Committment to Global Food Security Sadly Lacking

Sphere: Related Content This post is made up from a number of sources provided by Avaaz, which sometime ago sent a request to join in the call urging world leaders to make good on their promises to tackle the world food crisis by delivering a strong agriculture and food security package for developing countries.

Zunia provided a link to E-Learning: Food Security Information for Action. The link leads to information on the work that the FAO and European Union are doing together on Food Security Information for Decision Making. The goal is the Linking Information and Decision Making to Improve Food Security. The program offers self-paced e-learning, developed by international experts to support capacity building and on-the-job Training and Workshops at national and local food security information systems and networks. You can try a sample lesson "What is Food Security?"

This is one of the times that the effort did not reach its goal either in numbers or in effect. World leaders who met in Rome in November of 2009 for the World Food Summit, backed out on a pledge to fund lifesaving food production. The countries of France, Germany, UK, Italy and Japan all backed out on a $20 billion promise made earlier this year. Only $3 billion or Only 15% of G8 pledge was new money, according to Reuters.

The BBC reports Global Hunger worsening, warns UN's annual report on global food security which confirms that more than one billion people - a sixth of the world's population - are undernourished. This is a scandal with literally millions facing life-threatening hunger especially when the economic crisis has only made the situation wors and billions were found to help out the banks. Although the world produces enough food to feed everyone, according to this report for World Food Day: There is enough food grown in the world for everyone (Op-ed), Oxfam International: chronic hunger across the planet has reached the record-high figure of 1 billion this year.

Change.org, even more recently shifted the focus back to the United States and President Obama with the message: Feed the Hungry Instead of Wall Street

Most of the time, broken promises from politicians barely raise an eyebrow.

But what if a broken promise condemned one sixth of the world's population to chronic hunger?

The world's most powerful leaders, including President Obama, did just that in November when they refused to even show up for the Food Security Summit in Rome.

And just four months after promising $22 billion to fight hunger, the G8 leaders still haven't spelled out how they will fund it.

Don't let world leaders get away with ignoring the problem of global hunger.

Ask President Obama to take the lead and demand world leaders make good on their promise >

- The Change.org Team in partnership with ActionAid

They are working with the anti-poverty organisation ActionAid, which brings over 30 years of knowledge and experience in fighting poverty by applying the following principles:

• Work together with poor people, local partners and organisations in combating poverty
• Focus on fighting against the causes of poverty, not just the results.

Their efforts are prioritized into five areas of work to make the most difference:

1. education,
2. hiv and aids,
3. food rights,
4. emergencies,
5. women and girls and
6. governance.
   

Here is ActionAid's HungerFREE Scorecard which sees small scale farming systems being critical in tackling hunger and poverty:

This is an in-depth investigation into what 50 governments (poor and rich) are doing to tackle the billion hungry. Giving them each scores based on their achievements and policies.

While some of the poorest countries in the world have been able to reduce the number of hungry people, many of the richest countries lag shockingly behind.

More information about ActionAid´s HungerFREE global campaign:

• # The ActionAid HungerFREE campaign aims to put the issue of hunger to the top of the political agenda. The right to food has been sidelined for too long!
• # We are a global campaign that lobbies governments to deliver on their commitment to halve world hunger by 2015.
• # We want to ensure that corporations are held accountable for abuses of the rights to food, water, land and seeds
• # We believe that low-impact farming by small-holder farmers is the best way to tackle hunger. A UN study found sustainable agriculture increased crop yields in Africa by an astonishing 116%.
• # We’re teaming up with hungry people and communities, individual farmers, farmers’ groups, supporters, celebrities, artists, influencers and sympathetic politicians – all with one thing in common – we are determined to end hunger.

There is growing evidence, like this article from Greenpeace, showing that intensive farming models are not only ineffectual in countering hunger, they have a highly damaging affect on our environment. However, as strange as it may sound to some, an argument could be made that it makes more sense to work with businesses than governments. UN meets with food businesses to discuss food security Reuters(11/12)

Private sector, governments, non-government organisations should work together to solve long-term problems in developing countries and eradicate hunger in the world, said Ertharin Cousin, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. food agencies in Rome.

A Coalition of Advocates (and me) Supporting the Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy

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ONE is joining forces with the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN)—including:

• Bread for the World
• Women Thrive Worldwide
• Mercy Corps
• Center for American Progress
• Oxfam America
• Publish What You Fund
• RESULTS
• Save the Children
• American Jewish World Service
• CARE
• Americans for Informed Democracy and
• International Women's Health Coalition

They are combining efforts across the Aid Advocacy community to help elevate the call for development and foreign assistance reform for President Obama and his key advisors through the Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy.

Tom Hart, Director of Government Relations at ONE.org advised in an email:

Right now, President Obama and his senior advisors, led by National Security Advisor James Jones and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, are preparing a Presidential Study Directive that will shape the future of U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, fight disease, and create economic opportunity for the world's poorest people.

The petition they want us to sign, with my two cents added, reads:

Please create a U.S. global development strategy giving development a strong voice in foreign policy decisions and coordinating efforts to alleviate global poverty, fight disease, and create economic opportunity.

This would be the strongest message that you could send to the rest of world supporting the vision you put forth when accepting your Nobel Peace Prize. It would also be one of the most significant actions the United States could take in supporting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals especially to end poverty.

MFAN will deliver the petition to key White House contacts on December 18. They are looking to get 25,000 signature and so far they have 23,989 with 3,999 from California. So this time I am getting this out about a week early giving anyone who reads this an opportunity to add their voice so that they reach their goal.

Enjoying Victories - Whether by Democrat or Republican - Whether by Activist or Slacktivist

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This blog endeavors to support the United Nations' Eight Goal Millennium Campaign by supporting the actions of a number of advocacy organizations including ONE. These actions often involve supporting the many different laws focused on the Millennium Development Goal to End Hunger.

Just before Thanksgiving, I sent in my comments urging my Congressional representative (Republican) to sign on to the Berman-Kirk letter requesting a robust International Affairs Budget. I was told that he would take it under advisement.

Well, whether he supported it or not (not), the overall Berman-Kirk FY2011 Budget Campaign was a Resounding Success and a bipartisan one.

A victory in the fight to "Upgrade Aid" occured when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 15-3 to pass the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act (S.1524) through their committee.

The bill we passed today…is the product of well over a year of research and analysis by Senators and their staffs. It has attracted the support of most development groups, led by the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. It is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 19 Senators, twelve of whom are members of this Committee. This level of backing for a bill related to foreign assistance structure is extremely rare. It provides an opportunity to build something approaching a consensus on this issue.

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Committee Ranking Member

This legislation demonstrates Congress’s commitment to strengthening the capacity, accountability and effectiveness of our foreign aid programs. With the U.S. facing critical foreign policy and development priorities worldwide, it is vital that we update our foreign aid programs to reflect the new challenges of the 21st century.

Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman

I’ve been able to see our foreign assistance dollars in action and am proud of the role we are playing in producing positive change in the lives of millions around the world, but at the same time, I share the frustration of many Americans that our foreign assistance efforts have often lacked transparency, coordination, monitoring and evaluation. This bill begins to reinvigorate USAID to improve the coordination, execution and efficiency of U.S. assistance so we can make each dollar go farther.

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN)
Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Development
and Foreign Assistance

This is one of the most significant pieces of foreign assistance legislation that has passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in decades. I am proud that this is truly a bi-partisan bill, developed in a collaborative manner and that it includes input from a wide range of voices. These programs are critical to millions of people around the world, they contribute to our mutual economic health, and are in the direct national security interests of the United States.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance

Over 47,000 ONE members signed the petition
19 senators signed on—
9 of these since the campaign was first launched.

Sheila Nix, the U.S. Executive Director, ONE.org tells us that the next step for aid reform will be the White House Presidential Study Directive on U.S. global development, which General Jim Jones and Dr. Larry Summers are working on right now. Stay tuned to the ONE Blog and your email for updates and opportunities to take further action.

The need for this effort is made clear by the testimony of Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE.

In the video she testifies in defense of Global Hunger and Food Security legislation, specifically the Global Food Security Act (HR3077) and the Roadmap to End Global Hunger Act (HR2817).

However, it seems that these bills are still languishing so the work still needs to continue.

Voices from across the globe call out to End Poverty Now!

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Citizens attempt to break another Guinness World Record by showing their governments they won't stand for broken promises to world's poorest. Here are some voices from around the globe.

This is the last day of the Stand Up Take Action End Poverty campaign. Here are some of the voices that have spoken up at BloggersUnite for Stand Up Take Action End Poverty Now!

Hal786 is a Muslim girl from the United Kingdom. My introduction to her was through my other blog at Blogging about Hardship to Ease and Other Paths Showing the Way From Hardship to Ease. Her perspective on Stand Up Take Action End Poverty Now!

In Islam, we believe that giving money to charity is a very blessed action. Muslims believe that there are 3 actions in this world which will grant us rewards even in the grave!! Yes, that’s right, 3 things which you will be blessed for, given rewards by God for even when you are dead. One of the things is giving money to charity. ‘Ongoing charity’ .

From asimplicity of [small.simple.life] we got Stand Up Now Against Poverty and Inequality.

Connect with your fellow humans on a global scale and let it be known that we care, we know and that we want an end to poverty and inequality. Change can be achieved!!!

More ways to Take action against poverty from Moansters Incorporated

Small actions can make a big difference, so choose yours and take a step to making poverty a thing of the past. Because poverty is not just being too poor to buy a glow-in-the-dark bat, or a pumpkin-shaped candy bucket.

I already introduced two bloggers from the Philippines in my post Today is the Day Stand Up and Be Counted to support World Food Day and End Poverty! One post from Ang Sa Wari Ko who wrote Ang silbi ng 45 pesos at ang isyu ng kahirapan [English Translation]

Since 2004 data provided to me by UNDP and until now 33% from the population of the Philippines is experiencing they call extreme poverty in which they budget in one day is less than 1 Dollar or 45 pesos to the money we .That the only standing only value is specific for only a few pieces of noodles, rice and half papaladin are there with a few pieces of dry, eggs and soap depends also how to budget it, but how the pagsisiksikin these needs if the family that bu-budget are less than five members?

The other from 2Rivers who wrote Can We End Poverty In Our Generation.

Imagine yourself living in an isolated village surrounded by barren fields and wilted crops, with the seasons bringing nothing but drought and mosquitoes carrying malaria.“This is a story about ending poverty in our time,” says Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the U. N. Millennium Project, in his landmark The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities For Our Time. “More then 8 million people around the world die each year because they are too poor to stay alive.”

It’s time to end this madness. Here’s how.

I will leave the last words to those who have helped lead this campaign with a few links added.

"With just six years left until the deadline by which heads of state have pledged to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes, 'Stand Up' will be a stark reminder that citizens will not accept excuses for governments breaking promises to the world's poorest and most vulnerable citizens," said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

"This year's mobilization will place particular emphasis on telling world leaders that their track record on women's rights, maternal mortality and hunger is unacceptable. Citizens refuse to accept the fact that 70 percent of the people living in poverty are women and children [ENDING POVERTY—Why Empower Women and Girls? pdf] and 500,000 women continue to die annually in the process of giving life, and they are demanding urgent action from their leaders.

"Millions of people are standing up against poverty, while politicians are sitting on their hands," said Adelaide Sosseh, Co-Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) based in The Gambia. "The combined effects of the economic, climate and food crises are affecting people of all ages and stations in life, in all countries - especially women -- but those already living in poverty are the hardest hit. Given the amounts found to bail out banks in just a year, we know the resources are not lacking. It´s this lack of political will to tackle poverty that remains the biggest motivation behind Stand Up participation."

People can still Stand Up virtually and be counted towards what organizers hope will be a new Guinness World Record by clicking on the Stand Up Now button in the Today Stand Up and Be Counted widget in the right hand column of this blog.

Speaking Out Against Poverty For the Young By the Young

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Today is the second day for Stand Up End Poverty! and for another two BloggersUnite events that reflect the purpose of the day, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and Stand Up Against Corruption and Poverty. All three strive to meet the same challenge, but take different pathways. Besides having the struggle against poverty as their primary focus, they are all related to the United Nations. What they demonstrate is that there is more than one pathway to the same destination. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2009 is giving voice as CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SPEAK OUT AGAINST POVERTY.

In recognition of the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child the 2009 observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty focuses on the plight of children and families living in poverty and the need to fulfill children's rights in partnership with them and in keeping with the Convention.

The pathways, however, have a tendency to cross and converge. This Facebook sponsored cause the Power of Dignity features the following video.

This is the same video that inspired me start along this pathway more than a year ago when the goal was to go over 100 Million For The Millenium Goals. We surpassed that goal and now are trying for a new record. I have learned a good deal more and made a number of connections since then, including a number on Facebook.

Facebook sponsors many pages for causes like the Power of Dignity, which are created by organizations such as SustainUS: U.S. Youth for Sustainable Development. As the World Wide Web is the territory of the Millenniums, it only makes sense that the presence of the young would be strongly felt in these efforts.

SustainUS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of young people advancing sustainable development and youth empowerment in the United States. Through proactive education and advocacy at the policy-making and grassroots levels, we are building a future in which all people recognize the inherent equality and interdependence of social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Here is a Facebook cause to which I do belong.

UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Bulletin Posted by Seth Werfel

U.S. foreign aid has not undergone serious reform since 1961. Sign the petition to ensure poverty reduction and that the Millennium Development Goals are core objectives of U.S. foreign aid. It takes 30 seconds! Please pass along to friends, this is a grassroots campaign. From the petition site.

Tell Congress to prioritize extreme poverty in U.S. foreign assistance.

Before signing an online postcard to Congress, please visit the links generously shared by RESULTS to learn more about foreign aid reform and the UN Millennium Development Goals and visit this link to learn more about the S. 1524, the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act, which can bring the needed reform.

World Food Day - here's one thing you can do and I did

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This is an timely update to the post I did earlier on World Food Day. The video came from the folks at ONE

To commemorate World Food Day, the State Department released this excellent video about global food security– the challenges and the opportunities.

I added it with what got from the Oxfam folks.

Today is World Food Day.

It's a sobering moment to consider the impact that hunger has on more than one billion women, men, and children worldwide.

But it can also be an empowering moment. Because we CAN reduce hunger and poverty by working together with poor communities – and by demanding action from our leaders in Congress.

No one should have to go to sleep hungry. Tell Rep. Miller to co-sponsor the Global Food Security Act of 2009.

At least 70% of the world's poor people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods – but climate change, rising food prices, and unfair trade rules present extreme challenges to millions of small farmers.

The Global Food Security Act, along with a new global hunger initiative from President Obama, are decisive steps in the right direction.

These proposals would provide critical resources for investing in agriculture and rural livelihoods – which are both key to reducing poverty.

With broad Congressional support, we can invest more – and more wisely – in local agriculture. We can help small farmers find sustainable and innovative ways to rebuild their livelihoods.

Together we can empower millions.

Sincerely,

Raymond C. Offenheiser
Oxfam America Advocacy Fund

Learn more about hunger and the food crisis by visiting the Oxfam information hub and action center here.

Here is the introduction to my letter to Representative Miller.

I urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 3077, the Global Food Security Act of 2009, sponsored by Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota. H.R. 3077 would enhance developing nations' ability to respond to future food crises and prevent millions more from falling into poverty and hunger. On this day of all days, World Food Day would be the right time to show your support for this essential effort.

Today is the Day Stand Up and Be Counted to support World Food Day and End Poverty!

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The moment has finally arrived. The Stand Up Take Action global event has officially begun. So began the message that greeted me this morning. This blog is part of the Online Campaign of Stand Up Take Action Now! at BloggersUnite for Stand Up Take Action End Poverty Now! There are already two posts from the Philippines at the Bloggers Unite event created especially for this cause. You want to start there if you want to contribute a blog post to this effort. One post from Ang Sa Wari Ko Stand Up and Take Actions Now! Ang silbi ng 45 pesos at ang isyu ng kahirapan [English Translation] and the other from 2Rivers Can We End Poverty In Our Generation. I will post others as they come in.

The challenge has been stated by World Hunger Notes.

• The world produces enough food to feed everyone.
  
• Poverty is the principal cause of hunger.
• An estimated 982 million poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less (World Bank, Understanding Poverty, Chen 2004).
  
• Conflict as a cause of hunger and poverty.
  
• Hunger is also a cause of poverty.

Today is also World Food Day, which is also being celebrated by BloggersUnite. The FAO or Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations is one of the primary global organizations addressing this issue.

The Objective: World Food Day is annually held on Oct. 16 to commemorate the founding of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

One concern of paramount importance today in order to achieve Millennium Development Goal 1. End Hunger is FAO Reform:

In November 2007, the Conference welcomed the report of the Independent External Evaluation of FAO (IEE) and passed a resolution on the Follow-up to the IEE. This included the establishment of a time-bound Committee of the Conference (CoC-IEE), open to all FAO Members, and tasked with preparing proposals for an immediate plan of action to be considered by a Special Session of the Conference in the latter part of 2008. Based on the work of the CoC-IEE, the Special Session of the Conference adopted Resolution 1/2008: the Immediate Plan of Action for FAO Renewal and extended the CoC-IEE to further develop outstanding aspects of follow-up and report to the FAO Conference in 2009.

Here are some ways of getting involved with FAO's mission. It is of particular concern to the UN MILLENNIUM CAMPAIGN's to get the G20 to address this need in the current economic crisis, despite the valiant $42.6 million, three-year immediate plan of action by the FAO in November of 2008. These two efforts seem to be different sides of the same coin. One appealing to primarily the emotions of others and their capacity for compassion and collaboration, the other appealing to science, technology, and management skill sets. My natural tendency is to discount "showboat" demonstrations and focus on "hard nose" numbers and demonstrable programs, but I now believe that there is an important role to be filled in getting others to be part of this effort on an emotional level as well. We can't all be experts, but if we can't get most of the people in the world to care at some basic level, no matter how many campaigns FAO tries to put together it won't End Poverty! Below are some past posts dealing with the FAO.

• Making Hope Last Longer Than Hunger
• FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger

The Bad of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change

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Nobody could look at where we are in terms of achieving Millennium Development Goal 7. Environmental Sustainability and believe that we are in good shape. The Bad is that addressing climate change is still being put on the backburner by too may people and too many governments. The months leading up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference have seen a great deal of activity, the trouble is that most of it is in the streets and not the halls of government.

Here is some background. Neil MacFarquhar of The New York Times summarized the United Nation's session on climate change in this Video Library Player: U.N. Summit on Climate Change. He also covered Presidents Hu Jintao of China and Barack Obama, both of whom are acknowledging that a deal is an important goal, but are also stressing their own needs in U.S. and China Vow Action on Climate but Cite Needs. The problem is, has Neil MacFarquhar points out, that proposals lag behind promises on Climate.

At the start of October, New York Times ANDREW C. REVKIN was reporting that Obama Aide Concedes Climate Law Must Wait in U.S. / POLITICS|

An aide to President Obama said there was virtually no chance of a bill passing before global talks in December.

The Senate is a huge challenge — not impossible, but difficult,” Ms. Claussen said. “What we need is for the health care debate to conclude, and the president and the entire administration to work constructively and tirelessly to pass climate legislation as soon as possible.”

Thing are a bit better, thanks in part to activists and even slacktivists putting pressure on their government. According to Krittivas Mukherjee and Muriel Boselli of Reuters things are looking better at home, but Climate talks may go to last minute.

Reuters: UNITED NATIONS/LONDON (Reuters) - Official Washington sounded more upbeat on Monday than it has for weeks in sizing up U.S. President Barack Obama's chances of progress on a climate-change bill in Congress this year.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer predicted the committee she leads would approve a bill before a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen in December while Obama's Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he hoped all of Congress would pass a law by then.

It is still a nail-biter at Copenhagen though.

NEW DELHI/ PARIS (Reuters) - The world may have to wait until the dying seconds of a U.N. climate summit in December for a global deal to channel business dollars into low-carbon energy, industry and analysts said on Wednesday.
Senior executives warned progress so far in U.N.-led climate talks was inadequate to guarantee the future of low-carbon markets which could transform how the world gets its energy.

Related Posts:

• The Good of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change
• The Better of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Climate Change
• The Ugly of the Good, the Bad and The Ugly of Climate Change

Slacktivists take action on "6 Cents Can Save a Child's Life"!

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I will admit to being a Slacktivist. The truth is that running a blog and wiki does not reach the same level of commitment as spending a year in Rwanda at an AIDS clinic.

Now I know that I am not using the word Slacktivist in as negative of a connotation as is usual. I am also convinced, however, that to succeed in these efforts that we need the involvement of the middle class mainstream masses. So we need to appeal to not only the Slacktivists, but the onlookers and even the hockey-moms. The word Slacktivist actually has a wide range of application. From online creation to the the click & play variety. I do both. I just read and clicked the petition: 6 Cents Can Save a Child's Life.

Here is the spiel. All you have to do is click, no big deal for any of us, but if 50,000 plus do it.
-----

Hi, I signed the petition "6 Cents Can Save a Child's Life". I'm asking you to sign this petition to help us reach our goal of 50,000 signatures. I care deeply about this cause, and I hope you will support our efforts.

-----

ThePetitionSite.com is powered by Care2, the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world. www.care2.com

Other Blogging Efforts For the Same Cause Ending Poverty

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Now that the Millennium Milestones Wiki is finished, I am going to start to focus on another project related to this effort and that is working with

I have participated in their blogging events before, but this is the first time that I have tried to promote a BloggersUnite event myself in support of the Stand Up Take Action End Poverty Now! campaign. I have to admit that so far the participation is limited to only two other bloggers (who are greatly appreciated).

Part of the problem may be competition. Seems that October is the month of actions against poverty and hunger. Below are other BloggersUnite actions taking place in October of this year. I have decided to take "the-more-the-merry" approach to this, figuring we are all supporting the same basic cause and have joined up with each. I have also included them on the calendar at the Milestones for a New Millennium wiki. My hope is that people participating in each of the events will take the same approach.

• World Food Day

• World Food Day is annually held on Oct. 16 to commemorate the founding of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

• International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

• Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated.

• Up Against Corruption and Poverty

• To Support the Millennium Development Goals

Of course another part of the problem is that I have not done a good enough job of promoting the event on BloggersUnite or other venues. That will be one the the next things on my to-do list to support the Millennium Development Goals.

Related (Somewhat) Posts:

• Making Hope Last Longer Than Hunger
• Refugees Across the Globe - A Millennium Problem
• FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger
• FAO not Schwartz part 2- Opposing Pathways to Ending World Hunger and Malnutrition
• FAO not Schwartz part 3 - A World Tragedy Too Long

Corn Ethanol Is Not Smart Bioenergy Period

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The Union of Concerned Scientists recently wrote me about an issue that has been discussed on these pages and at my other blog. Rushing to Expand Corn Ethanol Is Not Smart Bioenergy. I responded as requested. I am of the opinion that using food for energy is not smart regardless of the environmental issues. This just adds another level of concern. Although this to my mind seems obvious, it apparently needs to be addressed to prevent our governments from making a egregious mistake. I shortened both request and response to keep the post a reasonable size.

Contact the EPA today

Dear Brian,

The use of gasoline alternatives, such as ethanol, could play a key role in reducing pollution from fuels, but scientific findings show that biofuels can also increase pollution when done wrong.

The ethanol industry, however, does not want science to interfere with their expansion plans. Producers want immediate permission to increase the amount of ethanol they can blend into regular gasoline before government tests are complete to determine if this could be a public health risk. The EPA opened a public comment period on this issue through May 16.

Please tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to deny the producers' premature request and focus on a comprehensive plan that protects public health while ensuring biofuels contribute to fueling our clean energy future.

Scott Nathanson
National Field Organizer
UCS Clean Vehicles Program



Dear Administrator Jackson,

I urge you to deny the petition allowing blends of 15 percent ethanol (E15) to be permitted for use in traditional gasoline engines.

The The EPA has been coordinating with other agencies to obtain the data required by the Clean Air Act to determine the clean air risks of increased ethanol blending. But the testing will not be competed in time to review it for this request.

It would therefore be premature to approve a waiver for increased ethanol use before a thorough analysis of the public health and environmental impacts of ethanol are completed and brought to the public. With Obama administration committed to a regulatory system informed by science, I urge you to follow these principles and reject this request. I urge the EPA, instead, to focus on a comprehensive plan to protect public health and air quality, while reducing global warming pollution from biofuels.

Related Posts and Links:

• The Darker Side of Biofuel
  
• Good Intentions:Biofuels / Bad Consequences: Worse Than Gasoline And Better As Food?
• European Commission - External Trade - Trade Issues --- Add comment

- Tag: biofuel environment global - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:26

• Mandelson writes: "The issue is not biofuels or no biofuels, but the right biofuels. Europe's governments have signed a commitment ensuring that 10% of the petrol in Europe's vehicles in 2020 is made from renewable transport fuels, including biofuels. This will make an important contribution to the EU's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote security of energy supply. But there is an obvious caveat: biofuels must be an environmental policy in pursuit of an environmental outcome - the most sustainable policy is the only right policy".

• Food prices | The end of cheap food | Economist.com --- Add comment

- Tag: economics environment - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:25

• This year biofuels will take a third of America's (record) maize harvest. That affects food markets directly: fill up an SUV's fuel tank with ethanol and you have used enough maize to feed a person for a year. And it affects them indirectly, as farmers switch to maize from other crops. The 30m tonnes of extra maize going to ethanol this year amounts to half the fall in the world's overall grain stocks.

Making Hope Last Longer Than Hunger

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Tomorrow is the day to Unite For Hunger and Hope but I will be at work so I am writing tonight. This is a natural for this blog as it involves the first of the Millennium Development Goals 1. End Hunger and on a global level it will involve 8. Global Partnership. While I fully support charitable efforts such as that being put on here by Heifer International, it will be a collective, collaborative, sustained effort by governments, NGOs, change-agent organizations, of us to bring about a lasting change. It cannot be just through well meaning donations during particular times of the year, we have to change how we do things both locally and globally. Others will be able to write far more eloquently about the suffering wrought by hunger than I will. I look for change that can be made manifest.

It is of particular concern to the UN MILLENNIUM CAMPAIGN's to get the G20 to address this need in the current economic crisis, despite the valiant $42.6 million, three-year immediate plan of action by the FAO last year. The FAO or Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, is one of the primary global organizations addressing this issue.

I have written about World Hunger Notes before and will provide a link to the post below, so here are some bullet points.

• The world produces enough food to feed everyone.
  
• Poverty is the principal cause of hunger.
• An estimated 982 million poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less (World Bank, Understanding Poverty, Chen 2004).
  
• Conflict as a cause of hunger and poverty.
  
• Hunger is also a cause of poverty.
  

Another global agency address hunger is the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which provided a plan of actionable objectives in its Challenge of Hunger 2008

Combating the food crisis will require

1. More food aid for poor people;
2. Much greater investments in agriculture - especially the small farm sector;
3. More investment in social protection programs and social sectors - education & health;
4. Reforms to create a fair world trading system;
5. Changes to biofuel policies;
6. Measures to calm global food markets;
7. Better data collection and improved monitoring of the food and nutrition situation;
8. More support for nongovernmental organizations that work on behalf of poor people in developing countries.

All of this has been talked of before and will be talked about again and again. Often repetitive actions are necessary to bring about change. Each time we talk or write maybe one more person listens, but if a thousand small voices speak up that is a thousand more added to the effort to change the world.

What more can be done in the future? Starting on October 16, which is also World Food Day, people will once again be Standing Up To End Poverty. You can join that effort now and start organizing now to make a difference to bring real hope and stamp out hunger for the next millennium and beyond. The growth of the Stand Up Campaign is exponential. From 2006 to 2007 it achieve 46% growth, from 2007 to 2008 62% growth, and now 2008 to 2009 depends upon what happens in 2009. Could we hope for even greater growth of 75% or 80%? That could be 170,000,000 or 190,000,000 or even break 200,000,000. Maybe it is a bit unfair to use this forum to promote another event, but those are inconsequential details of who and when, the important thing is the what - ending hunger.

Related Posts:
FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger
FAO not Schwartz part 2- Opposing Pathways to Ending World Hunger and Malnutrition
FAO not Schwartz part 3 - A World Tragedy Too Long
Financial Fears * Global Challenges * Some Potential Answers
Blog Action Day Is Today The Struggle Continues
Taking the Measure of Chronic Poverty

The People of the United States Stand Up Speak Out

Fwd: Bloggers Unite for Hunger & Hope on April 29, 2009

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I am making a quick and easy posting to this blog by simply inserting what BloggersUnited sent me. Other things have kept me busy and this was one of the more important things to come across my desktop. The fight against hunger has been one of the primary focuses of this blog. There is small bit of philosophical apprehension with Heifer International, but the truth is that I am not a vegetarian myself and their program has limited impacted compared to McDonald's.

Dear Your Name Here, We have great news! BlogCatalog is launching its first coordinated campaign Bloggers Unite For Hunger And Hope on April 29. BlogCatalog and Heifer International are partnering to call for the end of world hunger and start of hope on April 29. All we ask is that you join thousands of other bloggers and write a post about world hunger on April 29. You Can Make a Difference. Right now, more than 500 million people are living in "absolute poverty" and more than 15 million children die of hunger every year. World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the population is underfed and another third is starving. Even in the United States, 46 percent of African-American children and 49 percent of Latino children are considered chronically hungry. Organizations like Heifer International are the solution. Every day in April, Heifer International is lifting people out of poverty by providing communities with livestock and agricultural training to improve lives and inspire hope. What can you do for Bloggers Unite For Hunger And Hope? Join this event by visiting Bloggers Unite and adding a badge to your blog before April 29. http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/unite-for-hunger-and-hope Watch for upcoming news releases and topic backgrounders. Visit Heifer International to learn more about Pass On The Gift. http://www.heifer.org/site/c.slI3IdNVJuE/b.4861851/k.39B8/30_Days_in_April.htm Make a small donation or take some other action to end world hunger. Blog about world hunger on April 29 with links to solutions all over the world. "Heifer International is thrilled to be a part of Bloggers Unite for Hunger and Hope," said Tom Peterson, senior director of Heifer International. "Bloggers Unite for Hunger and Hope is a great way to harness the power of the Internet, and it coincides with our Pass on the Gift campaign." Thanks so much for your continued support! More and more people are taking notice of your efforts. On behalf of the entire BlogCatalog team, we thank you and look forward to reading your posts on April 29! Select posts will be featured by BlogCatalog; Heifer International; Copywrite, Ink.; and on the Bloggers Unite blog. Thanks, The BlogCatalog Team
BlogCatalog.com · 7162 Eckhert Road · San Antonio, TX · 78238 Unsubscribe from our emails.

FAO not Schwartz part 3 - A World Tragedy Too Long

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This post is the third on the work of the FAO and the challenges that they are addressing - hunger and malnutrition. The questions are raised by everyday people who see the tragedy of the affliction and the immorality of inadequate response from the developed world.

The images are cut from the heart: men and women depleted, the frazzle clothes, their bodies reduced to skin and bone. Even more painful is watching the children deformed by malnutrition, left to die in the dust.

Watch this video - the words are in Portuguese but the pictures are universal.

963 million people hungry, says FAO reports the Monitor Online News , According to the Guardian Newspaper Nearly a billion people worldwide are starving, UN agency warns, and Food prices add 40 million people to ranks of malnournished.

The problem of hunger is most acute in Africa were people are starving. Malnutrition is more widespread and actually affects more children in Asia according to World Hunger Notes.

According to the most recent estimate that Hunger Notes could find, malnutrition, as measured by stunting, affects 32.5 percent of children in developing countries--one of three(de Onis 2000). Geographically, more than 70 percent of nourished children live in Asia, 26 percent in Africa and 4 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Africa though has multiple afflictions that combined together present a daunting challenge. People speak of an African Scourge, but scourge in Africa has many faces.

• Incontinence African Scourge; Lack of Medical Care Turns Girls into pariahs.
• Confronting Africa's scourge: AIDS
• Short draws attention to Africa's scourge of river blindness
• Central Africa: Scourge of Africa examined Genocide

Near the top of the list, the affliction of hunger and malnutrition seems to strike again and again.

• 14 Million at Risk of Starvation in Africa August 2008
• Starvation in Southern Africa October 2005
• Africa: millions threatened with starvation September, 2002
• Africa Death by Starvation - TIME January 1990

Sudan is dying of hunger again. The question is why, why anywhere?

World Hunger Notes provides some insights into the problems, a few of which are summarized below.

• The world produces enough food to feed everyone. The principal problem is that many people in the world do not have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food.
• Poverty is the principal cause of hunger. The causes of poverty include poor people's lack of resources, an extremely unequal income distribution in the world and within specific countries, conflict, and hunger itself, an estimated 982 million poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less (World Bank, Understanding Poverty, Chen 2004).
  
• Conflict as a cause of hunger and poverty. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)reports that as of December 2006, there were at least 22.7 million displaced, including 9.9 million refugees and 12.8 million internally displaced persons (UNHCR 2007).
• Hunger is also a cause of poverty. By causing poor health, low levels of energy, and even mental impairment, hunger can lead to even greater poverty by reducing people's ability to work and learn.
  

Two resources featured in this blog can also help to provide some understanding. Both are under Millennium Bloggers with Minds of Their Own below this post. Anup Shah writes about, World Hunger and Poverty, at GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Sunday, July 06, 2008. Rav Casley Gera provides an informative chart in African history in ten seconds: New and improved! in his blog African Development for the Completely Bloody Ignorant posted under Useful sources. The recently discovered, The Profits of Famine: Southern Africa's Long Decade of Hunger is an older article from back in 2002, but it still provides some good insights into how we were brought to the present circumstances.

It is hoped though that the article will become even more out of date as people continue to endeavor to change the world for the better. As many of the stories in the TED Talks Africa, The Next Chapter tell us, Africa has unrealized potential and does not wish to be seen as either the charity case for the world or as the stepping stone for the world. One of my past posts Accession of African Activists. A DIY approach to the MDGs has a number of videos taken from the series.

Another worthwhile site, Goal One: Eradicate Hunger and Extreme Poverty.

It is still possible to continue making the needed changes to create a better world.

Related Posts -

FAO not Schwartz part 2- Opposing Pathways to Ending World Hunger and Malnutrition

FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger

FAO not Schwartz part 2- Opposing Pathways to Ending World Hunger and Malnutrition

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My last post dealt with the global efforts of the FAO to address the global challenge of world hunger and malnutrition. I took my usual public policy wonk approach that the organizational infrastructure and business-like strategy were as important as social relevancy and moral inspiration. The ability of the FAO to conduct evaluations of past activities at an in depth level was as important as its laudable intention to be more proactive in its future endeavors.

There is another level of discussion that goes beyond the efforts of the FAO and United Nation's efforts to the basic philosophy behind the best means of addressing these problems. My inspiration once again comes from the End POVERTY / Fim POBREZA group forums. How we see the problem will influence how we see any potential solutions. One of group's members used a famous bet to frame the debate.

The ongoing debate centers around a bet between Noble Prize winning scientist Paul Ehrlich and the famous American economist Julian Simon. The metric of the bet was the price that five metals reached on the Chicago Stock Exchange in the following decade. Ehrlich claimed that population growth would raise the demand and the price of metals. The metal lost value, and Ehrlich lost that particular bet.

Paul Ehrlich wrote the controversial best-seller the Population Bomb in 1968 which made projections about the catastrophic consequences of population explosion. Ehrlich was trained as an entomologist and has an affinity for systems and seeing the big picture. Ehrlich follows in the tradition of English philosopher Thomas Malthus, who in the eighteenth century posited "his hypothesis that (unchecked) population growth always exceeds the growth of means of subsistence" creating a Maltusian catastrophe. His "Essay on the Principle of Population" also influenced Darwin's theories.

Losing that particular wager did not stop the debate, the question is whether Ehrilich's work on population is still relevant. Taking the affirmative, the blog Yale Environment 360 discusses the matter in The Population Bomb: Has It Been Defused?

The Ehrlichs are sometimes ridiculed because Paul’s original book predicted hundreds of millions of deaths from famine in the 1980s, when we were bailed out by the Green Revolution. But they are right to question the new orthodoxy that technological fixes will always save the day. For myself, I fear that when the Wall Street Journal talks about a revival of Malthusian fears, it reflects a tendency to excuse those guilty of overconsumption, while instead blaming the poor for their poverty and our planetary predicament.

Fred Pearce
Environment consultant for New Scientist magazine

Others are still supportive of Simon, for example Jeffery Goldberg's article in the Atlantic, The Population Bomb That Bombed.

Ehrlich is now leading the Center for Conservation Biology research at Stanford University in California, and still holds to his central thesis: the earth is nearing its limit of sustainability of human life. Ehrlich's current work was featured in Wired Magazine back in March of this year, Population Bomb Author Tackles Cultural Evolution.

My own personal view is an attempt to find a middle path that incorporates both perspectives. Defining the problem as Ehrlich does, but recognizing the viability of Simon's arguments. This blog continues to be against an unfettered free market approach to economics and at the same time support social entrepreneurial efforts incorporating effective business discipline. Ehrlich proposes a Fix For Next Extinction: Educate Women. Where I come somewhat closer to siding with Simon is in applying the solutions. Finding that middle path, however, continues to be an ongoing debate with myself.

Related Posts -

FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger

FAO not Schwartz part 3 - A World Tragedy Too Long

Change Initiative to Empower Adolescent Girls Investing in the Girl Effect

Social responsibility,seeking the good

FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger

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FAO members approve $42.6 million reform plan.

I have been learning more about the work of the FAO, (Food and Agricultural Organization) of the United Nations, inspired by some of the discussion at End POVERTY / Fim POBREZA.

Back in November of this year, the FAO member countries agreed to a $42.6 million, three-year immediate plan of action to enable the FAO to “reform with growth”. The recommendations were based upon an independent external evaluation (pdf) (View as HTML) completed last year and form the foundation of a strategy though which the United Nations Calls for New World Agricultural Order. Here is a draft addressing both an immediate Plan of Action for FAO Renewal, and a rationale for "Why reform?" (pdf)- (View as HTML) More insights are provided by MIJARC President George Dixon Fernandez in his review of the special session of the FAO convened (pdf) - (View as HTML) 18 – 22 November 2008, in Rome.

To my mind the evaluation and the plan of action are of equal importance. Evaluation is an important aspect of what FAO does.

The policies for evaluation of these programmes have been set by member countries in the Governing Bodies and the Director-General. Evaluation is designed:

• a) for accountability on results, particularly in terms of evidence of contribution to sustainable impacts for the benefit of member countries; and
• b) to assist decision-making by the Governing Bodies, the Organization’s management and individual member countries as part of a results-based approach to decision-making.

The introduction in 2000 of an enhanced results-based planning model for FAO has made it somewhat easier to identify the outcomes and impacts (objectives) towards which programmes are working

The FAO did not avoid criticizing its own programs. One program sponsored and evaluated by the FAO was Telefood. Their evaluation highlighted some of the shortcomings of the program.

TeleFood events have not made their audiences aware of the causes of hunger, at the international ,national or local levels and of the multifaceted FAO activities in policy development, emergency response and field projects.

Evaluation Brief 10 Evaluation of TeleFood

All of this can be placed under the ongoing discussion as to how to best address the challenge of world hunger and malnutrition. There is always the heartfelt, fully justified and understandable urge to do something to relieve suffering. There is also the need to make sure that such programs are effective in their impact, efficient in their use of resources and sustainable.

Related posts -
FAO not Schwartz part 2- Opposing Pathways to Ending World Hunger and Malnutrition

FAO not Schwartz part 3 - A World Tragedy Too Long

Financial Fears * Global Challenges * Some Potential Answers

The Darker Side of Biofuel

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Ending hunger is usually the first thing one thinks about when thinking about the Millennium Development Goals. Another important goal is environmental sustainability. What happens when they are put into conflict with each other?

Biofuels: Burning Food? via Allianz Knowledge / Latest Articles on 10/20/08 asks,

Are biofuels responsible for higher food prices and a growing number of hungry people? Terri Raney, senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), explains the links between food and fuel.

"Biofuels demand is likely to keep basic food commodity prices 10 to 15 percent higher than they would have been otherwise."

Terri Raney, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre on 10/20/08 introduced us to an even darker side with The Gates of Hell - Jungle takes a look at the lesser known side of the ethanol boom.

My task is to translate, photograph, film and get permission to accompany the Brasilian government's Mobile Group on a rescue mission to release men, women and children being forced to work in sub-human conditions...[by] unscrupulous land owners...since 1995, 30,000 slaves have been freed.

Other earlier posts from my blogs dealing with biofuels have included:

• Good Intentions: Biofuels / Bad Consequences: Worse Than Gasoline And Better As Food?
• Energy And Politics Bio-Fuels And Barack
• Financial Fears * Global Challenges * Some Potential Answers