News blog

New UN figures out today confirm what we already knew – the number of hungry people has risen to over one billion.

A few years ago world leaders thought they could halve world hunger by 2015, but instead the numbers are increasing – with 100 million added last year. What this actually means is that one in six people in the world does not have enough to eat and that a child dies from hunger every 10 seconds.

These figures are all the more horrific when you think that we actually produce enough food to feed everyone in the world.

So why is hunger rising? Well, even though some food prices have dropped since the highs of last year, staple foods in most developing countries are still much higher than before. And despite record global harvests, a lot of land is now set aside to produce biofuels, rather than food. Climate change is already affecting many poor farmers as droughts and floods become more common.

Another huge factor is a general lack of focus on and lack of investment in agriculture over the last 25 years by governments, especially support to small farmers to grow more food.

This is why ActionAid has launched it’s HungerFree campaign across the world and we’ve already had some great successes – like the 5,000 tribal women who now have land as a result of HungerFREE campaigning in India. But much more needs to be done to end hunger for good.

The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation predicts that in 40 years' time the global population will be 9.2 billion people - a third larger than it is now - and that we will need to produce twice as much food to feed us all. That’s scary given that a billion people around the world are currently without food.

The reasons range from natural to man-made disasters, such as poor policies and negligence. In some cases, natural disasters may be unavoidable but it is not acceptable where the causes can be avoided.

As a Malawian, I personally worry that my country could be accused of making poor policy decisions around food. With around 45% of Malawi’s 13 million population facing hunger over the coming two months, it’s bizarre to think that Malawi has had maize surpluses averaging three metric tones over the last three harvesting seasons.

These harvests have seen my president, Bingu wa Mutharika being given four awards for his good agricultural policies. However, despite that, the World Food Programme (WFP) has recently launched a global appeal for US$5.2 million to help those vulnerable Malawians who will be without food over the coming months.

Maybe there’s nothing new here – people can go hungry in even the best organised systems; there are homeless and starving people even in the mega cities of this world.

But Malawi’s more disturbing statistic is that the projected amount of people that will be without food is the same amount of people that would have been hungry even without the maize surplus. The WFP says this is because the surplus food "does not automatically trickle down to vulnerable groups, such as the chronically-ill and orphans."

I’ve never thought - not even for a split second - that surplus maize means an end to hunger and starvation. Yet one would hope that Malawi’s surplus maize would at least improve the food situation a little.

At least the latest news coming out of Malawi is that the government has recognised that its current agricultural approach of distributing highly subsidised maize, tobacco and cotton seeds and chemical fertilisers is unsustainable; costs have risen from US$58 million to US$186 million a year.

Perhaps what is scariest of all is that Malawi came a very respectable fifth on ActionAid's scorecard of how well countries are doing in fighting hunger - in other words, according too UN standards, these policies are working better than those in 330 other developing countries.

In the latest issue of Action, ActionAid’s supporter magazine, it says that the government is investing in a more sustainable approach, with a nationwide campaign promoting the use of cheaper organic composting techniques amongst other interventions.

So I’ll wait and see if Malawi’s revised agricultural policies benefit the most vulnerable. Because lets face it, real development is inconceivable in a country where half the population live on empty stomachs.

And on a more general note, as World Food Day approaches, shouldn’t all leaders adopt policies that ensure food for all? After all, isn’t the primary role of government to protect and help those who cannot help themselves?

 http://twitter.com/jkainja

I’ve just seen the Anish Kapoor show at the Royal Academy and I can say it is one of those things you never forget in your life.  The images, the spaces created by imagination, created contagious energy.  Whilst inside, I felt strangely calm even though Svayambh (the work which affected me the most) - a giant block of slow moving red wax which moves through the galleries across the entire breadth of Burlington House - was completely alien and in a strange way bizarrely shocking.

The sculpture seemed interactive, but it wasn’t. It challenged the viewer; it was like a self generated idea which is emblematic of Kapoor’s interest in works of sculpture that actively participate in their own creation. Another major exhibit is Shooting into the corner, a work of extraordinary complexity and drama that builds up against the walls and floor of the gallery. It reminded me of war, of pain but strangely of release, freedom and laughter.  The conflicting emotions were not wrestling inside for space, rather they were helping maintain an objective distance from them. I didn’t judge whether it was good or bad (which is an awful habit of mine when it comes to modern art) but rather I related on so many levels to the object that I felt I was inside my own dream, maybe even Kapoor’s dream. 

It reminded me of something he once said: “What interests me is the sense of the darkness that we carry within us, the darkness that's akin to one of the principal subjects of the sublime – terror.”  I left feeling as if I had been meditating on a mountain top as well as feeling like I had been to a very loud gig of a very good and very loud band, exhilarating and deliciously frustrating all at once. I wanted more, I needed a one-to-one with the artist to understand, I felt like I needed to see and know more.

Art is a language that transcends. Kapoor proved this by creating a work in 2003 called Ascension in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Installed under Sao Paulo’s landmark Cha bridge, Ascension inspired a social initiative engaged in helping street children living in the surrounding area of inner city Sao Paulo.

Using art as a tool, the Ascension Project seeks to provide a connection between the problems and challenges of urban restlessness and the world of art and creativity.  It helps children trapped in the chaos of a violent concrete jungle find solace and meaning by engaging with things of beauty and wonder. It creates an opportunity for kids to grow and believe that they too can create things and make a difference.  The project is stimulating young minds who may not have had the chance to otherwise see such interesting work.

Kapoor once said he trusts in the “intimacy” that a work of art can produce between the viewer and the work. In his opinion, a stunning work of art, located either in a public or private space, must be able to move the spectator into a unique experience. A remarkable sense of intimacy is established in Sao Paulo through 'Ascension' as well as expanding public awareness. 

Art is part of a well rounded education as well as a type of therapy to help us be better people. It helps us understand and appreciate what differentiates us from animals. Art is the creation of the sublime, the creation of work that emanates an energy and makes us think – just as it left the street kids wanting more, needing to understand, to converse and share…and to know.

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So defence giant BAE Systems looks set to face prosecution over bribery allegations following contracts won in Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania and South Africa. ActionAid is all for any charges of corruption being confronted head on. That doesn’t just mean pursuing the local officials and politicians who accept bribes in the so called brown envelope cultures. It also means prosecuting businesses and companies accused of offering temptation.

The World Bank has estimated that well over a half of all multinationals pay bribes in developing countries. That, as well as local corruption, needs to be stopped. As an international development charity, ActionAid too often hears low standards in the poorest countries being cited as an argument against the delivery of aid. Stamping out corruption, wherever it comes from, will mean that more will get to those who need it most.

What’s good for the goose …and all that!

www.twitter.com/jane_moyo