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Responding to Emergencies
21 October 2009

World Steps Up To Help Hungry In Philippines

WFP and the world's generosity is ensuring that the flood-hit Philippines is not alone as it works to help more than 7 million people get back on their feet after the devastation caused by recent storms.
Logistics
20 October 2009

Flood Stricken Philippines Braces For New Typhoon

As WFP and the government push ahead with relief operations to help flood-hit communities, the northern island of Luzon is waiting to see whether a new typhoon - dubbed Lupit - will hit later this week, disrupting operations and possibly increasing the need for emergency food assistance.
17 October 2009

Pakistan: Five Dedicated Humanitarians

The softly-spoken finance officer, the veteran ICT expert, the young staff assistant preparing training documents, the receptionist everyone loved for her smile and the meticulous finance assistant she was talking to -- these were the victims of the October 5 bomb at WFP HQ in Islamabad.
WFP Ambassadors
16 October 2009

Howard Buffett Publishes Portraits Of Human Fragility

"These portraits are the reason why we must not rest in the comfort of our freedom," said Bono after reading the poignant portraits in ‘Fragile: the Human Condition’, the new book by WFP’s Ambassador Against Hunger, Howard G Buffett.
Hunger Bytes
16 October 2009

Hunger bytes! Time to Bite Back

WFP is calling on students, aspiring film-makers and professionals to get creative about world hunger through hunger bytes!, its international video competition. "Creativity and philanthropy are a powerful combination," says WFP Ambassador Against Hunger Drew Barrymore.
Preventing Hunger
14 October 2009

Anti-Hunger Campaigners Pedal 1,000 km Through Asia

Undeterred by flooded roads, flat tyres and toothache, two 40-year-old WFP supporters from Switzerland recently completed a gruelling 1,056-km bicycle ride across Cambodia and Thailand to raise funds for WFP as part of YUM Brands’ World Hunger Relief campaign.
14 October 2009

“Hunger? World Must Say Enough Is Enough”

Writer Roger Thurow, co-author of a new book looking at why hunger exists in an age of plenty, says ensuring everyone on earth has enough to eat is simply a question of political will. In this interview, he explains that the cost is actually quite small.
WFP Ambassadors
14 October 2009

Legendary Gymnast Is WFP's First Chinese Ambassador

WFP has celebrated 30 years of cooperation with China by appointing the legendary Olympic gymnast, Li Ning, its first ever Chinese Ambassador Against Hunger.
Purchase for Progress
13 October 2009

Smallholder Farmers In Nicaragua See New Opportunities

Dionisio Blandon’s crop of maize is growing particularly well this year and he’s confident he can sell it for a better price than normal. Thanks to WFP and its partners, the 76-year old smallholder farmer was finally able to buy good quality seeds and fertilisers.
Responding to Emergencies
13 October 2009

Slain WFP Staff Honoured At Memorial Ceremony

Friends, colleagues and diplomats gathered on Tuesday to honour the World Food Programme staff members slain and injured in the suicide attack on the WFP headquarters in Islamabad on 5 October. Their work should not be dangerous, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
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Worth reading

Thought-provoking articles that deal with hunger and the issues involved in meeting the hunger challenge.

  • BBC News

    Hard choices over food versus education in Malawi

    Food or education? Public spending choices are never easy. But in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, the choices are particularly stark. The government has made "food security" - which means making sure people have enough to eat - the top priority for government spending.
  • New York Times

    No Shortage of Blame as Haiti Struggles to Feed Itself

    With its rich delta soil and a year-round growing season, Haiti's famous agricultural region seems capable of feeding the entire Caribbean. But Haiti is a net importer of food, spending about $400 million last year on purchases from abroad. The World Food Programme runs child nutrition and "food for work" operations.
  • Reuters Alertnet

    Solutions to global hunger are within our reach

    Technological advances in rice production have enabled China to feed an additional 60 million people per year since 1978, while investments in agriculture by farmers in Niger have revitalised an estimated 5 million hectares of land and improved access to food for at least 1 million people.
  • Reuters

    Special report -The fight over the future of food

    At first glance, Giuseppe Oglio's farm near Milan looks like it's suffering from neglect. Weeds run rampant amid the rice fields and clover grows unchecked around his millet crop. Oglio, a third generation farmer eschews modern farming techniques -- chemicals, fertilizers, heavy machinery -- in favor of a purely natural approach. It is not just ecological, he says, but profitable, and he believes his system can be replicated in starving regions of the globe.
  • Associated Press (AP)

    Devastating Drought Alters Life For Kenya Nomads

    When 64-year-old Jimale Irobe was a young man, he guided his herds of cows and camels through knee-high grass. These days the scrubby blades barely reach his ankles even in the rainy season, and there is never enough grass to go around. The cattle cannot feed, and the nomadic families that depend on them for milk and meat cannot survive.(..) Aid agency Oxfam says 23 million people need food aid this year after the drought that swept across eastern Africa and the Horn region. Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia have been particularly hard hit. And a September report by the International Food Policy Research Institute predicted that the worldwide effects of climate change will lead to twenty-five million additional children becoming malnourished by 2050.