By Charles Kabena, SDG2 Advocacy Hub Communications Lead

Campaigners captured outside the World Bank building in Washington DC-Photo credit Eric Bond/HungryForAction

Monday, delegates arriving for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring meetings were welcomed by empty plates in Washington DC, United States as campaigners raised attention to the worsening global food crisis and the need for funding to strengthen the food system.

Nearly 349 million people are acute food insecurity worldwide. In Malawi, before Cyclone Freddy hit and washed away 75 thousand hectares worth of ready to harvest crops, 3.8 million people were already hungry and needing aid.

Hungry For Action campaigners from various international non-governmental organisations, including Save the Children, Oxfam and World Vision are attending the Spring Meetings, raising attention to the need to invest quickly to save lives now and avert future crises by putting in more resources towards climate action.

Holding up red plates to represent the severity of the hunger situation and red tape, the campaigners underlined the lack of sustainable finance to build climate-resilient food systems. Their plates spelled out the words: “We’re Hungry for Action: We can’t eat words”.

To free up more money to finance international development and climate action, the campaign group is supporting broader calls for reform of international financial institutions, including the World Bank. The group also wants to see the Bank take a significant leadership role in addressing the food crisis, just like it did in the reconstruction of war-ravaged Europe at the end of the second world war in the 1940s.

Speaking on the state of life in Malawi, Executive Director for Youth and Society, Charles Kajoloweka labelled the situation ‘dire’.

“Food is more expensive each passing day. Despite people spending most of the money they earn on food, it’s not even enough for healthy and nutritious diets”, stated Kajoloweka.

He further stressed that without the right kind of urgent support from the international community, including the World Bank and IMF, the Malawi government has limited ability to address the unfolding humanitarian situation.

“We owe global institutions and other private creditors a lot of money which we must repay, even in the midst of the disasters we are facing. It’s sad that these are the same resources that the government needs to feed the people and rebuild damaged infrastructure”, said Kajoloweka.

Humanitarian organisations in Malawi, including the World Food Programme (WFP), have appealed for a little over USD 70 million to provide support to nearly 2 million people who lost food and property to cyclone Freddy that hit the country in March.

The World Bank pledged up to USD30 billion last year to combat food insecurity over the following 15 months. Hungry for Action applauded this commitment but cautioned that more funds and details on where and how it was used are required.

For instance, a recent analysis for Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria predicted that until 2030, it would take an additional public investment of USD 10 billion annually to elevate smallholder farmers in these nations out of poverty, increase access to nutrition, and alter their food systems.

“The hungry cannot eat words – they need action, and it starts with proper, dedicated, significant and sustained  investment and reform,” said Alice Macdonald, Hungry for Action’s Campaign Director.

“The shameful hunger crisis should be top of the agenda because we cannot achieve any of our other shared Global Goals until we develop sustainable and resilient food systems everywhere.”

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