empowers families to gain control over their own food source.

Education

• Education is the best weapon against poverty and hunger. It is especially powerful in underdeveloped countries. It gives children and adults more access to income and food. In countries with food-for-education programs, students are given free food for coming to school.

Social Change

• Many social issues, such as war, pose a fundamental problem to halting world hunger. This can only change when people in developed nations begin to care about this issue and pressure their governments to be productive in ending conflict.

Government Intervention

• Aid to foreign nations needs to be more focused on government intervention, like programs that provide food to mothers and their children in poor areas.

Empowering Women

• There is a direct correlation between hunger and gender inequalities. Empowering women to gain access to food, be providers, and lead their families has had a major impact on food access and ability to change financial situations.

Birth Control

• High birthrates pose a problem when trying to solve hunger. Many people are not educated on reproduction or do not have access to contraceptives. Gaining access to contraceptives allows for family planning and economic freedom.

Food Bank South Africa

• One third of all food produced in South Africa goes to waste, while more than 11 million hungry people are living without the fundamental security of regular meals.

• FoodBank South Africa provides a central logistics infrastructure that collects edible food from manufacturers and retailers, and ensures that this food is redistributed to help feed thousands of hungry people every day.

End 68 Hours of Hunger

• 100% volunteer organisation• 100% of all funds buy food

How Does it Work?

• Companies and individuals donate funds and food• Volunteers buy what food is needed• Volunteer teams fill the bags of food from our

warehouses, and take them to the schools on Friday morning

• Guidance Counselors and nurses distribute the bags to the children in need, and the children take them home.

School 1 School2 School

3School

4

Total DemandTo Packing

Team

Town #1

Demand

Food Supplies

Donors of food

StorePurchases

Donors of funds

$$Supply

Teams pack the food in bags/backpacksProduction

School 1

School2

School 3

School 4

Distribution

How Much Does it Cost?

• The cost per week is $10 per child• 45 weeks of the school year is $450 per

child• We start with the elementary schools.

What is in each Bag?

• Each bag contains food for two breakfasts, two lunches, and three dinners similar to the following:– One box of cereal, three pkgs of pop tarts, four pkgs instant oatmeal– Two nutrition bars– One jar of peanut butter, jelly or mayonnaise– One can of fruit– Two cans of soup– One can of tuna/chicken– One box of crackers– One box of macaroni and cheese or three packages of Ramen

noodles

Who Will Do It?

• End 68 Hours of Hunger partners with the schools, individuals and numerous civic and corporate sponsors to buy, store, and distribute food to the school for these children.

• For more information go to www.end68hoursofhunger.org

What We Want!

• What we all want is healthy, happy, well educated children who grow up to be responsible adults

I always wondered why someone didn’t do

something about it…….

And then I realised, I AM somebody!

Questions?

• www.end68hoursofhunger.org• ExecutiveDirector@end68hoursofhunger.o

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