Ending Hunger:“Glocal” Solutions

Chris BarrettIthaca Hunger Banquet

April 17, 2008

And micronutrient undernutrition remains even more widespread (2

billion)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

1969-1971 1979-1981 1990-1992 1995-1997 2001-2003 2002-2004

Mill

ions

Number undernourished persons

Low-Income Countries Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia Global

Hunger remains widespread and growing or stagnant in most of the developing

world

Source: FAO 2007

10.4% of adults and 17.2% of children in the US are regularly hungry. Worse among black (21.8%) and Hispanic (19.5%) households.

In New York state, 10.4% of households are food insecure, 3.1% of them severely.

But less than half the eligible working poor participate in the food stamp program and WIC funding remains scarce

Mild chronic hunger is widespread in the US and other high-income countries, too

Sources: data from USDA, 2006, photo from Bread for the World

More than 30% of school children in this county receive free or reduced-price meals.

Nearly 9% of residents areofficially food insecure.

And the figures are worsenow as food and gas pricesrise and good jobs grow areever-harder to find.

Even in well-to-do Tompkins County, mild chronic hunger is widespread …

Source: Ithaca Journal, 2007

Poverty and hunger: Tragically reinforcing feedback

Poverty causes hunger: Low incomes and high and/or volatile food prices lead to hunger.

But hunger also causes poverty: Hunger leads to low birth weight, delayed child cognitive and physical development, adult energy and attention deficits, increased likelihood of illness or injury, etc. … all causally associated with low productivity and income.

The window for addressing hunger and undernutrition is relatively

narrow: Pre-pregnancy to ~24 months

Source: World Bank 2007 and Shrimpton et al. 2001

-2.00

-1.75

-1.50

-1.25

-1.00

-0.75

-0.50

-0.25

0.00

0.25

0.50

0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60

Age (months)

Weig

ht

for

ag

e Z

-sco

re (

NC

HS

)

Latin America and Caribbean

Africa

Asia

After 24-36 months, most cognitive, immune system and stature effects are

permanent

So what do we do?Global + local (“Glocal”)

Solutions

- Better technologies: animal and plant production and processing, food safety, energy, etc., especially for poor farmers around the world.

- Create new businesses offering good jobs at living wages for those without the education, skills and capital to compete in a skill-based, global economy.

Global + local (“Glocal”) Solutions

- Community-based cooperative management of resources, marketing, etc. … take control of and solve own problems locally.

- Timely and appropriate global and local support in times of emergencies: global food aid but also local food pantries and soup kitchens.

Hunger remains a major challenge, locally and

globally.

But progress has been remarkable. Hope is warranted. Action is necessary.Get involved where/as seems right for you: - work at a soup kitchen- donate to a food pantry- help with agricultural research- write your elected representatives.

… Just use your imagination and your skills!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can

change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead