World Food Crisis
967 million people are going hungry. One child is dying every five seconds of hunger-related causes. The human cost of the World Food Crisis is staggering. With Oxfam, £10 can buy food to feed a hungry family for a month.
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Real lives
What does the food crisis mean for real people? We went to Cambodia, Haiti and Tajikistan to find out. Watch and listen:
Cambodian rice: twice the price
The price of rice – Cambodia’s staple food – has doubled in the last year. People are fearful of the future. Abbie Trayler-Smith reports.
Hard times in Haiti
In Haiti, the pain of hunger is both physical and psychological. Stephanie Debere explains.
Tajikistan: poor pickings
Drought and high food prices spell disaster for poor farmers in Tajikistan. Jennifer Abrahamson tells their story.
Learn more
The heart of the matter
24,000 people die of hunger-related causes every day, including one child every five seconds. Malnutrition has impaired physical and mental development in 178 million under-fives worldwide. 967 million people are hungry as a result of the World Food Crisis.
The numbers are frightening. But people are not numbers. They are children, brothers, sisters, neighbours, friends. And millions of them are parents facing choices they shouldn't have to make. Like whether to feed themselves or their families, whether to give their sick child food or medicine.
Causes
You might think the World Food Crisis is about the price of food and fuel. Or unfair trade rules and biofuel policies. Or climate change. Or that it's simply about not having enough to eat. But it's all these things. Plus one very important fact: it's about people suffering.
Biofuels
Demand is increasing for biofuels. And when biofuels are grown, there is less land to grow food crops and food is being diverted from people to our thirsty cars. It's clear: the more biofuels we produce, the higher the cost of food and the less poor people are able to buy their basic needs.
Supply and demand
Growing global demand for products like meat and grain has made this situation worse. We can't produce enough to go around. Added to which, years of under-investment in agriculture in poorer countries is becoming all too apparent. And the unfair trade rules and farming policies that benefit rich countries are also having a huge impact.
Climate change
Damage done to our environment directly causes global crop devastation. Because increasingly unpredictable weather patterns mean that poor farmers are unable to produce a decent yield in the face of droughts and floods. And it's not just in poor countries. In Australia, large-scale production of wheat has also been severely affected.
And now, the global financial crisis
The impact of all these causes is compounded by the global financial crisis. While food prices have dropped slightly below the height of summer 2008 prices, they remain 13 per cent higher than two years ago and the continuing volatility of prices places people living in poverty at constant risk. World recession means less trade, less aid and less money for poor countries to help their people react to the food crisis.The financial crisis in itself means a further 40 million people will be pushed into poverty in 2009.
At Oxfam, we work hard to protect people in every way we can. We protect livelihoods, so that people can afford to buy food. We support governments in poorer countries with schemes and projects that help get food to those that need it most. And we use our influence with world and national leaders to campaign for changes in policy. Changes that directly impact on the people who are suffering first and most.
Campaign and again and again
The situation may look bad, but we know it can be different. Oxfam is calling on all levels of the international community to respond effectively and adequately to what has become a crisis of the global food system. We're demanding that:
- The right structures are in place to ensure effective global and national responses
- Humanitarian aid is increased to those most at risk and not reduced because of global financial pressures
- All new biofuels targets and supporting subsidies are scrapped
- More is invested in developing country agriculture
- Trade deals are made fair to end the dumping of food surpluses
- Poor countries are able to promote the rights of their poorest farmers
World crisis, global action
The World Food Crisis has an impact across all of Oxfam's work. The estimated extra cost to our global programme is around £15 million. Here are examples of our work in some of the countries worst-affected by the crisis.
Afghanistan
Ten years of drought has taken its toll. All over Afghanistan, crops are damaged, stunted and showing signs of disease. People are starving. So we're setting up grain banks around the worst affected provinces. We'll be supporting around 1,800 families. This is a truly innovative project - as in Afghanistan grain banks are rare. The grain banks will be managed by Local Community Development Councils, who will manage the process. From borrowing to return once the next harvest is in. We've also given money to 2,250 families in the very isolated north-east, so they can buy in food in time for winter.
Zimbabwe
With hyperinflation, poor harvests and food shortages all taking their toll, it is estimated that there will be over 6 million Zimbabweans in need of food aid by January 2009. In October 2008 Oxfam began a six-month food aid programme providing support to 165,000 vulnerable people in the districts of Kwekwe, Shurugwi and Chirunmanzu in Midlands province. We now plan to expand this to reach around 250,000 people.
Ethiopia
More than three quarters of Ethiopians depend on agriculture for a living. A doubling in the price of wheat in the first half of 2008 contributed to the enormous challenges ordinary people face. Oxfam works with communities to increase the size and quality of harvests. We help them develop new farming techniques and are ensuring reliable sources of water all year round. Ahmed Mumme, a farmer from Deder, says "If Oxfam had not given us that pump and training it would be a great problem for us."
Kenya
The situation in the northern areas of Turkana and Wajir is deteriorating rapidly. It has been caused by a combination of drought, animal diease, high food and fuel prices and reduced food supplies affected by post-election violence. Nomadic pastoralists are struggling to support themselves and their families. At Oxfam we're providing as much support as possible, including food distribution, water source rehabiltiation, livestock destocking and cash-for-work programmes. We aim to help people provide for themselves and their families - and ultimately expand the ways in which they can make a living.
Somalia
Recurrent drought and ongoing conflict continues to threaten the livelihoods of thousands. Many badly-affected communities have lost livestock and are struggling to support their families. Oxfam has been distributing animals to familes most in need, and providing ongoing water supplies to 200,000 people and their livestock. We're also carrying out innovative cash-for-work projects. This way we can help improve both local infrastructure and people's spending power. We're not just looking for a quick-fix, but also for long-term plans and development that help people support themselves and their families.
Haiti
Haiti's economy has been damaged by a huge influx of cheap imports. And local prducers are struggling to compete. In a country where two-thirds of the population depend on agriculture to make a living, many farmers now can't afford to buy enough food to feed their families. At Oxfam we're setting up co-operatives that enable producers to sell at a decent price. We're training growers in marketing methods so they can sell on the international market. Julien Mistidor is already seeing the benefits of being a member of a co-operative. "Now.we're getting something back. Now the coffee is worth something."
Cambodia
75 per cent of Cambodians depend on the land to make a living and feed their families. But since the Land Law in 2001, their right to land has been put under intense pressure. As local farmer Roeung Ran says, "Farming and growing vegetables are things I do best and that's the main source of income for my family." At Oxfam we're working hard to secure access to land and promoting special farming techniques that help cut costs and maximise crop yields. And we're working with local communities to improve the market for their products - and start saving schemes that fund small businesses.
Tajikistan
In a country where cotton-farming dictates the economy, local farmers are increasingly without land. At Oxfam we're securing land certificates for local farmers, providing discounted seeds and giving people the chance to protect their livelihoods. We also encourage rural communities to work together and help set up village committees to share advice and provide support. Davlatibi Davlatova says: "If people have problems.they can come and see one of us. If we know what the answer is, we can tell them. If not, we make a note of their problem and pass it on to Oxfam."
And more
To give you some idea of the scale of our work, we're also responding to the impact of the World Food Crisis in Malawi, Niger, DR Congo, Tanzania, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Honduras, Myanmar, India, Sudan/Red Sea State, Mali, Pakistan, the occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Darfur/ Sudan, Ghana, Egypt, Colombia, Lebanon, and Peru.
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