I am a mother who is passionate about using my voice on behalf of the world's poorest by raising awareness on extreme poverty in Africa and leaving a legacy to inspire my children to help those in need.
Around 70% of the poor in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are rural,
and agriculture is often their only livelihood opportunity. Proper
irrigation technologies could help them do better in terms of
productivity and income.
This 3-minutes animation illustrates the impacts of access to motor
pumps for irrigation on farmers' livelihood, food security and poverty
reduction.
It shows where to invest,
because in sub-Saharan Africa, investments in motor pumps could benefit
187 million people and generate net revenues of USD 22 billion a year.
With the help of WFP’s Purchase for Progress programme, over 7,000 farmers in northern Uganda’s Acholi subregion are learning new farming techniques and business skills. By working together, farmers are experiencing better harvests and improved food security.
People who are chronically hungry are undernourished. They don't eat enough to get the energy they need to lead active lives. A hungry person is weak. Tired. Unable to concentrate, study or work. Undernourished children do not grow as quickly as healthy ones. Mentally, they may develop more slowly. Constant hunger weakens the immune system and makes you more vulnerable to diseases.
Why are millions of people hungry?
So far, there is enough food for everyone in the world. Food production is not the main problem. War and natural disasters can disrupt food supplies but are not the main problems either. The problem is that millions of people are poor and can't get their hands on enough good, nutritious food every day.
What can be done?
Since most of the hungry live in the countryside the problem has to be attacked there.
What do country people do for a living?
They try to scratch a living from a small plot of land,or keep a few animals, or pick up a day's work on a farm or in a town.
It's not enough. So ... Give them better work, help them grow more food. In other words, boost the rural economy: improve the roads, build irrigation canals, support rural banking, improve rural communication, give farmers training, empower women. Women are about 43 % of the agricultural labour force in developing countries. if women had the same access to land, technology, credit, education and markets as men, food production would go up and the number of hungry would go down by as much as 150 million. The fact is we already know what works against hunger but most countries have never made it a priority.
Hunger. Now you know.
Odetta is a single mother with two children. She is also a small farmer from Rwanda, making less than $1 per day to support her family. Odetta is just one of millions of small farmers struggling against hunger and poverty.
But a year ago, Odetta's life began to change. A partnership with the World Food Programme has helped her to expand her crop, sell more, and quadruple her income.
Helping poor farming families is the answer, the best way to fight hunger and poverty and feed a growing population.
Please sign the ONE Petition asking President Obama and Governor Romney, "What are your plans to fight extreme poverty if you win on November 6"?
If they are elected will they continue America’s legacy of leadership on worldwide issues of extreme poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS and access to childhood vaccinations? With only less than 80 days until the election, we need to know.
