One in eight people globally live without enough food to lead healthy productive lives.

Another three million children die each year from malnutrition.

In some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, we’re working hard to ensure that no-one need die from hunger.

In 2013, we supported almost three million people by providing food supplies and promoting sustainable agriculture in poor communities. Over a five-year period, we reached an estimated ten million people – 70 per cent of whom were women and girls – through food and nutrition programs across the globe.

To help prevent famine, we’re supporting poor households in remote and rural areas by training farmers in ways to improve agricultural production, while helping them to adopt new technologies and crop varieties so that food is available to communities year-round.

Fast facts

• 842 million people were estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger in 2013.
• 1 in 4 people in Sub-Saharan Africa is undernourished.
• Due to malnutrition, 1 in 4 of the world’s children are stunted. In developing countries this number can rise to 1 in 3.
• If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.

Better farming practices

In remote and rural areas, our food programs help people to lead better lives over the long term. Better farming practices mean regular food supplies and crops that can fetch higher prices at market.

In Malawi, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, activities such as farmer-to-farmer training are helping families learn better crop management skills and farming techniques such as diversification.

In Timor-Leste, we are helping people grow more food and creating links to markets so that people can sell their leftover food and earn an income.

Helping women grow more food

Women produce over half of the world’s food but when food shortages occur they are often first to go hungry, as they have less access to land, training, and decision-making than men. Our food programs place a particular focus on women and girls as a means of supporting entire communities.

Empowering women helps to feed whole families. On average, women experience chronic hunger more often than men. As mothers, this can often lead to a cycle of poverty and malnutrition.

Emergency food relief

During humanitarian emergencies we’re on the ground, distributing food packages and food vouchers to ensure that displaced people have enough to survive while helping to prevent unnecessary suffering and outbreaks of disease.

In South Sudan,we are distributing seeds, tools, and fishing kits to help families restore their crops and their livelihoods following conflict across the country.