Fighting hunger

When the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, committing 193 member states to eradicate poverty and hunger for good by 2030, there was a sense of optimism. Today, the forecasts paint a bleak picture. A toxic mix of wars, climate change, disasters, structural poverty, inequality and rising food costs have exacerbated the hunger situation worldwide. In the last two years, the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have further accelerated hunger in the world.

We see it every day: in our project regions, seven out of ten families are affected by malnutrition or undernourishment. Worldwide, one in ten people go to bed hungry at night. 783 million people are acutely threatened by hunger. This is shown by figures from the World Food Programme.

We are committed to ending hunger, achieving food security and strengthening sustainable agriculture. We have therefore set ourselves an ambitious goal. For 20% of the people in our project regions, hunger should no longer be an issue by 2024. SWISSAID is focussing on three central pillars that have proven themselves time and again in the fight against hunger on the ground:

• The empowerment of women: We promote women’s rights and strengthen the position of women, especially women farmers. The whole region benefits from this development in the long term.
• Agroecology: We support people in dealing with the changing climate conditions and at the same time produce more climate-friendly and sustainable themselves.
• Providing emergency aid: In addition to long-term, sustainable aid, SWISSAID also provides immediate and targeted support for people in need.

Women play a crucial role in food security. Discrimination against women impairs the development of society. By strengthening their rights, their self-confidence, their position in the community and their access to markets, our projects also improve the food security of farming families. Women need access to land to grow vegetables, training to participate in the labour market and the right to have a say.

The following video impressively shows how the whole society benefits from the empowerment of women.

Agroecology is a sustainable form of agriculture that combines social, ecological, economic and cultural aspects. By providing agroecological training and supporting farming families who want to switch to agroecology, SWISSAID promotes the shift to environmentally friendly and sustainable food systems. This makes families more resilient to climate change, which significantly reduces the risk of malnutrition and hunger.

Droughts, rainfall and storms alternate and destroy harvests and hopes. These difficulties are compounded by geopolitical conflicts, civil wars and terrorist attacks. SWISSAID has adapted to these new conditions in order to provide the best possible help to people in emergency situations in the areas concerned.

In 2022, the Sufosec Alliance, of which SWISSAID is a member, published its first nutrition report. Based on figures and statements from those affected in the Global South, it sheds light on the dramatic rise in hunger in the world. However, it also shows that agroecology is the right approach to ensure a healthy, sustainable and sufficient diet – and to protect the planet at the same time.

An initial interim assessment from October 2023 is encouragingly positive. Despite global crises, the Alliance can demonstrate its first measurable successes. Thanks to the introduction of agroecological farming methods, the empowerment of disadvantaged people and communities and the promotion of gender equality, food insecurity fell from 72% at the start of the programme to 65% in 2022. And this in 32 surveyed locations in 18 programme countries.

SWISSAID continues to do everything it can to ensure that everyone in the world can eat safely and healthily.