A Table for 9 Billion

Today our planet is facing its second large-scale food crisis in 3 years.  Research shows that 1 in 7 people worldwide are chronically hungry and it's time to make this emergency a global priority. 

Hunger is about power. Its roots lie in inequalities in access to resources and opportunity. And women face the greatest inequalities of all.

In response, Oxfam International is launching a global food justice campaign on June 1st to alleviate hunger and build a food system: one that produces enough for a growing population and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive. In 2050, estimates show that our global population will reach 9 billion people and we want everyone to have a seat at the table.  


To mark the start of this campaign locally, the Chicago Oxfam Action Corps will be setting "A Table for 9 Billion"  at the Chicago Green City Market on Wednesday, June 1st from 7 am to 1 pm.  We will have educational material about the current food crisis and opportunities for you to become a partner in our food justice campaign in Chicago.  


Read more on Oxfam's Fact Sheet - Food For All: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/files/food-for-all-fact-sheet.pdf

All of us, no matter who we are, can do something to help. Join us on June 1st to find out what you can do to educate others and help get the word out.

If you are interested in volunteering or learning more, please email us at chicago@oxfamactioncorps.org

 

Budget cuts are nothing to laugh about

By Gawain Kripke - 04/01/11 09:30 AM ET

Good news! Congress finally does what U.S. voters say they want and dedicates 13 percent of the federal budget to life-saving international poverty-fighting assistance.

April Fools!

As the current budget drama gripping Washington continues, foreign aid remains on the chopping block. 

While all kinds of theatrics go on, some of us are waiting to see what will happen to the tiny fraction of the federal budget that is dedicated to the life-saving international health programs, emergency aid, poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and economic development assistance. Oxfam America’s doesn’t take funding from the US government, so our budget doesn’t depend on the answer. But we care because these programs make a big difference for poor people and developing countries. 

Year after year, cutting international assistance is a talking point for politicians: “We have to take care of America before we send American money all over the world,” say some members of Congress. But it’s an easy thing to say, given the misperceptions Americans have about international assistance. 

According to recent polling, Americans think 27 percent of the budget goes to foreign aid. Asked if they support cuts, most say yes. The funding level Americans settle on for foreign aid is somewhere between 10 and 13 percent of the federal budget. 

The only problem, of course, is that the ENTIRE international affairs budget, which includes diplomacy and development, is just about 1 percent of the budget. And less than half of that is spent on poverty-focused development aid. So armed with the facts, voters could actually support INCREASING spending on foreign assistance by 1,000 percent? Given that Americans spend around the same amount on caring for their lawns as they do for programs that improve livelihoods and create lasting solutions to world poverty, I would hope they do.

Cutting half of foreign aid – or even cutting all of it – wouldn’t do much for the federal budget deficit. But it doesn’t stop politicians from supporting the foolish decision to cut it. 

Pretending to close the yawning federal budget gap with cuts to foreign assistance is a terrible prank to play on:

• 5 million children and family members who could be denied treatment for preventative interventions for malaria,

• 3,500 mothers, more than 40,000 children under 5 in danger of dying due to reduced child survival interventions,

• 400,000 people who would be turned away from life-saving treatment for HIV/AIDS.

Even the threat of the government shutting down is disruptive and does damage.  Important development and anti-poverty programs have already been put on hold due to the uncertainty; an innovative food security program focused on rice production in Cambodia has indefinitely postponed its March 28 launch, for example.   

April fools is for laughs and kicks. But the pranks should stop when it comes to cutting life saving assistance. 

Gawain Kripke is the policy director for Oxfam America in Washington.

Reposted from The Hill's Congress blog

International Women's Day in Chicago

Madame Jacqueline Morette with Oxfam Staffers and volunteers after meeting with aides at Senator Mark Kirk's office.  Madame Morette had a busy day during her visit to Chicago.  After the visit to the senator's office she also presented at a public health class at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and was the guest of honor at the Oxfam co-sponsored International Women's Day event that evening.  This was just one of Oxfam America's 100 events in 100 days held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. The Chicago Oxfam Action Corps was honored to have her share her message with our guests that evening. She stressed that further involvement and resources are still needed to help the women's co-operative achieve their goals of improving livelihoods in her rural community.  Please join us in asking your member of Congress to Support the International Affairs Budget.  Ask them to vote against to cuts to funding for U.S. foreign aid programs – programs that help the world’s most vulnerable communities. Follow this link to tell your senators:

Don't cut out the world’s poorest communities!

In the heartland, a voice from Haiti

“We farmers depend on rainfall: too much rain, you lose. Too little rain, you lose.”

Jacqueline Morette almost didn’t make it to Des Moines, Iowa, last Friday morning. She’d just arrived from the airport with moments to spare, though you’d never know it from her calm smile as she took her place onstage, facing an audience of hundreds of food and agriculture experts.

A farmer from central Haiti, Morette was part of a panel on tackling malnutrition—an issue she knew intimately.

“In Haiti … infrastructure in rural areas is in bad shape, or nonexistent. Much of the country is mountainous. We farmers depend on rainfall: too much rain, you lose. Too little rain, you lose,” Morette explained through a translator. “Despite our efforts, most Haitians are food insecure. A lot of our kids are malnourished.”

The panel marked the final day of the World Food Prize Symposium, an annual conference that brings together leaders from the sciences, academia, corporations, and governments. The theme of this year’s symposium was “Take It to the Farmer”, referring to the importance of supporting subsistence farmers worldwide. Though about 60 international farmers attended the conference, only a few took the stage as panelists.

As I listened from the front row, I thought about Morette’s difficult journey. First, visa issues delayed her US trip until the last possible moment. Then a missed flight stranded Morette and her translator in Chicago overnight. Thanks to a quick airport pick-up by Oxfam organizer Jim French, they’d made it in time for the panel—barely.

Morette’s fellow panelists included Liberia’s minister of agriculture and PepsiCo’s vice president of health, among others. Most showed PowerPoint slides, displaying charts about vitamin consumption and post-harvest losses, blocky and colorful as abstract art.

Morette simply spoke about her work as head of an Oxfam partner organization, the United Women’s Association of Pouille. She explained that most aid and services in Haiti focus on the capital, Port-au-Prince, leaving rural farmers at a disadvantage when it comes to fighting malnutrition.

“As you might know, we have a big gender gap in Haiti,” she said. “We seek to narrow that gap by improving women’s incomes. Since [we began] men have joined us to work together to improve agriculture and nutrition. … We educate people not only about cash crops, but about what to consume.”

During the question and answer session, an audience member asked Morette where she saw opportunities for local leaders like her to take charge of their own development.

“The fact that I’m here is already a big help,” she said. “[Oxfam] is in rural areas and sees what’s happening there. This is a big step for any organization, to go directly to the rural farmers.”

After the panel ended, a small crowd surrounded Morette, including a young Haitian-American graduate student who began a rapid dialogue with her in Kreyol. Two women sitting behind me, who’d been nodding along with her words, also rose to greet her.

“Thank goodness,” I heard one of the women say, reaching out a hand. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Re-posted from Oxfam America's Blog on October 18th, 2010 | by Anna Kramer