Global Impact has been honored to support Action Against Hunger’s private philanthropy efforts since 2018. Through workplace giving, Board engagement, crisis appeals, strategic planning and more, together, we’ve stewarded millions of dollars for Action Against Hunger’s impactful, lifesaving programs. 

Action Against Hunger is the only nongovernmental organization solely focused on reducing hunger and malnutrition around the world. For more than 40 years, the charity has led the global movement that aims to end life-threatening hunger for good within our lifetime. Working in 46 countries, with more than 8,000 staff, its global efforts are affecting the lives of 17 million people.

Action Against Hunger’s programs enable men and women to provide for themselves, children to grow up strong and whole communities to prosper – goals that are more difficult but just as important to achieve during a pandemic.

COVID-19 has put immense strain on a world already struggling with food and health resources, making the global hunger crisis even worse.  Before the pandemic, worldwide, more than 690 million people went to bed hungry each night and woke up unsure of where the day’s meals would come from.

Now those numbers have gotten worse. Earlier in 2020, the United Nations forecast that the pandemic could push 130 million more people into acute hunger by the end of the year. Without intervention on a global scale, the number of people facing hunger could exceed 840 million by 2030.

These numbers are astonishing, but there are people and organizations working to mitigate this risk. That’s where Action Against Hunger steps in.

Action Against Hunger is uniquely positioned to provide relief from hunger both now, as we face this new adversary, and into the post-coronavirus future by maintaining lifesaving nutrition treatment programs. The charity serves those most at risk – children under the age of five and families living in communities hit with multiple crises every year (like floods, drought, locusts and conflict) on top of limited access to medical care. The secondary effects of COVID-19, like economic downturn and global food shortages, will impact these communities the hardest.

Join us as we take a look at what’s happening with hunger and COVID-19 – and how Action Against Hunger is working to end the global hunger crisis.

5 facts about world hunger
Since 1990, the number of severely wasted children worldwide fall by almost half. Unfortunately, in the past five years, we have seen those numbers reversing.

Despite so much progress, world hunger is now again on the rise. From 2018 to 2019, the number of undernourished people grew by 10 million, and there are nearly 60 million more undernourished people now than in 2014.

Hunger and undernutrition have a variety of causes and they affect populations differently around the world. Here are some facts you should know before getting involved.

  1. The U.N. Hunger Report defines hunger as periods when populations are experiencing severe food insecurity – meaning that they go for entire days without eating due to lack of money, access to food or other resources.
  2. 70% of the world’s food supply is produced by small farmers, herders and fishermen, yet these groups continue to be vulnerable to food insecurity.
  3. An estimated 14 million children under the age of five worldwide suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of hunger.
  4. School closures are causing an additional 4.4 million children to miss out on school meals in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
  5. Severely malnourished children often can’t handle a normal diet right away. Instead, medical monitoring, therapeutic milk formulas and Plumpy’Nut – peanut paste that is easily digestible, calorie rich and contains essential vitamins and minerals – can bring a child from a medical crisis to full health in as little as 45 days.

Action Against Hunger understands the reality of these facts and numbers. Let’s take a closer look at what this charity is doing to fix our growing global hunger crisis.

Taking Action Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger is taking decisive action against both the causes and effects of hunger. Across nearly 50 countries, the charity is leading the way to ensure equal access to clean water, food, nutrition and health care. With its support, there is hope that entire communities can be freed from hunger.

Action Against Hunger’s worldwide operations served more than 17 million people in 2019 alone. Despite daunting numbers, the charity has done an amazing job of focusing on program areas to optimize its impact around the world. So, how does Action Against Hunger do it?

Two women with a sleeping child at a table writing.

Nutrition and health knowledge – The global hunger crisis requires more than just handing people food. While Action Against Hunger’s programming allows for the quick and direct deployment of nutritional support, the charity is also developing long-term solutions to undernutrition.

Its community-based programs look to address the lack of resources and nutrition knowledge that many face. For example, one aspect of its programs aims to strengthen local health systems by training local health care workers and providing technical expertise.

The charity has also contributed to developments in revolutionary nutrition products – like Plumpy’Nut, the first ready-to-use therapeutic formula to help malnourished children recover their health – as well as field-testing protocols and screenings. Action Against Hunger’s protocols have been widely accepted as best practices in the nutrition sector.

Food security and livelihoods – Among the largest contributors to hunger and malnutrition are often extreme poverty and lack of access to available nutritious foods. This food scarcity could be from any number of reasons, including conflict, natural disasters, living in remote and hard-to-reach locations and increased food costs. Action Against Hunger’s food security and livelihoods programs help navigate these roadblocks by empowering vulnerable communities to improve access to food, income and markets.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) – What does clean water have to do with hunger and nutrition? A lot – without access to a reliable and safe water source, people are at risk of contracting stomach ailments like cholera and diarrheal illnesses. These diseases make children more susceptible to malnutrition by robbing them of the nutrients they receive from food. At the same time, children who do not have access to a steady supply of nutritious food are also more vulnerable to these diseases.

Today, an estimated one in nine people still does not have access to safe drinking water. COVID-19 has increased the need for clean water sources in order to practice proper hygiene to avoid further spread of the disease. By developing partnerships with local communities, Action Against Hunger is strengthening infrastructure and systems to provide clean, safe water through various means –whether it be by trucking in water, installing storage reservoirs or drilling wells.

Emergency response – Emergencies like natural disasters, pandemics and conflicts devastate communities around the world and prevent people from being able to meet their most basic needs. These catastrophic events destroy crops as well as systems for obtaining clean water, food and other resources, making it that much more difficult for families to access the things they need to survive.

Action Against Hunger’s emergency response programs are committed to improving the lives of these populations while alleviating suffering and respecting their dignity. With response teams on call 24 hours a day, Action Against Hunger is able to evaluate the needs of communities affected by disasters and deploy essential supplies including food, lifesaving water, sanitation and hygiene supplies.

Research and innovation – To solve hunger, we must first understand it. That is why Action Against Hunger dedicates resources to research initiatives that not only help to understand the drivers of undernutrition but also improve the reach, impact, scalability and sustainability of its programs.

Support Action Against Hunger in fighting world hunger
Are you or your office looking for ways to get involved with something bigger than yourself? Would you like to alleviate suffering and impact lives around that world? Here are a few ways to get involved and support Action Against Hunger in its fight to create a world free from hunger.

  • Show off your fighting moves and take action against hunger with Netflix stars from series like Cobra Kai! This is a great way to get your remote office up and moving – and you can get your family and friends involved, too. And don’t forget to engage on Facebook and Twitter.
  • Utilize payroll pledges to make giving easy and convenient!
  • Match gifts. Every little bit counts – amplify the impact of any donation by offering matching gifts to your employees.
  • Get involved through your workplace giving campaign. It’s convenient and amplifies your generosity and impact through payroll pledges and matching gifts.
  • Fundraise using the Action Against Hunger campaign tool – create your own fundraising campaign for your office or team (and get your family and friends involved, too)!
  • Make Global Impact’s Coronavirus Outbreak Fund part of your campaign to help Action Against Hunger and other charities mitigate underlying factors of undernutrition and deliver medical supplies and training to vulnerable communities.
  • Share a video and raise visibility for the correlation between hunger and COVID-19!

Join the fight to end hunger – reach out to us for more ways you can partner with Action Against Hunger through your workplace giving campaign.