Hunger and food aid

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Media contact Rachel Wolff 253.394.2214 (c) Geraldine Ryerson-Cruz 202.615.2608 (c)

Latest press releases 04/15/2009 Somali pirates attack second ship carrying food aid for World Vision programs 04/02/2009 Obama’s promise to increase U.S. aid for agricultural development a victory for the poor, says World Vision 02/24/2009 World Vision applauds comprehensive roadmap to end world hunger

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Press resources

• World Vision congressional testimony on the global food crisis
• President of World Vision speaks on food aid (PDF, 44.13 KB, 10 pages)
• G8 and the food crisis (PDF, 200 KB, 2 pages)
• Hunger, HIV and food aid fact sheet
• World Vision's food aid advocacy
• The global food crisis

The need

Nutritious food is a critical building block for children’s growth and development. Half of all childhood deaths can be traced to malnutrition. And when parents are weakened by hunger, they cannot work, grow crops or provide for their families.

Severe food shortages result from factors that often compound each other: Poor farming techniques Low soil fertility Poor access to quality seeds Poor control of crop pests Environmental degradation Drought and other natural disasters Unless communities can establish secure sources of food to meet their nutritional needs, they have little hope of offering their children a healthy future.

Nutritious food is a critical building block for children’s growth and development.

World Vision’s response

When people can provide food for themselves, they enjoy physical health along with a sense of dignity that strengthens their faith and family relationships. World Vision helps families in need worldwide specifically through the following factors.

Food aid

Feeding centers—Following a humanitarian crisis, World Vision establishes emergency feeding clinics and often provides supplemental food until the situation has stabilized.

Training and supplies

Agricultural assistance—World Vision provides farmers with seeds and tools for raising crops and livestock.

Agricultural training—We teach farmers improved agricultural techniques such as crop rotation, drip irrigation, conservation farming and the planting of nitrogen-fixing trees that enrich depleted soil.

Nutrition education—World Vision trains parents in the importance of feeding their children foods that contain essential nutrients such as vitamins A and C.

Protecting food resources

Improving product storage—World Vision helps communities protect their available food resources with better storage techniques. In Mali, for example, we built granaries that decreased the annual food storage loss from 30 percent to 3 percent.

Marketing assistance—By identifying and providing resources for marketable products, World Vision helps farmers earn a stable income for their families. For example, we helped Brazilian farmers cultivate and market a crop of organic peppers after local environmental changes made it impossible to grow their previous crops.

Natural resource management—World Vision emphasizes the value of caring for natural resources. Farmers are taught to protect their greatest asset—their land—by preventing soil degradation, increasing sustainability, and enhancing productivity.