Across the world today, each and every person is seeing rising costs everywhere, fuel skyrocketed to over $106 a barrel this week, the dollar is weakening, home prices are high and the real estate market is bursting in almost every major city, all very important and life-altering issues…and then there is food.
Millions of people a day are fed through international aid and development programming. Across Africa, Asia, South and Central America and Eastern Europe, millions of poverty stricken, malnourished, dying children are being fed through international food aid programming being distributed through the United Nations World Food Programme, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), SIDA, the Department for International Development UK (DFID) and then through organizations like the one I work for, Joint Aid Management (JAM). These agencies operate on budgets of millions of dollars to try and affect as many children, women and families as possible, entering into war-torn countries, disaster ridden areas and developing nations with food assistance and with sustainable programming, with their main aim to reach the Millenium Development Goals (MDG’s) and assist as many developing countries as possible.
In all of those operations come the costs, and as we all feel the rising costs everywhere, now the people to feel it most, according to a recent United Nations report will be…the poor. The UN World Food Program has just warned that it will not have enough money to keep global malnutrition “at bay” due to the rising costs of food and is now considering discontinuing programs or suspending certain operations. Iraq’s food distribution program, which at one point delivered food to families on a monthly basis had an average cost of $3 billion. Now, the Iraqi government has announced that these program costs have ballooned to over $7 billion due to the rising inflation and massive price hikes of food, yet, within their country, 1 in 4 children under the age of 5 are severely malnourished and approximately 3 million Iraqi’s need food assistance. The rising price of cereals such as maize and wheat is growing to be a worldwide concern and due to these issues, humanitarian aid agencies can only bring in the half the amount of food with the same amount of money from donors. All across the world, changes are being made, even within 2nd tier countries such as Mexico and Thailand where they are having to make a choice between healthcare, education and…food.
Millions of people a day are fed through international aid and development programming. Across Africa, Asia, South and Central America and Eastern Europe, millions of poverty stricken, malnourished, dying children are being fed through international food aid programming being distributed through the United Nations World Food Programme, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), SIDA, the Department for International Development UK (DFID) and then through organizations like the one I work for, Joint Aid Management (JAM). These agencies operate on budgets of millions of dollars to try and affect as many children, women and families as possible, entering into war-torn countries, disaster ridden areas and developing nations with food assistance and with sustainable programming, with their main aim to reach the Millenium Development Goals (MDG’s) and assist as many developing countries as possible.
In all of those operations come the costs, and as we all feel the rising costs everywhere, now the people to feel it most, according to a recent United Nations report will be…the poor. The UN World Food Program has just warned that it will not have enough money to keep global malnutrition “at bay” due to the rising costs of food and is now considering discontinuing programs or suspending certain operations. Iraq’s food distribution program, which at one point delivered food to families on a monthly basis had an average cost of $3 billion. Now, the Iraqi government has announced that these program costs have ballooned to over $7 billion due to the rising inflation and massive price hikes of food, yet, within their country, 1 in 4 children under the age of 5 are severely malnourished and approximately 3 million Iraqi’s need food assistance. The rising price of cereals such as maize and wheat is growing to be a worldwide concern and due to these issues, humanitarian aid agencies can only bring in the half the amount of food with the same amount of money from donors. All across the world, changes are being made, even within 2nd tier countries such as Mexico and Thailand where they are having to make a choice between healthcare, education and…food.
The purse is tightening, the wallet is feeling the crunch and things at the local Walmart might be seeming a little more expensive. In that though, the international donor community must remember those billions of people living in the 3rd world, relying on food assistance and aid programming for life. On that Friday night, as you are pulling the cart away from the frozen food section and you realize that you cant buy that tub of Edy’s ice cream for the weekend party, remember those countries where organizations have not enough money, not enough petrol, not enough food…leaving people…standing on the road…with absolutely nothing to eat.
1 comment:
Craig, thanks so much for posting entries on such serious topics. I appreciate it, even though it can be hard to hear. America needs to hear these sobering thoughts, so thank you!
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