Africa
Achieving Global Food Security
Gebisa Ejeta, 2009 World Food Prize laureate and director of the Purdue University Center for Global Food Security
Gebisa Ejeta, director of the Purdue Center for Global Food Security, surrounded by a crop of sorghum. Ejeta earned the 2009 World Food Prize for his work in developing sorghum varieties resistant to drought and the parasitic weed Striga. Photo Credit: Tom Campbell, Purdue
All of us share a stake in the search for practical and sustainable solutions to reduce poverty and the misery and inhumanity of world hunger.
Global food security is a crippling, global problem. Nearly 1 billion of the world’s 7 billion people suffer from chronic hunger because of economic, social, political and environmental conditions. One of the greatest challenges of humanity in the 21st century will be to meet the food needs of a world population expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050. It is projected that agriculture will need to double crop and livestock production by mid-century, while producing it more efficiently and safeguarding the sustainability of our natural resources. This is a tremendous undertaking that we must accept.
The U.S. government is exhibiting great global leadership in highlighting the importance of global food and nutrition security this weekend at the G8 Summit at Camp David, starting with President Obama’s opening keynote at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs’ Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, where he is expected to highlight G-8 efforts to promote food security, improve nutrition and alleviate poverty.
I applaud his efforts and those of the G-8 to tackle this critical issue. We know that Africa is particularly at-risk to factors that lead to food insecurity, and focus should be placed on building the capacity of African institutions. We also know that the private sector can play an essential role in shouldering some of the responsibilities in global food security by ramping up innovations in agriculture that are generated by universities such as Purdue, where I and many of my colleagues currently work to help the world meet the growing need for food and energy in the coming decades. The Purdue Center for Global Food Security, which collaborates with other universities and research organizations within the U.S. and internationally, focuses on education, research and development, and advocacy to help humanity rise to those challenges.
As I have advocated in the past (pdf), I believe that meeting our food security challenges for the 21st century will require an advancement of scientific initiatives to improve crop varieties, to create more environmentally sustainable fertilizers and pesticides, to reduce pre- and post-harvest losses, and to develop new and more productive farming methods. Equally important is making sure that new technologies reach the world’s poorest farmers. Working together – governments, universities, the private sector and NGOs – we can solve one of the greatest challenges of this century.
Video Workshops and Toolkit Offer Crash Course to Agriculture Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa
Inexpensive video production has become a viable way for agricultural organizations to communicate with beneficiaries, donors, and the public. And it’s not just posting on YouTube. Devices such as handheld projectors and tablet computers have come down in price, enabling practitioners to disseminate to farmers in rural areas with minimal technology. Social networks – just a few years ago only the purview of wealthy countries – are now truly global. In regions with electricity, a well-executed video can now go viral – and become more impactful than the slickest behavior change campaigns of decades past.
It is exciting, but that doesn’t make it simple. Organizations continue to make low quality videos that fail to engage their audience or reflect the core objectives of their project.
To help users learn the ropes, the Fostering Agriculture Competitiveness Employing Information Communication Technologies (FACET) project has developed an online toolkit that can help one through every stage of planning, producing, and disseminating agricultural videos. It is called “Integrating Low-Cost Video into Agricultural Development Projects: A Toolkit for Practitioners,” and is available for free download.
The toolkit is also the basis for a series of four workshops offered this month to USAID implementing partners by toolkit author Josh Woodard and myself, in Kenya, Mozambique, and Ghana. The first of the trainings was completed last week in Nairobi.
The workshop focuses on implementing your low-cost video vision, which requires skills beyond playing Spielberg: strategically thinking about message, storyboarding narrative concepts, planning dissemination, troubleshooting inevitably buggy software, and personal perseverance, all play a role in a video’s success or failure.
One participant, Victor Nzai, program assistant for USAID-funded Agricultural Market Development Trust of Kenya (AGMARK) project focused on agro-pastoral development, felt the training would improve his project’s ability to encourage farmers to efficiently integrate grazing range land and food production in Kenya.
“We have been doing dissemination via field days quite successfully, but with video, we can reach many more farmers than before,” said Nzai. “We shall shoot the videos ourselves, and edit them into comprehensive tools that can be presented by a facilitator.”
Agricultural development practitioners are looking for new ways to leverage video to circulate information and engage local farmers. Video can help them do it – but it is the holistic consideration of concept, design, and execution that will maximize chances for success.
“Not everyone will adopt our ideas,” said Nzai. “But when we multiply the number of farmers we reach, we are able to tune our message with video to encourage farmers and pastoralists to consider better ways.”
Learn more about using information and communication technology in agriculture.
Remembering my 5th Birthday
The author Carolyn Worthge on her fifth birthday. Photo provided by: Carolyn Worthge
On my 5th birthday, I was surrounded by the love of my family, and of course, enjoyed a delicious home-made birthday cake made by my mother. Everyone came to celebrate my day, showering me with gifts (I’m told a Barbie play set was involved), to show me how important I was in their lives. While it was a big milestone for me, luckily I was a healthy child, and it was expected that I would reach the age of five. In my first five years of life, I was up to date on my vaccinations, always had access to clean water, and although mosquitoes loved to bite me, my parents did not have to fear that those mosquitoes would infect me with malaria.
For much of the world though, and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, mosquitoes pose an ever-present threat to children’s lives, especially in those first five years. In the last year alone, we lost about 7 million children under the age of five, many from malaria.
When I traveled to Ghana in the summer of 2010, I had the misfortune of experiencing malaria firsthand. I met children who were full of joy one day, but lying in bed sick the next- their energy and health devastated by the disease. When I contracted the disease, I understood the extent of their sickness, falling into an extreme fatigue. Thankfully, I had easy access to treatment and recovered quickly, but I know this is not the case for many children and families. I can’t imagine the pain and difficulty so many mothers must experience on a daily basis, unable to provide their children with the life-saving resources needed to prevent and treat malaria.
In my work as a Faiths Act Fellow, I’ve seen the great value that the world’s major religions place on caring for those who are suffering, and ensuring a hope and a future for children everywhere. In my own tradition, the Bible tells a story of Jesus welcoming children when others pushed them away. As he says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14b). We are told that children are a reflection of God, and it is our faithful duty to nurture and care for them. Whether rich or poor, each child’s life has immense worth, and we must seize the opportunity now to end preventable child deaths.
We have the tools to prevent deaths from malaria, and together we can save half a million children’s lives each year. Through insecticide treated bednets, education programs, and other resources, we can make sure more children are able to live healthy, malaria-free lives. And that means more 5th birthdays.
Together we can support effective strategies to prevent childhood deaths and ensure that more children have the opportunity to survive beyond their 5th birthday. Upload a picture of your 5th birthday today, and share why you believe that Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday!
Carolyn Worthge is a Faiths Act Fellow working at the ONE Campaign.
Responding to Acute Malnutrition in the Sahel
I recently returned from Niger and Mauritania, in Africa’s Sahel region, assessing nutrition-focused humanitarian assistance. This was not my first trip to the region, as I was also there with USAID in 2010 when a failed harvest and poor pasture conditions led to food insecurity conditions nationwide and a significant rise in acute malnutrition among young children. This year, without much time for families and communities to recover and restore livelihoods, we are again facing a humanitarian crisis. Another drought, coupled with high food prices, and conflict in northern Mali displacing some 250,000 people, often to areas with limited resources and capacity, means that millions of people may need emergency assistance in the coming weeks and months, and acute malnutrition rates are again climbing.
The causes of hunger and malnutrition in the Sahel are complex and deeply rooted. Even with a good harvest, particularly vulnerable communities cannot afford to buy available food in the market. Poor health care, sanitation, and feeding practices are also major contributors to malnutrition. However, a drought and failed harvest makes it that much worse. The hardship, food insecurity and acute malnutrition vary by district, village and community, and public health and nutrition monitoring must be very specific and localized to identify existing pockets of need.
USAID Public Health advisor Mark Phelan in Niger. Photo Credit: USAID
We are indeed facing a crisis, but I am encouraged by what is being done differently, by ways we have applied lessons learned in the Sahel during food crises in 2010 and 2005, though we still have a long way to go. Improved forecasting of malnutrition cases, earlier initiation of programs, better relief agency coordination, all add up to keeping more children alive and well. Especially for children under 5, whose growth and development is most at risk from acute malnutrition, we are seeing the impact of more effective health monitoring, recognition of need, and response.
In the Sahel, USAID’s approach supports national and regional structures that promote food security and nutrition, while providing short-term assistance to vulnerable populations – such as food assistance and treatment for acute malnutrition. We are supporting nutrition pipelines to ensure adequate stockpiles of ready-to-use therapeutic foods are in place while training health staff and volunteers, and increasing nutrition screening and nutrition education. (more…)
Pounds of Prevention: Focus on Locusts
Locusts like the ones pictured above can destroy crops and pasture land once they form a swarm. Photo Credit: Sonya Green/ USAID.
Imagine discovering that within a few hours your entire crop for the season had been consumed by unwelcome visitors. In this edition of “Pounds of Prevention,” USAID examines the desert locust, a pest that affects the lives of millions of people in more than 65 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, an area that represents about 20 percent of the earth’s surface. The idea for this post came from CNN’s recent coverage of the Desert Locust Control Center in Mauritania that USAID supports through its agreement with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Mauritania is just one of several countries in West Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East to benefit from the FAO’s locust prevention system known as the EMPRES Program, to which USAID and other donors contribute.
Administrator Shah Meets with President of Ghana
USAID Administrator Raj Shah meets with President Mills of Ghana. Photo Credit: Pat Adams/USAID
Administrator Shah met with the President of Ghana, John Atta Mills to highlight USAID strong commitment to Ghana’s Partnership for Growth (PfG) and agricultural development through the Feed the Future (FtF) initiative. Feed the Future, is the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
USAID and the Ghanaian government are working together to generate prosperity and security for both the Ghanaian and the American people by increasing agricultural production, employment opportunities, and income for the poor; improving the quality of health services and education; and strengthening local government institutions.
USAID in the News
Weekly Briefing (3/5/2012 – 3/10/2012)
March 4: Over the weekend, the Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.) highlighted USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah’s trip to General Mills’ Minnesota headquarters. Shah was in town to present the company with a Global Citizenship award, recognizing several hundred employees who volunteered their time and expertise to educate farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and other African countries through the Partners in Food Solutions program.
March 6: Last Friday, USAID announced the creation of the Donald Payne Fellowship program, which aims to attract diverse young professionals to careers in international development. With the passing of Congressman Payne, Roll Call published a story that included a statement Administrator Shah issued. “There have been few greater friends of USAID, and Rep. Payne’s legacy of helping people and solving problems around the world will continue through this fellowship,” Shah said.
March 8: Speaking at a Congressional hearing to discuss the latest developments in the Horn of Africa, AFP and Voice of America report that Assistant Administrator Nancy Lindborg testified that the U.S. took immediate action, ensuring direct food assistance to 4.6 million people and emergency health care for nearly one million more. Lindborg also underscored the serious challenges ahead, particularly the unsteady rains which will impact the amount of food the region will be able to produce. The United States and other major donors will meet in Kenya later this month to discuss longer-term Horn of Africa plans.
Responding Early and Building Resilience in the Sahel
Originally posted at Huffington Post.
In the village of Tougouri, in Burkina Faso, I stood with the four women squinting in the sun. They each held a digging tool. Between them, they had 31 children and no husbands. Safieta, wearing a bright yellow scarf, noted the rains were bad last year. No, she said, none of them were able to harvest much of the maize they had planted during the rainy season. I had just driven from Niger, through hours of flat and dusty land, and was in Tougouri to visit communities that were once again experiencing drought.
Safieta looks across her fields in Tougouri, Burkina Faso. Photo: USAID
In the arid regions of East and West Africa, we are seeing droughts that used to come every ten years, now coming nearly every other year. A year after the worst drought in 60 years sent 13.3 million people in the Horn of Africa into crisis, we are now facing a rising threat of crisis in the Sahel — an arid belt that stretches from Senegal through Niger and Burkina Faso to Chad.
When families are living on the edge of survival, the slightest shock can send them into crisis. For many women throughout the Sahel, as in the Horn of Africa, who are eking out a living on small farms or raising livestock, a failed rain means no food for their children. Years of repeated drought means they can’t put away any reserves. Today, rising food prices, another failed rain, and conflict in Mali and Libya, means that between seven and ten million people are at risk of sliding into crisis as we enter the lean season of the months ahead.
I have spent the last year helping to lead the United States’ response to the Horn of Africa drought. We began prepositioning stocks of food in the region as early as Sept 2010 and through the crisis we focused on expanding resilience programs that help rebuild assets, improved water infrastructure and increased the ability of families to buy food in the markets through voucher programs.
Through our early actions, we were able to reach 4.6 million of the most vulnerable people, primarily women and children, with life-saving food. We know that it is critical to reach children in those first 1,000 days with the right nutritional food when their brains and bodies are developing. We also helped an estimated 3.9 million people stay healthy with improved access to water, sanitation and critical medical help, especially vaccinations so crucial for protecting children under five from infectious diseases that easily kill a child already weak from hunger.
As we focus on the rising crisis in the Sahel, we are committed to responding immediately and acting on the most important lessons learned from the Horn response. That is why last week I announced $33 million in humanitarian relief, bringing up the total U.S. Government commitment to $270 million in 2011 and 2012.
We know we can’t stop droughts from happening, but we can and do commit ourselves to early action when we have early warning signs, with a focus on highly targeted programs that build resilience even as we meet urgent needs.
Back in the fields of Burkina Faso, Safieta proudly took me along the edge of her three plots filled with bright green onion sprouts. Seven years ago, USAID began a program in partnership with CRS to increase the resilience of villagers dependent upon rain fed crops. Two years ago, the program ended. Yet, Safieta and her fellow farmers are continuing to thrive on the proceeds of their dry season market gardens. “We chose onions,” she noted, “because if the water pump fails for a few days, they are strong enough to survive.” Safieta is sending her children to school and still putting away a little for the unpredictable needs, she said. “I am resilient now,” she laughed, “just like the onions.”
More Good News but Crisis Continues
On Friday the United Nations declared that famine is no longer present in Somalia. This is great and welcome news to the humanitarian aid community. The newly released data shows the positive impact of the massive international effort to rush life-saving assistance to millions of people in Somalia. What we are doing is working, and it is saving lives.
A young woman and her child wait to register after they arrive at the Dagahaley refugee camp, in Dadaab, Kenya, Aug. 8, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
For more than six months, since famine was first declared in July 2011, we have been focused on trying to save lives, particularly of the many children under five who are most vulnerable to famine. With the support of many Americans, what we have been able to achieve is impressive, but we know this crisis is far from over. Somalia is a country plagued by more than 20 years of conflict and insecurity, and it is precisely these conditions that allowed drought-affected areas in southern Somalia to spiral into famine in 2011. Today nearly a third of the population in Somalia remain in crisis, unable to fully meet the most essential human needs.
This drought has focused all of us on the imperative of building resilience. We know we cannot prevent drought, but we can use improved and smarter programs to create greater resilience and improve food security. We can make progress that ensures the next time a drought hits the Horn, communities will have the ability to withstand the worst affects without being pushed into crisis.
Photo of the Week
The Empowerment through Literacy Education Access Project (E-LEAP) helps adult Maasai women learn basic Swahili literacy skills, which allows them to have greater access to essential skills. Currently funded through our Education Sector, this program partners with Mwedo (Maasai women development organization) and began in 2007 with 150 Maasai women. Currently, E-LEAP has empowered over 2000 Maasai women. The program extends beyond basic Swahili literacy skills and trains the women in business skills, HIV education, and land rights. Photo credit: Megan Johnson/USAID
