A daily selection of news reports from the world's media dealing with hunger and responses to it.
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November 6 - The UN food agency said Tuesday it is to deliver emergency aid to nearly 500,000 people in Cuba, describing Hurricane Sandy as the worst natural disaster to hit the southeastern part of the island in 50 years. "Hurricane Sandy was the worst catastrophe in 50 years in Santiago de Cuba," World Food Programme spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told reporters in Geneva.
(...) "The situation is dire. The UN is doing its best, but it is trying to find more funding to help them," said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, an NGO working with the Rohingya. With at least 32,000 people displaced by the latest violence – and at least 107,000 since trouble broke out in June – thousands have sought safety in refugee camps around the Burmese town of Sittwe. Those camps are at crisis point, according to Refugees International, which estimates that nearly a quarter of children were malnourished.
Recently I attended the Africa Brain Trust 2012 forum entitled "Africa Rising: A Continent of Opportunity," hosted by U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) as part of their Annual Legislative Conference, in Washington, D.C. The event's lineup included a diverse range of experts, policymakers, diplomats and business leaders interested in economic and human development, as well as regional security and stability on the continent.
Fears are growing of food shortages in Haiti, after the strong winds and heavy rain of Hurricane Sandy caused extensive crop damage. Aid workers and officials are also warning that flooding could lead to a sharp rise in cholera cases. Sandy is blamed for some 70 deaths in the Caribbean. Of these more than 50 were in Haiti.
Artillery shelling, water outages and food shortages, rather than presents and sweets, greeted many Syrians on the most important Muslim holiday of the year. "There is no Eid here. What are you even talking about? How can you have Eid amid shelling? May God watch over us. We have rockets falling over us. The situation is horrific. Eid has no meaning for us," Abu Fouz, a 48-year-old resident of Aleppo, told CNN. (…)The World Food Programme says that up to 3 million people are expected to be in need of food over the coming year and in areas of ongoing armed conflict, civilians lack basic needs such as electricity, water and food supplies.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday it plans to continue providing food for 1.5 million people in Syria until at least June next year, a sign it expects hunger to persist in a protracted civil war. The United Nations agency set the target of 1.5 million months ago and finally reached it in September, after managing to deliver food supplies to just 850,000 people in August. "It is a record amount," Daly Belgasmi, WFP regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, told Reuters in Geneva.
The index has been developed by the risk analysis company Maplecroft for governments, NGOs and business to use as a barometer to identify those countries which may be susceptible to famine and societal unrest stemming from food shortages and price fluctuations. This map shows the results of evaluating the availability, access and stability of food supplies in 197 countries, as well as the nutritional and health status of populations
"George McGovern dedicated his life to serving the country he loved. He signed up to fight in World War II, and became a decorated bomber pilot over the battlefields of Europe. When the people of South Dakota sent him to Washington, this hero of war became a champion for peace. And after his career in Congress, he became a leading voice in the fight against hunger." — President Barack Obama in an emailed statement
Des Moines, Iowa -- Today, at a keynote address during the weeklong World Food Prize events in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah released the first progress report and scorecard for Feed the Future, President Obama’s global hunger and food security initiative. Established after renewed international commitments to global agriculture made at the 2009 G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, Feed the Future supports countries in developing their own agriculture sectors in order to generate opportunities for economic growth and trade, which can support increased incomes, and help reduce hunger and undernutrition.
Rome: The international community is gathering in Italy for World Food Day on Tuesday with a round of UN-hosted talks on how to keep global food prices in check and help prevent future commodity market crises. “Food prices are too volatile and are dangerously high,” Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s rapporteur on the right to food, said ahead of the meeting.