Objective 2: To identify specific actions we can take to help end hunger

Materials

Fact Sheet: Rome Declaration on World Food Security

Statements:

About World Food Day

Concept: We can take action to reduce hunger and malnutrition

Content:

World governments have committed to work together on the problem of hunger. Students should become familiar with the commitments their government, along with other nations, has made to end hunger.

The International Conference on Nutrition. In 1992, 159 governments and the European Economic Community released a World Declaration on Nutrition. All nations involved at the conference agreed that "hunger and malnutrition are unacceptable... and that access to nutritionally adequate and safe food is a right of each individual". An action plan was developed to fight hunger and increase food security.
The World Food Summit. In 1996, more than 180 nations participated in the World Food Summit and committed to decreasing the number of undernourished people to half their present level by no later than the year 2015. Two documents were adopted: the Rome Declaration on World Food Security, listing seven commitments that the participating governments would make to increase food security; and the accompanying World Food Summit Plan of Action listing specific objectives to accomplish the goals stated in the Declaration. All the nations involved agreed and signed the statements, including "We emphasize the urgency of taking action now to fulfil our responsibility to achieve food security for present and future generations".

We can learn about hunger in many ways. Organizations and agencies have resources to help us. Hundreds of organizations have been set up to work on various aspects of the problems of hunger and malnutrition. Organizations include private groups, governmental agencies, international organizations and regional coalitions. The scope of their missions includes relief, research and advocacy. Some groups concentrate on specific countries; some groups concentrate on specific areas, such as education, or agriculture.

Activities:

Either provide as handouts to each student, or to small groups of students, or read aloud to students, the fact sheet Rome Declaration on World Food Security. Discuss their government's participation in the World Food Summit in 1996.
Discuss the major points outlined in the Declaration, as time permits, using the discussion questions provided.
This project - Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger - has been developed to provide education to help end hunger. Read or paraphrase the statement describing the project goals and ideals. Discuss how the class could benefit from exchanging the information they have gathered on hunger, malnutrition and food security with other classes in their country or around the world. Send these suggestions to the Partners in Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger listed in the Introduction.
World Food Day is an annual, global activity with the objective of raising awareness of hunger and malnutrition in the world and encouraging people worldwide to take action against hunger. Discuss how the students' classroom is one of thousands of classrooms all over the world participating in World Food Day lessons. Students around the world are learning how they can work together, to be a part of ending hunger. Read or paraphrase the statement About World Food Day, 16 October, to students to let them know some of the efforts being made worldwide to fight hunger.
Hunger is a global problem, but part of the solution involves many small steps at the local level. Some examples of cooperative projects that have increased food security for families and communities are listed below. Read these project descriptions to students and discuss how these and similar projects might be implemented locally to help others. Also discuss how projects such as these could be funded.

Women fish vendors in Burkina Faso bought insulated boxes to mount on the back of their bicycles. Packed with ice, they keep 10 to 15 kg of fish fresh, ensuring that the catch receives a top price at the local market.
Beekeepers in the Islamic Republic of Iran were able to purchase a bee colony and hive with a small amount of donated money. Besides producing 15 kg of honey each year, the bees pollinate nearby fruit trees.
In Nicaragua, farmers obtained a small grant to purchase metal silos to protect harvested maize from humidity and pests. Each silo holds 550 kg of grain, enough to feed ten people for a year.
With a small amount of funding, 40 women farmers from Ghana bought the materials to make 50 1 square-metre covers to protect their banana seedlings from the harsh African sun.
A group of Senegalese farmers cooperated to purchase a treadle pump capable of irrigating up to 2 500 square meters of vegetables from a hand-dug shallow well.
A farmers' cooperative invested in enough high-quality seed to plant 20 hectares of cabbages, onions, cauliflowers and potatoes plus forage seeds to grow food to feed their animals.

We can get information on hunger in our communities and in the world from many sources. We can write letters, make visits to people or calls to offices and libraries. (Where accessible, searching on the Internet.)
Contact, or have students contact, the international organizations that are Partners in Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger. Some of these organizations have country representatives or local project officers who could be contacted and invited to the school to talk about their work. Ask the organizations to send information on their projects or on their activities to end hunger that could be shared with the class.
Have the class contact others involved in hunger organizations, and local, national, regional or international leaders and ask what is being done about each of the pillars of support for food security (discussed in previous lessons). In addition, have students look up or request information indicating how much hunger there is in their areas.
Contact local civil authorities and invite them into the classroom to talk about what local actions are being taken to prevent hunger and malnutrition. Have students interview a variety of public officials about local hunger projects or actions. Each student or group of students could then write a small summary report and present it to the class.
Gather information (or have students gather information) about what steps are being taken in the area to insure a consistent food supply. Invite members of the food and education system into the classroom to discuss how food security is protected in your area. Attempt to discover how much food is stored in your area in case of an emergency. Do people know what to do in a food emergency? Building on the information about local problems with hunger from Lesson 1, ask students how local problems with hunger could be improved.
Discuss the importance of education in fighting hunger. Much hunger is related to poverty resulting from a lack of education. Students should be encouraged to stay in school and learn as much as they can about agriculture and nutrition in addition to basic skills.
Discuss the benefits of a career in social services and fighting hunger and how students can learn to help in this area. Invite local health and extension agents into the classroom to discuss how many people are needed in careers related to fighting hunger.
Ask the students for their ideas on actions that they, and others, can take in their communities and in the world to help solve the problems of hunger and malnutrition. List those actions and identify who could carry them out. A list of some actions that are being taken around the world is provided below.
Pick one or two examples from the list created by the students or from the list provided, and explore how these actions could be carried out and the ways in which these actions could help fight hunger in the local area or in the world.

Examples of actions

Help improve food supplies by increasing the quantity and variety of foods available:

Plant home, community and school gardens;
Find ways to raise poultry, small animals or fish to eat and/or sell;
Re-discover forgotten foods that grow in the area;
Grow the best crops for sale and use;
Match crops to soil and water conditions;
Use the best tools available for farming in the region;
Find the best balance between sale and home use of crops;
Become involved in co-operative efforts to grow and sell foods;
Support local farmers; buy locally grown foods;
Establish centers or food banks to share food.

Help keep food safe to eat:

Keep food clean;
Keep food preparation areas and utensils clean;
Keep stored food dry and away from insects and animals.

Help all people meet their needs for food and nutrients:

Know your own needs for food and nutrients;
Know the different needs for different people (life stages);
Seek the most nourishing foods available;
Volunteer to work for hunger issues;
Volunteer to work in food or meal distribution centres;
Establish food centers or food banks to share extra food;
Work with the food industry to redistribute surplus food;
Invite commercial food growers and producers to be part of the solution for community hunger problems.

Learn about foods, nutrition and hunger and share knowledge and ideas with others:

Learn about the food system in your area;
Know who in the community is working to fight hunger, listen to them, and share ideas with them;
Know who in the community has knowledge about health and farming, listen to them, and share ideas with them;
Take information home to families and neighbours;
Share school projects and reports in community spaces;
Share ideas with leaders in the community and nation;
Urge community leaders and service providers(doctors/nurses/hospital workers/librarians) to become involved with school projects around issues of hunger and nutrition.

Summary

In the three lessons in this curriculum, originally developed for World Food Day, 16 October 2000, we have focused on the problems of hunger in the world. The goal of World Food Day is to end hunger as soon as possible in the new millennium. Many millions of us today still do not have enough to eat every day. We must all try to understand why this is. Young people have the creativity and energy to tackle great problems such as hunger. When we can all share the vision of a world without hunger, the confidence that we can make a change, the knowledge of the steps to take and the will to take action, we can solve the immense challenge of feeding all of the people of the world. And our young people, who have inherited the problem of hunger in our world, will be the key to finding the solutions

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