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Preventing Hunger: Episcopal Relief & Development's Response to the Food Crisis

By Katharine Krall Jones, Research and Evaluation Officer, Episcopal Relief & Development

Introduction

The 2008 global food crisis had a devastating impact on development progress in poor countries around the world. Forty million additional people became undernourished in 2008, and the vast majority of these undernourished were in developing countries.¹ Before the crisis, many poor families in developing countries were spending 60%-80% of their income on food procurement, ² and when food prices rose dramatically it not only became increasingly difficult for them to afford food but also progressively more challenging for them to afford other basic necessities, such as housing, education, clean water, transportation, and health care. Poor women and girls were also additionally impacted, not only because they represented 7 out of every 10 of the poor before the food crisis,³ but also because cultural practices often dictated that what little food was available was given first to male family members.

Many people feared that the already grave situation in 2008 could worsen and, indeed, we are faced in 2009 with a global economic crisis that has renewed the food crisis. Even though U.N. spokesman Tim Wall notes that it is too early to say for certain, “very little of the record US $18 billion in food pledges made by developed nations during the height of the 2008 food crisis has materialized.” ⁴ While the pledges are not being honored, the needs of those who are hungry remain. Episcopal Relief & Development is taking action now to prevent the deepening of the food crisis around the world and to ensure that hungry people have a dependable food supply everywhere we work.

Given the complexity of this crisis, Episcopal Relief & Development believes that in order for solutions to be sustainable they must go far beyond providing emergency food aid. While food aid has saved millions of lives around the world by providing short-term hunger relief, research indicates it can harm local production and markets⁵ and thereby weaken a community’s long-term ability to produce its own food once the crisis has passed. When food can be grown in the communities where it is needed, donated food interrupts the local system of agricultural supply and demand, and the international transport of food commodities harms the environment unnecessarily.

Therefore, while Episcopal Relief & Development’s emergency funding provides short-term hunger relief, we do not provide commodity shipments that contain food grown or purchased outside of the country in need. Instead, our emergency funding is used to buy food in the local market in order to offset the short-term emergency need for food and equip farmers to contribute to improving the long-term food supply in their communities, while also contributing to local economies. Our approach to providing emergency food assistance is in line with our primary goal for the long-term programs to improve the food supply that we support: to help at-risk families, communities, and acutely vulnerable groups establish more sustainable access to the food they need to survive and stay healthy and thereby mitigate the risks of the ongoing food crisis in their lives.

In particular, Episcopal Relief & Development is working with local partners in over 40 countries to help communities become less vulnerable to food price fluctuations, global shifts in the availability of staple foods and the consequences of climate change on agricultural production. We are also committed to continuing our support of other initiatives that are not traditionally understood as improving a community’s food supply, yet instill sound agricultural practices and promote the overall health and vitality of communities such as:

• Promoting women’s access to agricultural inputs, credit, and land ownership, and so increase agricultural production and ensure sustainable food access for entire families;
• Improving infrastructure, housing, and education to enable community access to food;
• Increasing community access to clean water, sanitation, and health care to preserve community health and therefore support peoples’ abilities to work and reduce contamination of ground water and rivers;
• Supporting community health programs that address malnutrition and protect the advancements made in other health areas.

Episcopal Relief & Development believes that only by supporting development efforts in all these areas will at-risk communities become less vulnerable to food crises in the future.


Episcopal Relief & Development’s Commitment to Alleviating Hunger and Improving the Food Supply

While there has been significant concern in the international community that the food crisis will reverse the development gains of the last decade, Episcopal Relief & Development has thankfully witnessed that many development gains persist in the communities we support. These include improvements in infrastructure, health care, and sanitation systems, and increases in the number of locally run businesses. Nevertheless, many of the countries in which we work remain vulnerable to food shortages, as they import food staples, are impacted by drought and floods, and have populations that had a difficult time affording food even before food prices soared.

Through the programs to alleviate hunger and improve the food supply that we have supported in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Episcopal Relief & Development has seen first-hand that many factors contributed to the food crisis, particularly:

• Climate change;
• A rise in demand for more agriculturally intensive food like meat where populations and incomes are growing while agricultural yields are declining due to climate change and urbanization;
• Stunted agricultural productivity as a result of women’s lack of property rights and limited access to credit and agricultural inputs in many countries;
• Proportionally lower levels of funding for MDG 1: Reducing Hunger and Poverty;
• The shift in agricultural production to biofuels;
• Higher energy prices;
• The loss of irrigated land to urban development and pollution.

In response to these factors, Episcopal Relief & Development helps communities become less vulnerable to food price fluctuations, global shifts in the availability of staple foods, and the consequences of climate change. In particular, we work with partners to:

• Form and train farmers’ groups on animal traction methods, livestock management, and agricultural techniques to grow high-nutrient, drought-resistant crops;
• Provide farmers with agricultural inputs, oxen, ploughs and other farming equipment;
• Support farmers in using environmentally-friendly agricultural practices to ensure the continued viability of farmland;
• Promote women’s rights to inherit and own land and access credit;
• Provide micro-credit programs to assure communities have sufficient income to buy necessary food;
• Provide marketing-skills training to farmers to help them increase income from the crops produced and enable them to purchase necessary equipment and agricultural inputs;
• Involve vulnerable groups, including women, in the program-planning process for food security programs to ensure significant they address obstacles to food security.

It has become increasingly evident that providing support for vulnerable groups, particularly women, is vital for creating sustainable solutions to the food crisis. As the Gates Foundation notes, “In developing countries, women do up to 80 percent of the work on farms, like the planting, harvesting, and processing. They are responsible for both producing the food and preparing it for their families. Yet women farmers receive only 5 percent of extension services and are underrepresented in training programs.”⁶

Similarly, while rural women alone produce half of the world’s food, they receive less than 10% of credit provided to farmers.⁷ Therefore, despite the importance of female farmers to global food security, they are not empowered to make decisions that relate to land use or the use of new technologies in order to produce the amount of food required by their communities and other communities around the world. Episcopal Relief & Development therefore ensures that the food security programs we support provide female farmers with the agricultural resources they require (such as fertilizers, seed, land, clean water, oxen, etc.). In collaboration with our partners, we also proactively engage women in the community to learn the many obstacles to food security that exist in communities and assure programs are equipped to address these barriers.

Episcopal Relief & Development- Programs to Alleviate Hunger and Improve the Food Supply

Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting programs to alleviate hunger and improve the food supply in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean to help to prevent future vulnerability to food crises. The following overviews provide brief snapshots of the programs Episcopal Relief & Development and its partners manage each day to promote food security in these regions.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has one of the largest food deficits—on par with Afghanistan and Somalia. Two-thirds of Haitians depend on the agricultural sector for livelihood, and most of these Haitians engage primarily in small-scale subsistence farming. The livelihood of these farmers is highly insecure since most subsistence farm land in this 98% deforested country is vulnerable to and damaged from frequent hurricanes, floods, and drought. The food crisis has affected these farmers strongly—as well as many others in Haiti— and the country is struggling with an increasing rate of malnutrition among its citizens. According to 2008 UNICEF figures, of the children under 5, 22% are moderately to severely malnourished and 24% have moderately to severely stunted growth.⁸

The gravity of the food crisis situation resulted in riots in 2008 and René Préval, the President of Haiti, emphasized the need for support in micro-enterprise development and small-scale agricultural development in order to mitigate the consequences of the food crisis. Since 2001, Episcopal Relief & Development has supported hunger alleviation efforts in Haiti through micro-enterprise development, small-scale agricultural production programs, reforestation efforts and through founding and supporting a business college.

The microfinance program is implemented through our local partner, the Episcopal Church of Haiti, which distributes small loans primarily to women to start businesses and thereby enable them to feed their families. Since 2006, over 1,200 beneficiaries have received small loans through the program, with an average loan size of approximately US$188 and a repayment rate of approximately 89%. Through the program, women have begun various businesses, including establishing wholesale food stalls at markets; clothes production, sale and trade companies; restaurants and food stalls; hair/beauty salons; bakeries; among many others. The microcredit program will expand in 2009 and aims to retain at least 1,500 beneficiaries.

Episcopal Relief & Development is also supporting the Episcopal Church of Haiti’s food program, which supplies 18 primary schools with canteens to directly reach young children who are acutely vulnerable to malnutrition. The food is purchased locally in markets, rather than being imported, to further support the local economy and local food security. To date, 4000 children have been fed through the school canteens.

Episcopal Relief & Development is also improving the food supply in Haiti by working through an ecumenical partnership with the Comprehensive Development Project (CODEP). In 2007, we helped contain the local effects of deforestation by planting almost one million trees; establishing 140 miles of hedgerows to decrease soil erosion; and digging and stocking 12 fish ponds. Through an additional partnership with a US-based marine biology organization, the program has also revived 25 pre-existing household fish ponds, which has increased the number of food sources available to local Haitian peasants.

Episcopal Relief & Development has also supported a business college, the Bishop Tharp Institute (“BTI”), in Haiti since 2001, in order to increase the number of locally run businesses and thereby increase the local ability to purchase food. By increasing the number of Haitians trained in business and technology, we hope to also increase the number of individuals in the workforce who can work to increase the level of international development funds and other investments to support the country’s growth and future security.

ASIA

The Philippines

At one time self-sufficient in its rice production, the Philippines is now the world’s top importer of rice. This dependency has left the country extremely vulnerable to the sharp increases in global food prices, and the Philippines continues to struggle with high rates of malnutrition. Of the children under 5, 28% are moderately to severely malnourished and 30% have moderately to severely stunted growth.⁹ Episcopal Relief & Development is working in partnership with the Episcopal Church of the Philippines to improve the food supply, primarily by helping small farmers in the Barangay Ambagiw community in the northern Philippines increase farmer income and the salability of agricultural goods.

Barangay Ambagiw is a remote community with minimal access to other communities. Community members, 94% of whom are farmers, at one time were able to produce a sufficient amount of rice, fruit, and vegetables for local consumption. However, the community’s food security is now severely threatened as a result of decreased agricultural production that is attributable to:

• The increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides;
• The abandonment of rice fields due to the lack of irrigation and the migration of land owners to the cities;
• Escalating health and educational needs competing for scarce financial resources.

Barangay Ambagiw farmers face many other challenges as well. The amount of farmland is minimal and often steeply sloped, which prevents farmers from mechanizing to increase production. Instead, farmers must rely on less efficient and more labor intensive methods for cultivation and harvesting. Further, a lack of public transportation restricts farmers’ ability to sell their crops in other markets.

In June 2008, the project established a cargo-line transportation system to enable farmers to bring their agricultural products to markets. Not only will the transportation system provide economic benefits, but it will also have a positive impact on children’s health. Children presently must carry agricultural products to markets, which can pose health complications and also prevent them from attending school.

With the completion of the cargo-line, the program is also now building a fruit processing venture to increase the value of locally-grown fruit at markets. The cargo-line is currently being used to transport the necessary supplies into the community to build the fruit processing venture. It is anticipated that the cargo-line will also result in a significant increase in income among the community vendors who bring various fruit to a weekly market outside of the community. The community vendors bring guava, pineapple & bugnay (fruit used often for making wine) to the market; given that these fruits are highly perishable, the vendors often choose to sell them at bargain prices instead of returning home without a sale. The fruit processing venture aims to prevent this vulnerability by increasing the shelf life of the products and thereby enabling the vendors to negotiate higher prices.

The project will expand in 2009 to include a women-managed fruit processing unit. Through the project, a women’s organization was established to manage the processing unit, and 33 women from the community who are currently active in fruit growing, sales, and processing for home consumption will participate in the venture. The women will produce jam, jelly, and wine, as there is an established demand for these items. The Diocese of the Northern Philippines has other cooperatives to serve as market outlets for this project, which will enable the project to expand to involve the 80% of community households that expressed interest in participating in the venture.

The Barangay Ambagiw community is excited about the benefits that the fruit processing venture will bring. In the words of a local gentleman, “Now, many fruits are not harvested by the women because they will go to waste. We can’t take them all to sell them. With the processing facilities, maybe we’ll ALL go out and harvest fruit as we’ll earn money.”

AFRICA

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's current economic and food crisis has been described as the country's worst humanitarian crisis since independence. The situation has been compounded by a drought that has affected the entire country, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and internal strife and unrest. Zimbabweans are faced with a severe lack of food and limited financial resources to buy what little food is available. Zimbabwe is among the 36 countries the Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations has identified are in “food security crisis.” ¹⁰ USAID further noted that Zimababwe has experienced the largest staple food price increase for the urban poor, with the price for maize increasing 768% in just one month.¹¹

Episcopal Relief & Development has been working since 2007 with the Diocese of Masvingo in Zimbabwe to help alleviate hunger and improve the food supply. The Diocese is located in the town of Masvingo, which is one of the poorest communities in the country. The population is concentrated in rural areas and, despite the poor soils and low rainfall, most community members are subsistence farmers. Diseases such as cholera, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, as well as poor nutrition and high rates of poverty present major social problems. Recent food shortages and high inflation have left many communities vulnerable and desperate to find new ways to increase their income.
With Episcopal Relief & Development’s assistance, the Diocese of Masvingo is working to improve the living standard of the poor and the vulnerable in both urban and rural areas. In particular, the program aims to support disadvantaged women who have been barely surviving on subsistence farming. The program provides these women with entrepreneurial skills training in four community centers, which will enable them to develop skills to build businesses and earn sustainable incomes.

Given the instability of the Zimbabwean economy and the increasing floods and droughts destroy crops, the project aims to help these women gain skills that will enable them to earn enough money to feed their families in times of crisis.


Conclusion:
The World Bank has warned that an estimated 100 million people could be pushed back deeply into poverty as a result of the food crisis. Episcopal Relief & Development believes that the international development community can respond most responsibly to this warning by supporting local food security efforts that make communities less vulnerable to global food shortages and price fluctuations. We are proud to have taken the responsibility to support such efforts, as the program snapshots from Haiti, the Philippines and Zimbabwe illustrate. Episcopal Relief & Development is committed to continuing our work alleviating hunger until the adults and children in the communities we support no longer go hungry each day.

¹ http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/8836/icode/
² Ian Angus “Global food crisis and the capitalist model, PARTS 1 & 2” Page 2.
³ Women Thrive Worldwide. “The Effect of the Food Crisis on Women and Their Families.” May 2008.
⁴ Foroohar, Rana. “Hunger May Be the Worst Fallout from the Recession.” Newsweek. February 9, 2009.
⁵ CARE USA, “White Paper on Food Aid Policy” June 6, 2006. 
⁶ http://www.care.org/newsroom/publications/whitepapers/food_aid_whitepaper.pdf 
⁷ www.gatesfoundation.org
⁸ http://www.womenthrive.org/images/food%20crisis%20%26%20impact%20on%20women.pdf
⁹ http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/docs/sowc08.pdf
¹⁰  Evans, Alex. “Rising Food Prices: Drivers and Implications for Development.” Center on International Cooperation, New York University. Chatham House Food Supply Project. April 2008. CH BP 08/02.
¹¹ USAID. PRICE WATCH: Urban Food Markets in FEWS NET Countries. July 2008.