Advocate
Be a voice for ending global hunger!
Our current food system fails to meet the needs of most people or our planet.
Since 2014, climate change, conflict and economic downturns have halted a decade-long decline in hunger. In recent years, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and now conflict in places like Ukraine, Gaza, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Haiti, among others, have led to devastating increases in food insecurity. This is especially true for women and girls, for whom agriculture is the primary stream of income in developing countries, and who typically prioritize the nutrition of their family members over their own when food is lacking.
Something is wrong!
Our current food system sits at the centre of multiple intersecting challenges. It both contributes to climate change and is threatened by its impacts. It contributes to biodiversity loss, yet biodiversity loss poses critical challenges to agricultural production and food security. It contributes to inequality. Yet inequality experienced by women–-and other marginalized groups–- drives down agricultural production and harms household food and nutrition security.
Something needs to change!
Without urgent action, hunger is likely to rise even higher in years to come.
Source: Chart data taken from The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024, FAO.
Canada has made important commitments to address the impacts of climate change on developing countries, to protect and enhance biodiversity, and to centre gender equality in Canada’s aid assistance.
Increased support for resilient food systems (that is, systems in which individuals and households are able to cope with shocks, adapt to change and transform away from unsustainable ways of living) in Canada’s aid budget will help meet these commitments–- and provide a critical response to some of the greatest risks facing humanity today: climate change, biodiversity loss, economic and health devastation, poor nutrition and gender inequality.
Source: IPCC. 2020.
Our values affect how we respond to the needs of around 757 million people who go to bed hungry each night, whether here at home or abroad. Values of compassion and generosity are needed for a global community where poverty and hunger are no longer acceptable. But values alone do not create change.
Our government has an important role in providing assistance. And voices from civil society, including individuals like you, help hold governments to account. The commitment and actions of non-governmental organizations, business leaders, academics, and individuals like you have contributed significantly to a real improvement in people’s access to basic rights, like food.
If decision makers don’t hear from their constituents, they may assume people don’t care about global hunger. When we come together and speak up, our voices make a difference.
Please voice your support by writing a letter to the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of International Development, using the buttons at the top or the bottom of the page. This is a quick action you can take that can make a big difference!
