Hunger in the news

A daily selection of news reports from the world's media dealing with hunger and responses to it.
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Hunger in the news
16 October 2012

WATCH: A Girl Films Her Life in the Mathare Slum of Nairobi

Molly is a teenage girl who receives a meal from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) every day at school in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya. This slum is one of the poorest places in the world, but this daily meal means Molly comes to school and has the nutrition she needs to succeed once she's in the classroom. Molly Video spread on front page of Huffington Post ImpactX.

Huffington Post
Hunger in the news
15 October 2012

Nicaragua: WFP accompanies the Nicaraguan government's efforts to eradicate malnutrition

Corn fields of Terrabona town, north Nicaragua October 11, 2012. The United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) accompanies the Nicaraguan government's efforts to eradicate malnutrition and ensure basic human rights its citizens. Picture taken October 11, 2012. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas

Reuters
Hunger in the news
15 October 2012

Ghana School Feeding Prog. Policy in the Offing

The Ministry of local Government and Rural Development is taking steps to develop a National School Feeding Policy that aims to sustain and secure the programme. The Ministry in collaboration with Partnership for Child Development (PCD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) is currently soliciting inputs from experts and target groups for the development of the proposed policy. The Ghana National School Feeding Programme (GNSFP) has been running over the past eight years without a policy, and presently being governed by a programme document.

All Africa
Hunger in the news
15 October 2012

WATCH: A Girl Films Her Life in the Mathare Slum of Nairobi

Molly is a teenage girl who receives a meal from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) every day at school in the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya. This slum is one of the poorest places in the world, but this daily meal means Molly comes to school and has the nutrition she needs to succeed once she's in the classroom. Molly Video spread on front page of Huffington Post ImpactX.

the Huffington Post
Hunger in the news
15 October 2012

Which Packs More Anti-Poverty Punch: Books or Food?

If you set out to help eradicate poverty, what would be your weapon of choice: more access to books or food? (…)"If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture," Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, said earlier this year during a speech to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization. "Investments in agriculture are the best weapons against hunger and poverty, and they have made life better for billions of people. The international agriculture community needs to be more innovative, coordinated, and focused to help poor farmers grow more. If we can do that, we can dramatically reduce suffering and build self-sufficiency," said Gates.

Huffington Post
Hunger in the news
12 October 2012

UN environmental agency to help Afghanistan combat effects of climate change

The United Nations is to help Afghanistan combat the effects of climate change, teaming up with the country’s Government to implement a $6 million initiative that aims to operate in vulnerable communities and shore up the ability of Afghan institutions to independently address risks posed by changes to the climate. (..) UNEP’s key partners on the ground in the Central Asian nation include the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
UN News Centre
Hunger in the news
11 October 2012

UN warns of rising food costs after year's extreme weather

The UN has warned of increasing meat and dairy prices in the wake of extreme weather in the United States and across large parts of Europe and other centres of global food production. (..) According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome, global wheat production is expected to fall 5.2% in 2012 and yields from many other crops grown to feed animals could be 10% down on last year. (..) "It means that food supplies are tight across the board and there is very little room for unexpected events," said Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist with the FAO.
The Guardian
Hunger in the news
11 October 2012

Calls for Cooperation Ahead of Food Talks

Governments across the globe must cooperate more to tame volatile world food prices and ensure the sensible creation of strategic stockpiles, according to industry experts, ahead of high-level talks next week.
The Wall Street Journal
Hunger in the news
10 October 2012

When it Comes to Hunger, Zero is the Only Acceptable Number

New data from the United Nations reveals that there has been progress in reducing the number of hungry people worldwide. But an estimate that nearly 870 million people, one in eight, suffered from chronic undernourishment over the last two years is “unacceptable”, experts say. (..) “We know that proper nutrition in this period gives a child the best possible start in life,” Valerie Guarnieri, WFP’s head of programme, told IPS.
Inter Press Service (IPS)
Hunger in the news
10 October 2012

UN experts urge creation of new fund to lift world’s vulnerable from poverty

A new global initiative ensuring the social protection of the world’s poorest people is a growing necessity, two United Nations independent experts said today. In a joint news release, Magdalena Sepúlveda and Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteurs on extreme poverty and the right to food, respectively, urged the creation of a Global Fund for Social Protection, stating that 2 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) would be enough to provide all the world’s poor with basic social protection from the effects of unemployment, illness, disability, crop failure and soaring food costs.
UN News Centre