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7/1/12

The Last Hunger Season Presentation with author Roger Thurow


Thursday, June 28, 2012


It was a slightly overcast evening in Chicago and guests came into The Chicago Club. People enjoyed drinks and some conversation before the impending presentation by Senior Fellow for global agriculture and food policy, Roger Thurow. The former journalist of The Wall Street Journal wrote ENOUGH: Why the World’s Poorest starve in the Age of Plenty, which won him and his colleague the Action Against Hunger’s Humanitarian Award. The crowd of about one hundred includes a mix of established members of The Chicago Council, concerned citizens and students filled the chairs with introduction of Thurow.

 “Do we know who the small farmers are?” 

Thurow asks his audience members if we know who struggles with hunger every day, hungry farmers of Africa. He describes the conditions of four farmers he followed for a year in Africa. Three of the four farmers are women, representing the amount of women farmers in Africa. All the farmers are ignored by the government. And without the insurances, guarantees and backing of the government, farmers can starve. Unfortunately, when farming fails, people die in Africa. Thurow hones in on this point. However, this scare grows when accounting for the future of the world. With continuously growing population, the strain on current resources will grow. According to economic and agricultural advisors around the world, the population cannot be sustained without African agriculture by 2025. Without these small farmers, people will die. 

Each small farmer represents a unique and humbling aspect of these difficulties: the obscenity of hungry farmers, the deepest form of misery, the privilege of using “and”, and the desperation of either feeding family or giving kids an education. 

Fortunately, following these farmers after a year ends with success and hope. A special organization, One Acre Fund, puts small farmers first, where governments and policy continues to crawl. Using a model to support, educate and invest in farmers, One Acre places full interest in the future of agricultural independence of Africa. It creates sustainable farming with seeds that require less water to provide more food and gives farmers insurance. Africa must succeed. Programs for microfinancing and microcredit are keys to success in Africa.

Thurow paints a grim picture of the future, especially for small farmers. With strength in positivity and faith in people, Thurow reminds us we can paint a better picture for the future. We can raise awareness. We can raise funds. We can educate each other. We can enforce better food policy. We can invest in these farmers. After all, investing in these farmers is an investment in people and our future. 

-Megan Nakra

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