Author William Lambers

The Obama administration recently stated the urgency of “resolving the political crisis in Sanaa so that the Yemeni Government and people can successfully confront the serious challenges they face.”

The terrorist group Al Qaeda is clearly one of these major challenges. So too are hunger and malnutrition, which are fast on the attack throughout Yemen. The U.S. and its allies have to enact a food for peace plan now.

Hunger has only intensified in Yemen since the political unrest unfolded between President Saleh’s regime and those seeking his removal. Food prices have gone up, families are now being forced to skip meals as they struggle to afford anything. Malnutrition rates, already high, are likely to go even higher.

Fighting in Southern Yemen between the government and militants allegedly linked to Al Qaeda is adding to the country’s humanitarian crisis.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and other aid agencies are feeding those displaced by the conflict. WFP said this week: “While past clashes in Yemen have tended to lead to temporary displacement, it appears as if the current displacement in the south will be quite protracted.”

WFP has a plan to distribute rations to millions of hungry Yemenis, including the newly displaced. However, WFP remains about $60 million short on funding for its Yemen hunger relief mission.

In addition, UNICEF needs to have sufficient stocks of ready-to-eat foods like Plumpy’nut which can save the smallest children from lifetime damaging malnutrition. This has been an overlooked area of the utmost importance.

So what you have is hunger-fighting missions, which can do a lot to stabilize and give hope to Yemen, that are lacking in international donor support.

Food can revitalize nutrition levels. It can bring hope at a time when turmoil could drive the country into chaos. Food can stimulate the education system when used in school feeding. Food can also support work projects to rebuild the country. Food is a powerful tool for peace and progress.

In addition, food is about the most inexpensive foreign policy investment that can be made. A coalition of nations does not have to expend very much to deploy food for peace.

George Marshall’s famous European recovery program was set up by a less famous, but extremely important, interim aid food package. That is the kind of project Yemen needs right now as the country either can tip toward peace and political reconciliation, or can slide into chaos, poverty, Al Qaeda-domination and suffering.

Article first published as U.S.- Yemen Partnership Can Mean Food for Peace on Blogcritics.

A hunger crisis is raging throughout the globe, afflicting nearly one billion people. In the Horn of Africa millions are at risk of starvation in a region plagued by a severe drought and conflict.

High food prices and malnutrition are rampant in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, and so many other countries. However the U.S. Congress, as it plans its next budget, is proposing reducing international food aid. These cuts would impact the U.S. Food for Peace and other global hunger fighting programs.

Save the Children is one of the aid agencies on the front line of fighting hunger. Nora O’Connell, a senior policy advisor for the charity, talks about these potential budget cuts to food aid and what it will mean in the struggle to end global hunger. Most important of all, she answers how you can have your own say in determining U.S. food aid policy.

Read the full article at Blogcritics Magazine.

The Congress is proposing budget cuts to international food aid as it prepares the FY 2012 budget. There is a strong push for cuts to reduce federal spending. But is cutting Food for Peace and other hunger fighting programs the right place to go? Robert Zachritz, director of advocacy for World Vision, voices his opinion.

Read the full article at Blogcritics Magazine.

Author William Lambers talks about ways to fight global hunger while visiting Burwinkel Farms in Delhi Township.  Some web sites he refers to include www.Wefeedback.org and www.wfp.org which is the home site for the UN World Food Program.

This Sunday, July 10 is the birthday of one of America’s great treasures, the Food for Peace program. President Dwight Eisenhower, or Ike, signed into law what was originally known as Public Law 480 on July 10, 1954.

The idea was to send U.S. surplus food overseas to fight hunger, and what better way to build a peaceful world than to defeat the cause of so much desperation and instability: hunger. Eisenhower said, “food can be a powerful instrument for all the free world in building a durable peace.”

Read the full article at Blogcritics Magazine

They are calling it one of the worst droughts in 60 years to strike the Horn of Africa. Food is out of reach for 9 million people in the already impoverished countries of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and parts of Uganda.

Matt Croucher of Save the Children says, “Thousands of children could starve if we don’t get life-saving help to them fast. Parents no longer have any way to feed their children; they’ve lost their animals, their wells have dried up and food is too expensive to afford. We can stop this tragedy unfolding, but we only have half the money we need. We urgently need to raise the rest so we can save more children’s lives.”

Read the full article at Examiner.com

Food prices are skyrocketing in Yemen. Yemeni families are being forced to skip meals or divert money from health care just to afford bread. As the New York Times reported this week, shortages of fuel, water and other basics have placed even more stress on Yemenis.

To make the situation even worse, the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) Yemen mission is facing massive funding shortages. This is an agency that depends entirely on voluntary contributions from governments and the public.

Read the full article at Blogcritics Magazine

With hunger fast engulfing the globe, the U.S. cannot withdraw from its role as the leader in facing this crisis which afflicts nearly 1 billion people, but that is just what is happening.

Right now the Congress is proposing significant budget cuts to the Food for Peace and other hunger-fighting programs. Why? Is it to cut the federal deficit? Hunger-fighting programs are relatively inexpensive and even ending them would not make a dent in the debt.

Read the full article at Examiner.com

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced this week it’s been forced to cut food aid to millions of impoverished Afghans.

So while much focus has been on the U.S. withdrawal of troops, what is now occurring is a withdrawal of food aid to a hungry and malnourished population.

Children will be forced to go without meals they receive at school. Food for Work and Food for Training projects, which Afghanistan needs to rebuild, will be stopped. The cuts impact about half of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

Read the full article at Blogcritics Magazine