THE HUNGER PROJECT
A strategic organization committed to the sustainable end of chronic hunger
When you think about ―world hunger‖
what are the first images that come to mind?
When you see those images
what thoughts arise?
When you see those images and have those thoughts
what feelings follow?
What you’ve just described is a type of hunger called ―famine‖ defined as ―a severe interruption in an already vulnerable area caused by natural and or/man-made disaster – for example, drought, earthquake, war…‖
Famine is ―an emergency‖
That’s how it gets into the TV news, onto the headlines, and into our minds as the main kind of severe hunger we know
Famine
accounts for less than 10% of world hunger
The other 90%
Chronic, persistent hunger Doesn’t look anything like ―famine‖
Chronic hunger
Can be defined as ―not enough of the right kind of food over a long period of time‖ Unlike famine, chronic hunger is invisible and silent – even when you are looking right at it.
How many?
854 million people roughly 1 in 7 people in our world Today and everyday, 20,000 will die as a consequence of chronic hunger – ¾ under 5 years old. Not from starvation, but from diarrhea, flu, and other basic illnesses that we’ve all had and survived because we were not chronically hungry.
Progress?
Is world hunger better, worse or the same today as it was in the 1970’s? 1977 estimate = 41,000 deaths per day
Every headline today could read: Humanity cuts hunger by half in 30 years!
Where is most chronic hunger?
29% in sub-Saharan Africa The rest in Latin America, mostly amongst indigenous people, and in other parts of Asia
35% in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal)
Hunger in the U.S.?
Yes – and many great organizations are addressing it – it’s the severity and prevalence in South Asia, Africa and Latin America that are so much higher The Hunger Project is focused where chronic hunger is most widespread and severe
Famine is…
Fundamentally an issue of food – food shipments delivered quickly end famine
Chronic hunger is fundamentally
NOT
an issue of food
Consider India
A net exporter of food for decades since the Green Revolution improved their agriculture in the 1950s and 1960s. • Today has more than 40 million tons of grain in storage • AND today - 47% of all children in India are malnourished – worse than Africa
If food is not the answer?
Chronic hunger is best understood as an issue of opportunity It occurs when people lack the opportunity to translate a full day’s work into enough:
• Food • Money • Education • Health care • Voice in decisions affecting their lives
Question becomes:
Why is this opportunity so diminished where chronic hunger persists?
1996 study commissioned by UNICEF
Asked why rates of malnutrition in South Asia were so much higher than most African countries, even though all other indicators such as economic growth, agricultural production, infrastructure – all suggested the opposite should be true?
Conclusion:
―The exceptionally high rates of malnutrition in South Asia are rooted deep in the soil of inequality between men and women‖ Study revealed that severe discrimination against women and girls gives rise to ―a cycle of malnutrition‖
In India, since 2000
More than 50,000 elected women representatives in 14 states have completed the 3-day, residential Women’s Leadership Workshop.
In India, since 2000
More than 100 local Indian non-governmental organizations are now partnering with The Hunger Project to provide ongoing trainings and support to these women as they work to transform the quality of life in their villages.
In India, since 2001
• The Hunger Project’s Sarojini Naidu Prize for Journalists Reporting on Women in the Panchayats
In 2001, 166 articles were submitted In 2006, 1517 articles were submitted Awards ceremony on Gandhi’s birthday, October 2 2006 was hosted by the Ministry of the Panchayati Raj at the Minister’s residence
Ending Hunger In Africa
• Leadership • Marginalization of Women Farmers • Infrastructure • HIV/AIDS
The Epicenter Strategy: 5 years to self-reliance!
Principles
• • • • • Local leadership Self-reliance Gender Equality Partnership with local government Integrated strategy vs. sectoral, i.e. food production, income, education, health, nutrition, literacy et al…..all together • Minimal external inputs • Affordable, replicable, sustainable
Essence of the Epicenter strategy
• …to transform a culture of dependency, resignation, despair and discrimination against women and girls… • … to one of responsibility, self-reliance, and gender equality.
Four phases - overview
1. 2. 3. 4. • Mobilization (1 year) ―Tipping Point‖ (1 year) Progress on all fronts (3 years) Self-reliance Demand-driven – people move when they are ready
Phase 1: Mobilization
• Support of local leaders
Phase 1: Mobilization
• Support of local leaders • Vision, Commitment, & Action workshop (VCA)
Phase 1: Mobilization
• Support of local leaders • VCA workshop • Train volunteer leaders called “Animators”
Phase 1: Mobilization
• Support of local leaders • VCA workshop • Train Animators • Animator Initiated Projects
Phase 1: Mobilization
• Support of local leaders • VCA workshop • Train Animators • Animator Initiated Projects
Phase 1: Mobilization
• Support of local leaders • VCA workshop • Train Animators • Animator Initiated Projects
Phase 1: Mobilization
• Support of local leaders • VCA workshop • Train Animators • Animator Initiated Projects • Elect Epicenter Committee
Phase 2: Tipping Point
• Chief donates land
Phase 2: Tipping Point
• Chief donates land • Learn to make concrete blocks
Phase 2: Tipping Point
• Chief donates land • Learn to make concrete blocks • Build the epicenter building
Phase 2: Tipping Point
• Chief donates land • Learn to make concrete blocks • Build the epicenter building • Subcommittees for health, education…
Phase 2: Tipping Point
• Chief donates land • Learn to make concrete blocks • Build the epicenter building • Subcommittees for health, education, etc. • HIV/AIDS Gender Inequality workshop
Phase 2: Tipping Point
• Chief donates land • Learn to make concrete blocks • Build the epicenter building • Subcommittees for health, education, etc. • HIV/AIDS Gender Inequality workshop • Inauguration!
Phase 3: Progress in all sectors
Phase 3: Progress on All Fronts
• Community Farm
Phase 3: Progress on All Fronts
• Community Farm • Food bank
Phase 3: Progress on All Fronts
• Community Farm • Food bank • Women Empowerment Project (WEP)
Phase 3: Progress on All Fronts
• Community Farm • Food bank • Women Empowerment Project • Mobilize savings
Phase 3: Progress on All Fronts
• Community Farm • Food bank • Women Empowerment Project • Mobilize savings • Bank Certification
Phase 4: Self-reliance
• • • • Low IMR, MMR Water & sanitation Halt AIDS, Malaria Sustainable livelihoods • Sustainable environment • Men return from cities • Self-reliance, responsibility and gender equality • Authors of their own development • Women as leaders
$8 per person per year over 5 years
200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Credit Construct Training
The next great challenge
• "The last 50 years of development practice have shown that project success is not enough. The greatest technical challenge lies not in identifying the right interventions or making them work in one village—but in taking known interventions to scale.―
Investing in Development: A practical plan to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, UN Millennium Project Report 2005
Ghana Epicenter Scale-up Demonstration
• Eastern Region – already mobilized 7 epicenters • Not too far from the capital - Accra • 16 rural districts – 1.3 million rural people • Good cooperation with local government
Ghana - Eastern Region Scale-up
120 100 80
Epicenters 60
40 20 0 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
The Hunger Project
• Founded in 1977 • Currently working in 13 developing countries: • West Africa – Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal • East Africa – Ethiopia, Uganda • Southern Africa – Malawi, Mozambique • South Asia – India, Bangladesh • Latin America – Mexico, Peru, Bolivia
The Hunger Project
• Giving more than 22 million people the opportunity to improve their lives
The Hunger Project
• • • • 2006 Global budget = $13.5 million 248 staff worldwide 150,000 volunteer leaders Staff and volunteers are all indigenous – no outsiders lead our programs in developing countries • 79% $$ for Programs • 21% $$ for Administration and Fundraising • Charity Navigator – Four star rating (their highest)
The Hunger Project - Funding
• Investment or charity?
• Investing as co-equal, strategic partners in creating a future free from hunger. • Investing to have a meaningful personal stake in the historic process of ending hunger • Investing as an intervention in our own complacency, consumerism, and status quo. • Investing to obtain a substantial return – real, cost-effective, sustainable progress
The Hunger Project - Funding
• How much to invest? • Highest Appropriate Level • Somewhere between
• too low to remember that you did it • so high that it’s unrealistic and disempowering
• How you know?
• • • • Inspired Awakened Courageous Connected to partners throughout the world
Current Funding Sources
• Global Investment Group (GIG) – individuals, families and institutions at $5,000+/year (currently up to $1 million/year) • GIG provides more than 75% of all our funding • 90% comes from $1,000+ • Financial Family – monthly investment • Various high level opportunities • 10% from Foundations and Corporations • Funding from 15 different countries
How can I participate?
• Become an investor • Make a list of others you think might be interested in learning about The Hunger Project • Invite others or host gatherings for others to learn about The Hunger Project • Learn to lead Hunger Project presentations • Learn more – www.thp.org • Contact The Hunger Project – locally or in New York at 212-251-9100 or info@thp.org
Service Delivery vs. Empowerment
CONVENTIONAL, TOP-DOWN SERVICE-DELIVERY MODEL Who are hungry people? What must be done? Beneficiaries whose basic needs must be met. Provide services through government or charities. THE HUNGER PROJECT’S BOTTOM-UP EMPOWERMENT MODEL Principal authors and actors in development – hardworking, creative individuals who lack opportunities. Mobilize and empower people’s selfreliant action, and stand in solidarity with them for their success.
What’s the primary resource for development?
Who is in charge?
Money and the expertise of consultants and program managers.
Donors, who provide the money and hold implementers to account. Bureaucracy: the inefficiency of the delivery system.
People: their vision, mobilization, entrepreneurial spirit and confidence.
Local people: through elected local leaders whom they hold to account. Social conditions: resignation, discrimination (particularly gender), lack of leadership, lack of rights. Key producers who must have a voice in decision-making.
What are the main constraints?
What is the role of Vulnerable group who must be women? especially targeted beneficiaries.
Service Delivery vs. Empowerment
CONVENTIONAL, TOP-DOWN SERVICE-DELIVERY MODEL What about social and cultural issues? How should we focus our work? What is the role of central government? THE HUNGER PROJECT’S BOTTOM-UP EMPOWERMENT MODEL Immutable conditions that must Conditions that people can be compensated for. transform. Carefully target beneficiaries on an objective-needs basis. Operate centrally managed service-delivery programs. Mobilize everyone as broadly as possible – build spirit and momentum of accomplishment. Decentralize resources and decision-making to local level; build local capacity; set standards; protect rights. Autonomous leadership directly accountable to people. Catalyst to mobilize people; fight for their rights; empower people to keep government accountable.
What is the role of local government? What is the role of civil society?
Implementing arm of central programs. Implementing arm of central programs.