Fed Up With Hunger

We’ve all seen the pictures on the evening news...starving men, women, and children stumbling into refugee camps inside the Kenyan border. Their stories are unfathomable...a mother forced to leave a dying child on side the road in order to continue her trek in hopes of saving his or her siblings. Over 30,000 children have perished in 3 months. How did this happen yet again?

I’ve also heard another kind of story, that of success...a community able to weather the drought and survive the famine thanks to recent agricultural interventions. When climate change brought about unpredictable weather patterns, farmers needed new ways to cope. Thanks to the World Food Program’s Food For Assets, one community was able to rehabilitate a 12 km. irrigation canal and bring water to their fields from Mount Kilimanjaro.

For others, the answer lay in new crop varieties, farmer education services, or storage facilities. There’s not a one size fits all solution to hunger and famine. There are as many solutions as there are communities and people in them. But they all come down to one thing: the importance of investing in agricultural development.

We Need A Flood!

No, not a deluge of water, although for some drought stricken areas, even a trickle would be a relief. We need a flood of phone calls...to Congress...today!

Without our voices of support, important international agricultural programs included in the State and Foreign Operations bill may be cut or drastically reduced. Less than 1% of the entire budget goes to the urgently needed developmental assistance and relief efforts that bring life and hope to those in a world of hurt.

Tell Congress that these programs are important to you, and vital to the many who are hungry.

Will You Make A Call?

If you have never phoned the Washington, D.C. office of your elected officials, you may be a bit intimidated. Don’t be. It’s easy and their staff persons are nice. The process is simple:

• Dial: 1-800-962-3524 and ask for the office of Senator/Congressman___________.
• When the staff person answers the phone, tell them that you are a constituent and would like to leave a message for the Senator/Congressman.
• The basic message is this, "Please let the Senator/Congressman know that I strongly support international agricultural programs and oppose cuts to the State and Foreign Operations bill."
• If you like, you can go into further detail about why these programs are important to you.
• Finally, thank them for sharing your concerns with the Senator/Congressman.
  

That's it! Please call each of your members of Congress. No matter where they stand on this issue, they need to hear from you, either to confirm their thoughts or give them pause to reconsider. The world's poorest have no voice, but you can lend them yours.

Photo Credits: Oxfam International, Oxfam East Africa