Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Steve Myersco.
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And I'm Robin Basselin. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Hunger is a problem around the world. The World Food Programme reports that one billion twenty million [1,020,000,000] people do not get enough food to eat. Many live in poverty and do not have enough money for food. Some live in areas where there just are not enough food resources. Others have enough food, but it is not healthy or not clean. All of these people lack food security.
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The World Health Organization says that three things must be achieved for a country to have food security. First, enough food must exist. Then it needs to be in places where people who need it can get it. Finally, the food should be used to increase health and encourage self-care.
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There have always been concerns about food security. But in recent years it has become a much larger problem. In 2007 and 2008, the prices for food around the whole world increased quickly. In the same two years, the World Food Program reports that the number of people who do not get enough food increased by one hundred and fifteen million [115,000,000] people.
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The rising food prices affected everyone. Every family had to spend more of the money they earned on food. But higher food prices most affected the people who already suffered from poverty. The World Food Programme reports that many of these people already spent 60 to 80 percent of the money they earned on food. With increased prices, they could no longer buy enough food for their families.
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On their website, the World Food Programme tells the story of a woman named Gulandam. She lives in the city of Kabul in Afghanistan. She is the mother of eight children. Her husband works as a porter. He carries things for people. Before, he earned enough money to feed his family. They never bought costly foods. But Gulandam, her husband, and their children were not hungry.
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When food prices increased, buying food became more difficult for Gulandam. Now, she could only buy a bit of bread and tea. But Gulandam's situation got worse. Crisis hit the global economy. Now it was difficult for her husband to find work. When he did not work, they could not buy any food. Gulandam's family went to bed without eating.
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The story of Gulandam's family is similar to the story of many families around the world. Like other families, her family sold everything they could so that they could buy food. But now there is nothing left to sell. And when they do not work, there is nothing left to help them until the economy improves.
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World Food Day is October 16. Because of the current world situation, the subject of World Food Day 2009 is "Achieving food security in times of crisis." This day is put together by the Food and Agricultural Organization, or FAO. On October 16, people around the world will talk about this subject. Each country organizes its own events to discuss the issues and learn about the problem of world hunger.
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The FAO believes it is important to continue working toward global food security - even in times of crisis. One of the ways it wants the world to do this is by investing in agriculture. The FAO says that 70 percent of people who suffer from hunger live in country areas and work on small farms.
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There are many reasons small farms in poor areas do not do well. The farmers do not have money to purchase new equipment or seeds. Many areas also experience the extremes of weather - like droughts and floods. These weather extremes destroy crops. This keeps many of the people in those areas in poverty. And it prevents food security.
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FAO believes that increasing the success of small farms will increase the success of the community. The World Food Programme agrees. It says that countries which grow more of their food do not suffer from hunger as much as countries which import the majority of their foods.
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The FAO is encouraging government and non-government organizations to support and invest in small farms. By providing money or resources to farmers, they help the farmers grow more crops. This will provide more food security for the areas where the farmers live. By selling their crops, the farmers can also make money. This money will allow them to buy other foods they cannot grow.
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The news group IRIN shares a good example of this idea. The story comes from Sri Lanka. Kulasena used to store lots of rice. His farm produces plenty of it. When he showed an IRIN reporter around his house he said,
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"All these containers used to be full of rice, but I had to stop farming because the floods got worse."
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Kulasena's farm was near a river. Many times this river flooded and many times it destroyed his rice crops. He and many other farmers in his area had to stop their work. The destroyed crops cost them too much money.
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But three state organizations worked together to help the farmers. Under the United Nations Development Programme they worked together to give the farmers a new kind of rice. This rice resists the damage caused by floods.
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Ananda Mallawatantri works on this rice project in Sri Lanka. He represents the United Nations Development Programme. He explained their hopes for the project to IRIN,
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"What we want to do is ease poverty and support the national food production drive. We do this by bringing empty rice farms back under development. This is being done by showing the farmers new technology and best farming practices."
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These are giving the rice farmers like Kulasena a new chance. With this new kind of rice, they can work again. And the rice is providing food security for the whole community.
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There is a saying about hunger. It says, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for his whole life." Investing in small farms is one way to create food security, even in times of crisis.
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