Earlier this year, the World Bank released its Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) which shows that “acute hunger has grown in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year… around 295 million people are now facing high levels of acute food insecurity.”
The GRFC provides in-depth analysis of food and nutrition crises at the global, regional and country level, examining acute food security and malnutrition among resident and forcibly displaced populations and advocates for timely responses.
For 2025, the GRFC selected 65 countries/territories because “they required external assistance for food,” and of those 53 countries had data meeting GRFC technical requirements – the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa, including several where Bread and Water for Africa® works: Cameroon, Chad, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres states in the GRFC’s forward that “This Global Report on Food Crises is another unflinching indictment of a world dangerously off course.
“Hunger is not an emergency confined to certain pockets of the world or periods of time.
“It is fast becoming a scar etched into the lives of millions around the globe.
“Fueled by conflict, geopolitical tensions, climate chaos, environmental vulnerabilities, and economic upheaval, food and nutrition crises define the lives of millions– not for weeks or months, but for years and even lifetimes.”
At Bread and Water for Africa®, we are dedicated to easing food insecurity for thousands each year in the sub-Saharan African countries of Malawi, Sierra Leone and Tanzania where we support agricultural and food self-sufficiency programs that assist smallholder farmers, primarily women, by teaching them best practices, and providing them tools, seeds/seedlings, organic fertilizers and pesticides, supplies and more to help them get most from their small tracts of land.
Not only do the direct beneficiaries – those women and youth who receive training sponsored by Bread and Water for Africa® in Malawi and Sierra Leone – but so do many others who are able purchase their surplus vegetables and fruits at local markets at affordable prices, while generating income for the growers themselves.
And in Tanzania, we are providing support to an orphanage to enable it to grow its own food for more than 100 children and youth living there on its own farmland.
In total, in the past year more than 20,000 impoverished individuals in those three countries saw their food insecurity eased, or even eliminated, through our agricultural/food self-sufficiency program.
In Sierra Leone, Joseph Kobba, program director of our partner there, Rural Youth Development Organization-Sierra Leone (RYDO-SL), reported in April that 50 women and 25 young male farmers who previously lacked any formal training in proper and effective agricultural methods recently successfully completed their training.
We’re truly thankful for our wonderful donors and supporters! Because of your support, we proudly sponsored 75 smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone this year. Your generosity has a significant impact on the Bread and Water Africa® program and the communities we’re dedicated to serving throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
“The farmers training beneficiaries have been part and parcel of every decision-making aspect of the projects, from planning to implementation,” said Joseph.
While many may have been disheartened by their lack of successful harvests despite their best efforts and hard work, the training program “mobilized and motivated them” to not only go back to their farmland with renewed optimism, and not only to feed themselves and their families, but through training in entrepreneurial and business management to generate income as well.
“The farmers training program conducted by RYDO-SL and supported by Bread and Water for Africa® enhanced the capacity of rice, cassava and vegetable farmers with entrepreneurial skills that now build successful and sustainable farming,” said Joseph.
In addition, “The training sessions provided farmers with opportunities to address concerns and seek solutions as they plan to start or transform/innovate and build successful entrepreneurial ventures.
“A vital component of the training was equipping them with basic skills to handle the challenges of running a business.”
In sum, Joesph wants the supporters of Bread and Water for Africa® to understand that “farming and small-scale business in rural communities is a means of saving lives and decreasing malnutrition.
“Investing in female and male youths in farming and entrepreneurships has laid a better foundation for development and prosperity.”
