The World is Hungry: Plan’s position on the global food crisis

The world is in the midst of an unprecedented global food crisis. Shortages of almost all food commodities and increases in consumer prices have become common phenomena in most developing countries.

These trends threaten the survival of the world’s chronically poor – more than 850 million people - who are already spending half to two-thirds of their income on food.

Many years of global distortions in food markets, severe under-investment in agriculture, food diverted for other uses like bio fuels, and a changing climate have all contributed to a world food crisis that could easily scale into a global humanitarian disaster.

What are the effects of a food crisis?

The greatest impact will be on the marginalised communities and populations within developing countries. Dramatic increases in staple food prices have already led to riots and protests in Haiti, Cameroon, Guinea, Egypt, India and Senegal.

The effects on children and their families are particularly grave. Since the ripple effects would reach other areas of development, a global food crisis could erase, and even reverse the accomplishments made toward achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals.

Children will face increased poverty and malnutrition. In education, school feeding programmes have been critical to enabling many children to access schooling. For example in Malawi, Plan distributes food as part of an integrated school feeding project.

The project distributes food to primary school children in the food insecure areas of Mulanje and Kasungu. It targets 54 schools and will reach approximately 70,000 school children. In addition to food distribution, the project builds the capacity of children and their families around safe water usage, health and sanitation, as well as fruit and vegetable production.

Health would be impacted by the effects of malnutrition, but high food prices would also force families to do without other essentials like medical care. Their mothers will be at greater risk of maternal death, and their siblings face higher infant mortality.

Women and girls are more vulnerable to poverty and the effects of the crisis because of existing gender-based discrimination, which leaves them with less access to property, credit, education, and agricultural inputs including fertilizer and training and support services.

Furthermore, women and girls are usually the ones directly responsible for the household welfare, and therefore bear increased responsibility to ensure the household’s food security.

When families have reduced disposable income and lack adequate food, children are at increased risk of exploitation including ending up working in hazardous conditions, such as the sex trade. Child protection programmes need to be in place to ensure children’s rights are not violated.

What is the current global response?

The steps being taken by various organisations are wide-ranging. The actions of governments across the world range from monitoring to short-term emergency food aid appeals, food deliveries and price controls, to planning for long-term sustainable food security situations.

Plan is committed to ensuring that responses to the food price crisis are not gender blind. Strategic investments are required in female agricultural workers to increase women’s access to resources, technologies and markets of agricultural production.

Projects targeting women benefit the whole household, and therefore better strategies are required to ensure women take a central role in food aid distribution and development programmes.

These include: direct nutritional supplementation, promotion of food security through strengthening the agricultural sector, rights-based social protection for children, strengthening microfinance institutions, enhancing employment opportunities for young people, promoting community-based grain banks, supporting the development of national food security policies, urging and supporting Governments and NGOs to develop strategies to respond to crises, and increasing investments in farmers’ entrepreneurship.