Saving Lives Through Food Aid

Talk to an Afghanistan Expert: Zieba Shorish-Shamley Graphic: US Food Drops Afghanistan Food Facts: from USAID Afghanistan Humanitarian Updates: from UNHCR Coverage of Afghanistan Humanitarian Activities: from BBC.com from Médecins Sans Frontières from Oxfam International from UNFPA

Oct. 9 — The international community will mark World Food Day on October 16, 2001, with a special focus on reducing hunger to combat global poverty. In conjunction with international observance of World Food Day, the World Food Prize will be awarded on October 18th to Per Pinstrup-Anderson, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

World Food Day is marked each year on October 16 -- the anniversary of the founding of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Each year, the international community commemorates World Food Day to highlight issues affecting the more than 800 million people who are chronically hungry and malnourished around the world. Hunger and food insecurity is associated with a wide variety of concerns – from child mortality and education to environmental degradation and women’s health. For example:

·2 billion people lack food security – access to sufficient safe and nutritious food needed to maintain a health life;

·50% of the world live in countries unable to produce or import sufficient food for their people;

·In Africa, 65 percent of agricultural land is degraded;

·Families with inadequate food supplies are less likely to send their children to school;

·Global food production and distribution will have to increase dramatically in order to keep pace with population growth around the world – even as soil erosion and adverse land-use practices diminish the availability of cropland.

As part of this year’s World Food Day activities, a major symposium will be held October 16-18 in Des Moines, Iowa, culminating on October 18th with the presentation of the World Food Prize to Dr. Per Pinstrup-Anderson. Dr. Anderson and his colleagues at IFPRI are global leaders in studying food issues affecting developing countries.

Reducing hunger and enhancing global food security is closely linked to saving women’s lives around the world. Women comprise more than 50% of the world’s agricultural workforce. In many developing countries, women play a key role in food production – accounting for most staple crops in Africa and 90% of rice cultivation in Southeast Asia. As lands are degraded, women must spend more time collecting water and fuelwood for household food needs. 7 million farm workers worldwide have died from AIDS-related causes in the past 15 years. Women’s malnutrition is closely associated with low birthweight babies and related infant and child health challenges.

In order to improve international food security and save women’s lives, comprehensive efforts must be undertaken to:

·Increase crop yields, preserve soils and improve the quality and efficient use of freshwater;

·Ensure universal basic education. Studies have show that educating poor women in sanitation, resource conservation and safe use of pesticides leads to healthier families, increased crop production and lower levels of pesticide runoff and soil erosion;

·Increase the availability of family planning and reproductive health services so that individuals and couples have access to the information and services they need to determine the number and spacing of their children.

·Give women basic civil rights, such as the right to own land and obtain credit.

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