A recent report by the British Parliament’s International Development Committee, which warns that international aid levels must rise in order to ensure that recent food price rises do not undo years of progress in reducing poverty. In response to the report Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce MP, Chairman of the Committee, said:
“Recent food price rises have greatly exacerbated the difficulties poor people face in accessing nourishing food. The World Bank has warned that up to 100 million people are at risk of being dragged back into poverty. The Department for International Development (DFID) should do all it can to compensate for rising prices in its contributions to the WFP, which is carrying out a crucial role at the frontline of hunger, and encourage other donors to do the same.” Malnutrition is responsible for one-third of child deaths. Yet the Committee’s report argues that nutrition is under-funded and under-emphasized by the UK Government, the international community and the UN system.
According to the report, up to 20 million additional tons of food may be needed to feed new groups of people being pushed into poverty by food price rises. The World Food Program (WFP), the UN agency responsible for assisting people suffering from hunger and malnutrition, warns that their annual donations of around 3 billion dollars may need to double. The rising prices of food and the growing impact it is having on malnutrition and poverty, especially to those in poor developing nations, is being given a push by other international aid organizations in addition to the WFP. Recently the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, have agreed to provide 1.3 billion dollars in emergency food financing to Bangladesh (The Financial Times, UK).
However 1.3 billion dollars to Bangladesh is only7 a small drop of water into a large bucket. In Ethiopia alone six million children are at risk of acute malnutrition following the failure of rains, while more than 60,000 children in two regions require immediate specialist feeding just to survive, The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF says (BBC). The situation is expected to worsen in the next few months as crops fail. Aid agencies in Ethiopia say they are short of funds as donors concentrate on the emergencies in China and Burma and the WFP says nearly three million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid this year due to the late rains and the high cost of food.
Therefore it remains clear that efforts around the globe to tackle the food crisis and seek a sustainable end to child malnutrition and poverty continue to need an increased political will to ensure that both funding and sustainable practices are put into place at all levels.
