Six Global Development Organisations Committed to Strengthening Food Security

According to recent reports by the United Nations, the number of chronically undernourished people has hit 815 million, approximately 11% of the global population. Conflict and climate changes continue to contribute to and increase food insecurity and hunger. Research suggests that climatic changes not only magnify the problems of food insecurity and nutrition, but can also contribute to a further downward spiral into conflict, protracted crisis, and continued fragility.

A number of organizations tirelessly strive toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals (Goal2:Zero Hunger) on the eradication of hunger and malnutrition through regenerative agriculture. This is an approach to food and agriculture that regenerates topsoil and increases biodiversity, emergency responses to food crises, natural disasters, and conflicts.  Mobilizing communities for self-reliant action, and other targeted actions to combat global hunger and malnutrition.

Global organizations identified who are promoting food security, and fighting to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in Africa are:

• Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger is a global organization that works to end hunger around the world. The primary goal of the organization is to create a better way to deal with hunger and malnutrition in nearly 50 countries. The organization employs around 7.500 field staff who assist more than 21 million people in emergencies caused by food crises, natural disasters, and conflicts.

Action Against Hunger focuses on families with young children. Its goal is double the number of children who receive urgent hunger care, from three million to six million by 2020. The organization also deals with other issues evolving from hunger, such as nutrition and health, water and sanitation, emergency response, food security, and livelihoods. Action Against Hunger saves the lives of children and their families and enables them to provide for themselves. The organization constantly searches for innovative and effective solutions to push for long-term change and free the world from hunger.

• The Hunger Project

The Hunger Project is an international non-profit organization with a vision of “a world where every woman, man, and child lead a healthy, fulfilling life of self-reliance and dignity”. The Hunger Projects implements programs in Asia, Africa, and South America, that aim to mobilize rural communities to achieve sustainable progress in nutrition, family hunger, health, and education.

The mission of the organization is to end hunger and poverty. It currently works in 16.075 communities and empowers women and men living in rural areas to overcome hunger and poverty by themselves. The three essential elements of this organization’s work are: empowering women as key change agents, mobilizing communities for self-reliant action, and fostering effective partnerships with local governments.

• Project Concern International

Project Concern International (PCI) is a global development organization that uses innovation to end hunger, enhance health, overcome hardships and assist women and girls to achieve changes in their lives. PCI currently works across Asia, Africa, and America, transforming the lives of nearly ten million people.

PCI implements food security programs while trying to identify the primary causes of this issue to ensure sustainable solutions. Through its work, it addresses food security pillars in its programs so that it can offer comprehensive, contextualized, and integrated interventions. The organization uses an integrated approach to prevent hunger and malnutrition through programming in climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, livelihood security and strengthening access to markets, improving health, nutrition, and hygiene practices, and integrated food for education programs. These approaches are driven by strong community engagement and ownership and a commitment to working towards sustainability.

• Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture

Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) was founded in 1985 as an international agricultural development organization specializing in designing and implementing sustainable, enterprise-based agricultural initiatives. CNFA’s mission is to increase and sustain rural incomes in less developed areas of the world by assisting farmers and rural entrepreneurs, to build a world without hunger.

The organization works with communities, businesses, governments, and foundations to meet growing demands for food around the world. The organization assists farmers by enabling agribusiness financing, improving marketing, and strengthening the market linkages in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, the Caribbean, and South, and Central Asia.

• One Acre Fund

One Acre Fund supplies smallholder farmers with the financing and training they need to grow more food and earn more money. Instead of giving handouts, we invest in farmers to generate a gain in farm income.

Acre addresses this challenge by providing seed and fertilizer, financing, and training to help smallholder farmers grow their way out of hunger and build lasting pathways to prosperity

Using a market-based approach, One Acre Fund facilitates activities and transactions at various levels of the farming value chain, including seed sourcing and market support. In 2020, farmers who worked with One Acre Fund reported 33% in additional profit compared to non-participating farmers.

• Food and Agriculture Organization

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

Their goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active healthy lives. With 195 members – 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

FAO helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources. It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects data on agricultural output, production, and development.