May 8, 2008 2:35 pm
Take Action to Ease the Food Crisis
Mercy Corps' Action Center to End World Hunger is offering a way you can help ease the food crisis for vulnerable families.
President Bush and many lawmakers are lining up behind emergency legislation to provide a $1.2 billion increase in support of food aid and development programs.
Find out how to lend your support by clicking here.
May 2, 2008 9:26 am
Price of Sri Lanka's main meal doubles in a year
Rice and dhal — the mainstays of Sri Lankan cuisine — have more than doubled in price over the last year, according to statistics passed along from our program staff there.
In the last year, the price of rice on the island nation has increased 138 percent, while dhal has gone up 101 percent. That's not all: A one-pound loaf of bread has gone up 38 percent, and coconuts are twice as much as before. Coconut oil, the most commonly used oil for cooking, is up 112 percent and onions are up 78 percent. (The statistics come from Sri Lanka's census bureau.)
"People are obviously unhappy about the situation, and the poorest are struggling to make ends meet," reports Josh DeWald, Mercy Corps' country director in Sri Lanka.
Josh says Sri Lanka's middle class are coping by buying lower-quality foodstuffs, while lower-income Sri Lankans "are eating less by sacrificing a meal."
Rising commodity prices have forced the UN's World Food Programme to cut back on its distribution to displaced families affected by the country's internal conflict, Josh adds, and the government has introduced price ceilings on some goods.
Josh hopes to expand on Mercy Corps' current economic opportunities programming, most of which supports local agricultural production and processing.
Donate today to our Global Food Crisis fund and help our field teams respond to needs arising from the worst global food crisis in recent memory.
April 29, 2008 2:21 pm
Global Envision Blogs the Unfolding Crisis
Another Mercy Corps site featuring news about the global food crisis is Global Envision. It's a five-year-old site that was recently redesigned to better fulfill its mission to examine the confluence of global markets and poverty alleviation.
Global Envision's editorial team — which consists mainly of bright college interns — has been blogging on the unfolding global food crisis for several months, examining the factors, on-the-ground reactions, and responses by governments, relief organizations and the global market.
Donate today to our Global Food Crisis fund and help our field teams respond to needs arising from the worst global food crisis in recent memory.
April 29, 2008 9:23 am
A Longer-Term Response: The Action Center to End World Hunger
In addition to responding to the current food crisis, Mercy Corps is opening the Action Center to End World Hunger in New York this fall. (A similar Action Center will be housed in Mercy Corps' new Portland headquarters, slated for completion in 2009.)
Both centers aim to inspire and educate visitors to find solutions to hunger and other poverty-related issues worldwide. These interactive learning museums will feature touch-screen training towers offering in-depth content on particular issues, a Global Status Wall, video dispatches from Mercy Corps field workers and Action Stations to connect visitors to tangible steps they can take to help end poverty and hunger.
The Action Center preview site is active right now. It offers news updates on the latest crisis and stories about the development of the two Centers.
Donate today to our Global Food Crisis fund and help our field teams respond to needs arising from the worst global food crisis in recent memory.
April 24, 2008 2:04 pm
Rising Food Prices Impact Families Worldwide
Food staples - cooking oil, cheese, sugar and pasta - make up a food box for an Iraqi refugee family. Photo: Jacob Colie/Mercy Corps
If you've been paying attention to the news, you know that a "perfect storm" of factors — including soaring fuel prices, erratic weather, and growing demand for biofuels — is pushing global food prices up dramatically.
Surging food prices often hit those who can afford it the least — the very people who Mercy Corps supports in our programs around the world.
Reports from our staff around the world confirm that the situation is dire — and has the potential to grow much worse.
In Niger, prices of bread, powdered milk and wheat flour have spiked, exacerbating the West African nation's precarious food situation. Currently about two-thirds of the population is at serious risk, with shortages pushing the country closer to famine.
In Syria, spiraling food prices have forced Mercy Corps to cut back on the amount of food we can buy and distribute to hundreds of Iraqi refugee families.
Iraqi refugees shop a busy market street in Damascus, Syria. Photo: Jacob Colie/Mercy Corps
In Tajikistan, where we recently distributed blankets and generators to help residents keep warm during an unusually harsh winter, about 40 percent of households in the Rasht Valley are down to no more than one warm meal a day. Neighboring Kazakhstan has suspended wheat exports — shutting off Tajikistan's primary supply of the grain.
We need your help to make sure rising food costs don't imperil our work — helping communities recover from disaster, expanding economic opportunities in the wake of conflict, and supporting hard-working families in their quest to bring positive change to their communities.
Donate today to our Global Food Crisis fund and help our field teams respond to needs arising from the worst global food crisis in recent memory.
Over the last five years, more than 89% of resources allocated directly to programs.