Hunger makes the international news during times of famine, yet chronic food shortages are a feature of everyday life for millions of people in Africa and Asia. What can be done to change this and what role can journalists play? This paper looks at the issues around food security and factors involved in making it worse, such as ill-advised and inadequate policy decisions, conflict and HIV/AIDS. Suggestions are given on ways in which food security can be improved. The article finishes by discussing the role the media could play in highlighting the food security issue by spotting trends and alerting both farmers and governments to potential problems. It also suggests questions journalists can ask with regard to the related issues.
Poverty and health
Ensuring a food secure future: Ingredients for change
Panos Media Toolkit on Communicating Research (3), 2007
Environmental determinants of asthma among school children aged 13–14 in and around Polokwane, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Maluleke KR and Worku Z: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 6(9): 2354–2374, September 2009
Asthma has been a public health issue since the 1960s. Factors associated with asthma are environmental and genetic. This study is based on a random sample of 742 students aged 13–14 attending various schools at Polokwane, in the province of Limpopo in South Africa. Survey logistic regression and multi-level analyses were used for data analysis. The study identifies three key determinants of asthma at the district, school and individual levels. The study shows that persistent cough, exposure to smoke at the household level and lack of access to flush toilets at the household level are key predictors of asthma in children. Variability at the level of districts accounts for 46% of total variance. Variability at the level of schools accounts for 33% of total variance.
Equity implications of coverage and use of insecticide treated nets distributed for free or with co-payment in two districts in Tanzania: A cross-sectional comparative household survey
Ruhago GM, Mujinja PG and Norheim OF: International Journal for Equity in Health 10(29), 21 July 2011
Arguments about the most effective and equitable approach to distributing insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) centre around whether to provide ITNs free of charge or continue with existing social marketing strategies. In this study, researchers in Tanzania examined the equity implications of ownership and use of ITNs in households from different socioeconomic quintiles in a district with free ITNs (Mpanda) and a district without free ITN distribution (Kisarawe). They found that ownership of ITNs increased from 29% in the 2007/08 national survey to 90% after the roll out of free ITNs in Mpanda, and use increased from 13% to 77%. Inequality was considerably lower in Mpanda. In Kisarawe, ownership of ITNs increased from 48% in the 2007/08 national survey to 53%, with marked inequality. The results suggest that inequality in ownership and use of ITNs may be addressed through the provision of free ITNs to all.
Ethnic differences in alcohol and drug use and related sexual risks for HIV among vulnerable women in Cape Town, South Africa: implications for interventions
Myers B, Kline TL, Browne FA, Carney T, Parry C, Johnson K and Wechsberg WM: BMC Public Health 13(174), 26 February 2013
This paper aims to describe ethnic differences in alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and AOD-related sexual risks for HIV among vulnerable women from Cape Town, South Africa. Researchers collected data on 720 AOD-using women (324 Black African; 396 Coloured [mixed race]) recruited from poor communities in Cape Town and compared them for differences in AOD use and AOD-related sexual risk behaviour. They found differences in patterns of AOD use, with self-reported drug problems, heavy episodic drinking and methamphetamine use being most prevalent among Coloured women and cannabis use being most likely among Black African women. However, more than half of Black African women reported drug-related problems and more than a third tested positive for recent methamphetamine use. More than a third of the Black African women reported being AOD-impaired and having unprotected sex during their last sexual encounter. Coloured women had four-fold greater odds of reporting that their last sexual episode was AOD-impaired and unprotected. These findings support the need to develop and test tailor-made AOD risk reduction interventions for women from both ethnic groups.
European Commissioner Georgieva endorses new Charter to End Extreme Hunger
Oxfam: 16 December 2011
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Kristalina Georgieva, has endorsed the Charter to End Extreme Hunger, launched by leading agencies to make deadly food crises like the one gripping East Africa a thing of the past, saying “We need to pre-empt crises, rather than reacting when the disaster hits.” The first leader to sign this charter was Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and later other leaders including UK Development Minister Andrew Mitchell endorsed it. Georgieva’s public engagement came as part of a debate, held by aid groups Caritas Europa, Oxfam, Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH) and ONE, which took place in December 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The event organisers are calling on the European Union (EU) as a whole, including the European Commission and EU member states, to take action on three fronts. 1. Launch a pan-European initiative for the Horn Africa, involving all EU member states, that mobilises substantial funds for recovery and longer-term assistance to ensure families can feed themselves now and rebuild their futures. 2. Invest more in building people’s resilience by supporting local food production. Supporting local, small-scale farmers and pastoralists is argued to be one of the best ways to mitigate the effects of climate change and soaring food prices. To do so, the authors observe that the EU must boost these investments within the next seven-year EU budget. 3. Launch a new flexible tool that ensures there is no money gap between emergency aid and long-term assistance when a humanitarian crisis strikes.
European report on development 2010: Social protection for inclusive development: A new perspective for EU co-operation with Africa
Robert Schumann Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute: 7 December 2010
The 2010 edition of the European Report on Development (ERD) deals with the issues of poverty, inequality and social protection, notably in sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the external shocks that African countries experiencing chronic poverty are undergoing, such as climate change, food and fuel price volatility, or the recent financial crisis. These shocks are undermining progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, and the report highlights increasing demand for new and more substantive social protection programmes in many African countries. It focuses on the role of formal and informal mechanisms of social protection as a means to enhance the resilience of sub-Saharan countries when faced with shocks (short-term) and structural vulnerabilities such as poverty traps (long-term). Specific interventions targeting the most vulnerable sectors of the population should go hand in hand with more traditional pro-growth policies, the report argues, especially when dealing with emerging unstable global socio-economic scenarios.
Evaluating the African food supply against the nutrient intake goals set for preventing diet-related non-communicable diseases: 1990 to 2017 trend analysis
Gebremedhin S; Bekele T: Plos One 16(1), 2021
The authors evaluated African food balances against the recommendations for macronutrients, free sugars, types of fatty acids, cholesterol and fruits and vegetables over 1990 to 2017, with regional, sub-regional and country-level estimates. In Africa the energy supply increased by 16.6% from 2,685 in 1990 to 3,132 kcal/person/day in 2017. However, the energy contribution of carbohydrate, fat and protein remained constant and almost within acceptable range around 73, 10 and 9%, respectively. In 2017, calories from fats surpassed the 20% limit in upper-middle- or high-income and Southern Africa countries. Energy from free sugars remained constant around 7% but the figure exceeded the limit of 10% in upper-middle- or high-income countries (14.7%) and in Southern (14.8%) and Northern (10.5%) sub-regions. Between 1990 and 2017 the availability of dietary cholesterol per person surged by 14% but was below the upper limit of 300 mg/day. The supply of fruits and vegetables increased by 27.5% from 279 to 356 g/capita/day, but remained below the target of 400 g/capita/day in all sub-regions. While most population intake goals were found to be within acceptable range, the supply of fruits and vegetables are suboptimal and the increasing energy contributions of free sugars and fats are emerging concerns in specific sub-regions.
Even more children are dying in Botswana
Inter Press Service, 18 June 2007
While Botswana has succeeded in decreasing its poverty rate, it is unlikely that the country will achieve the United Nations' fourth Millennium Development Goal of decreasing child mortality rates by two thirds by 2015. Figures have shown an increase in child mortality between the 1990s and the 2000s. A 2001 report by the government's Central Statistics Office (CSO) on population and housing indicates that in 1991, infant mortality in Botswana stood at 48 deaths per 1,000 live births. This figure increased to 56 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2001. Over the same period, under-five mortality increased from 63 to 74 deaths per 1,000 live births. The United Nations Children's Fund's figures for the under-five mortality rate in Botswana are worse than the Botswana government's official figures, rising from 58 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 116 in 2004. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS is one of the factors behind this phenomenon.
Every day 10 children die in SA
IOL, 29 May 2006: Hall K , Leatt A
The death of a child is always tragic, and in South Africa it is not an unusual occurrence. Every hour, 10 children under five years of age die. Almost one in 10 children will not survive to see their fifth birthday. The majority of these deaths are entirely avoidable.
Evidence for Transformative Change: UNRISD Survey on Responses to Covid-19 and Vulnerable Communities
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development: UNRISD, Geneva, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic is hitting vulnerable people the hardest in both high- and low-income countries. At the same time, in areas where infection rates are currently lower and policies still taking shape, there is a window of opportunity for informed analysis to provide added value. With the help of its global network of experts, UNRISD is gathering and quickly analysing how well current government policies on Covid-19 in all countries and regions are responding to the needs of vulnerable people. The result will be evidence-based recommendations on how governments can make sure their Covid-19 response policies leave no one behind. There can be no one-size-fits all answers and national and local government policy making in different regions must also respond to different social, economic, political and cultural contexts.