Ending Childhood Hunger in Africa
Claire V. Bloom
Executive Director End 68 Hours of Hunger
M.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. Selfsufficiency 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 foodfor-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.
Town #1
Demand
School
1
School
3
School2
School
4
Total Demand
To Packing
Team
Donors of funds
Donors of food
Supply
$$
Store
Purchases
Food Supplies
Production
Teams pack the food in bags/backpacks
Distribution
School
1
School
2
School
3
School
4
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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