Bread for the World Background Papers

The Push Up Decade: CAADP at 10

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0500

It's been 10 years since the member countries of the African Union formed the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). This African-led initiative is more important than ever -- as are improvements in agricultural productivity in participating countries. What has CAADP accomplished so far -- and even more importantly, what should its top priorities be as it moves into its second decade?

Sustaining U.S. Leadership and Investments in Scaling Up Maternal and Child Nutrition

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

There is solid evidence that demonstrates that improving nutrition—particularly early in
life, in the 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and a child’s second birthday—
can have a profound impact on a country’s long-term economic development and stability.

Sustaining U.S. Leadership and Investments in Scaling Up Maternal and Child Nutrition

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Nutrition creates a foundation for sustainable economic growth and good health. There is solid evidence that demonstrates that improving nutrition—particularly early in life, in the 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and a child’s second birthday— can have a profound impact on a country’s long-term economic development and stability. Each year 3 million children die from causes related to malnutrition and more than 165 million children suffer from its consequences. Most live in just 36 countries. Because of the role that early nutrition plays in accelerating development and in the success of global food security, agricultural development, and health efforts, it is vital that the United States continues to show global leadership.

Nutrition and Health: Strengthening the Connection

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Constantia and her family farm a small plot of cassava and maize near their hometown of Cobue, Mozambique. The family is among many in Mozambique who are subsistence farmers, eating what they grow themselves. Most rural farmers in this southern African country have neither fertilizer nor formal training in agriculture. A hoe and a machete—not oxen pulling a plow—are what they use to survive.

Malnutrition among Mozambican children is all too common. It nearly cost Constantia's firstborn child, Gustavo, his life. A few months after his first birthday, Gustavo had a severe case of malaria that weakened his immune system. Constantia and her family worried that breastfeeding was hampering his recovery. But replacing breast milk with a maize porridge worsened the toddler's condition—he developed other infections and continued to lose weight. Gustavo's condition became life-threatening when his body began to retain water, a condition known as edema. At 18 months, he weighed less than 17 pounds—including the water weight.

Development and Migration in Mexico’s Rural Communities

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Here's a question conspicuous by its absence from most U.S. discussions of unauthorized or illegal immigration: Why do people risk their lives crossing the Mexican border, take jobs most Americans won't do, and live away from their families—surrounded by an often unfamiliar language and culture? The answer isn't complicated: inequality, hunger, and poverty in the communities immigrants leave behind.

Expanding the Circle of Protection

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Since the 2010 elections, members of Congress have been primarily focused on reducing the federal deficit in order to balance the budget. But the deficit-reduction proposals Congress is considering could result in the most severe cuts to programs for hungry and poor people in Bread's history.

While Bread members and activists were able to help prevent major cuts last year to vital programs for hungry and poor people, the threats are far from gone. We need to protect what we achieved in 2011 and defend programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps) and international food aid from across-the-board budget cuts in 2012. Bread's 2012 Offering of Letters campaign will urge members of Congress to draw a circle of protection around these critical programs.

Rebalancing Act: Updating U.S. Food and Farm Policies

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

The global agricultural system faces many daunting challenges. Seven billion people currently inhabit the Earth, and the population is expected to rise to 9 billion by 2050. Food production must increase as climate change puts additional stress on natural resources. Nearly 1 billion people around the world suffer from hunger. In the United States, one in four people participates in a federal nutrition program. U.S. food and farm policies absolutely need to be aligned.

The 2012 Hunger Report recommends ways for the federal government to better respond to the agriculture and nutrition challenges of today and tomorrow. Normally change in food and farm policy occurs incrementally. The 2012 Hunger Report calls for bolder, more determined thinking about how U.S. food and farm policies can meet the global and domestic challenges of the 21st century.

Hambre y Pobreza en los Niños Latinos Inmigrantes

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0500

En el año 2000, los Latinos se convirtieron en la minoría étnica más grande de los Estados Unidos. Hoy en día, el 16.3 por ciento de la población de los Estados Unidos es de origen Latino: es decir, más de 50 millones de personas. La creciente presencia de los Latinos es evidente en las escuelas, comunidades y lugares de trabajo.

Hunger and Poverty Among Latino Immigrant Children

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

In 2000, Latinos became the largest ethnic minority in the United States. Today, 16.3 percent of the U.S. population is Latino—more than 50 million people. The growing Latino presence is increasingly evident in schools, communities, and workplaces.

Moreover, more than half of the U.S. population growth since 2000 has been among Latinos, due partly to immigration and partly to a higher birthrate. Thus, a higher percentage of U.S. children than of the total U.S. population is Latino: 22 percent. This percentage is expected to increase because the Latino population is younger than the U.S. average. Children who are U.S. citizens but have at least one parent who is an immigrant are now the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population.

Better Foreign Assistance, Fewer Hungry People

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Better, more effective U.S. poverty-focused development assistance is critical to reducing hunger and poverty around the world. Bread for the World, as a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad, is working to make poverty-focused assistance more efficient and more effective.

Bread for the World Institute's annual Hunger Reports—particularly the 2011 report, Our Common Interest: Ending Hunger and Malnutrition, and the 2009 report, Global Development: Charting a New Course—offer recommendations on how to accomplish this.