GENEVA (April 14, 2008) - This Wednesday, more than 60 policy experts from 30 leading international aid organizations will meet at the headquarters of the Food and Agricultural Organization in Rome to take a hard look at what needs to be done to solve the problem of hunger.
"What we are really talking about is how to address the underlying causes of hunger," says Dr. Robert Glasser, Secretary General of CARE International, who will give the opening speech at the forum on Wednesday.
The three-day conference, entitled "Rethinking Food Security in Humanitarian Response," is convened by two leading international aid organizations, CARE and Oxfam. The discussions will tackle a number of issues raised by a new report commissioned from Tufts University. The study notes that while fewer people are dying today from major disasters, a greater number are being affected by food shortages resulting from smaller events, droughts and civil unrest. These events often fail to make international headlines, but have a devastating cumulative impact on the economies of developing countries. Right now, for example, we see distressing signs of another serious hunger crisis in central Somalia affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
Despite years of international relief efforts, hunger is on the increase. An estimated 10 million people die from the effects of malnutrition each year, and 850 million suffer from hunger worldwide. The number is increasing by four million people a year. Recently, the World Food Program (WFP), which feeds 73 million people in the world, said that if it does not get an extra $500 million this year to cover the hike in food and fuel costs, its food aid will have to be rationed. World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick has said that the crisis of surging food prices could mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty and has called for a "new deal on global food policy."
Increased focus on disaster risk reduction, agricultural production – particularly for small farmers, the creation of social safety nets and targeted protection of livelihoods of those who are economically vulnerable are needed to enable people to get back on their feet.
Until now most of the aid response to hunger has been mobilized in reaction to disasters that have already taken place. While we must continue to respond urgently to immediate food crises, both donors and humanitarian agencies need also to focus on eliminating the underlying causes that create the crisis.
Rethinking Food Security in Humanitarian Response
