World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide

More Than 9 million In Sahel Face Food Crisis —Reuters

More than 9 million people in five countries in Africa’s Sahel region face food crisis next year, following low rainfall, poor harvests, high food prices, and a drop in remittances from migrants. WFP estimates between 5-7 million people are affected by what it called climate-related crisis and are in need of urgent assistance, with at least a million children in the Sahel facing malnutrition next year. 

Ivory Coast: Refugees Still Fear Returning Home —Global Post

8 months after this country’s post-election violence ended, hundreds of thousands of people still have not returned home. Many risk hunger if they leave a camp without humanitarian assistance. WFP is therefore offering food not only to those displaced but also to returnees. 

Greening Latin America: Investing In Nature For A Sustainable Future —The Huffington Post

Some of Latin America’s leading agricultural businesses from sugarcane growers to ranchers to soy producers understand that improving sustainability has a positive impact on their bottom line, local communities and the lands and waters on which all life depends. 

While a Deal Sets Up New Climate Talks, Scientists Help Africans Adapt Now —The Christian Science Monitor

Challiss McDonough of WFP confirms that technology systems like FEWS-NET are useful tools. “FEWS-NET was among the first to predict that some areas of southern Somalia could slide into famine conditions, and that warning was instrumental in getting the attention of some donors before the crisis peaked,” says McDonough.

Help Still Needed After Record-Breaking Year for Disasters —CNN

Relief organizations have been working year round to provide emergency aid when disaster strikes and long-term assistance in the months and years that follow. WFP is aiming to feed 11 million people in East Africa. The organization is currently reaching almost 8 million. 

Key Political Risks to Watch in Sudan and South Sudan —Reuters

Sudan and South Sudan face severe disputes over sharing oil revenues and ending fighting in a border region, as both nations seek to overcome enormous economic challenges. With oil revenues expected to fall, it will be harder for the government to get foreign currency needed for food and other imports. 

Aid Groups: Children in North Korea at Risk for Starvation this Winter —PBS Newshour

Floods and a brutal winter have cut into crop production and combined with rising global food prices, have created severe food shortages throughout the country. Aid groups are increasingly concerned about the health effects on North Koreans, especially the country’s children. 

Calling on the Food and Beverage Industry to Help Reduce Poverty —The Huffington Post

While governments and non-profits have a critical role to play in reducing poverty and hunger around the world, it is becoming clear that the global food and beverage companies may have an even stronger hand to play.  Innovative government policies, including the U.S. ‘Feed the Future” program, are spurring change. 

Rural Women Make Themselves Heard in Durban —IRIN

The Rural Women’s Assembly, a network of women’s groups from more than 10 African countries, including Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Burundi, came together in Durban, joining the civil society meetings outside the conference seeking to raise awareness about the impact climate change will have at the grassroots level. 

WFP School Feeding Programme Doing Well —IPP Media

A new study has revealed that academic performance and attendance in schools in five regions in the country have improved tremendously, thanks to the school-feeding programme sponsored by WFP. The programme was designed to support primary education in drought prone and pastoral areas and is known as Food-For-Education. 

South Korea to Send $5.7 Million in Aid to North Korea —NY Times 

South Korea said Monday that it would resume sending aid to the North through UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, which it had halted more than a year ago amid tensions over the sinking of a South Korean warship. 

ECHO in the Field: Help on Rotors —European Commission Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection

Quick and safe access to humanitarian crises is at times difficult and often altogether impossible when infrastructure such as roads and bridges are destroyed or conflict makes them too dangerous to use. The European Commission is addressing this gap by contributing €6 million towards two helicopters that will be based in Kampala, Uganda with a worldwide mandate to strengthen the humanitarian response capacity.

Executive Director Josette Sheeran on Preventing Famine —IMF

Droughts like the current one in east Africa may not be preventable, but famines are. The international community has the tools to prevent the “roads of death” we are witnessing in parts of Somalia. In areas where the humanitarian community has access, millions of hungry people are being reached with life-saving action. 

Afghanistan Faces Drought, Hunger —Huffington Post

An estimated 2.6 million Afghans are facing food shortages after one of the worst droughts to strike northern Afghanistan in a decade, according to Afghan officials and aid agencies. Already living in poverty in a country at war, many have been left destitute by the drought, which has affected 14 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces – all in the north. Hundreds of children have been treated for malnutrition. Families are selling their animals at below-market prices. 

WFP Highlights Importance of Nutrition for HIV People –Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

WFP has stressed the need to increase the provision of food with enhanced nutrition for people living with HIV especially those undergoing Anti Retro Viral treatment. In a statement to mark World AIDS day, the Chief of Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Policy Martin Bloem, said the WFP will continue to provide the right food to vulnerable populations, to help promote good health for patients while protecting their families from the negative impacts of HIV.