Tag: Save the Children

Book Review: “Food Fight” by Stuart Gillespie

August 14, 2026     Agribusiness is out of control, according to  “From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet”, Stuart Gillespie’s 2025 book, “Food Fight” which argues for a new, common vision of human and planetary health in where power over food systems is better balanced.  He writes building on a tradition, which he cites, from Susan George’s “How the Other Half Dies.“

Gillespie argues that the modern food system, as shaped after World War II to mass-produce cheap calories and avert famine (with geopolitical aims), has become a major driver of harm.

His main criticism is aimed at the concentration of food companies on a global scale:  “Five companies – ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Cofco and Louis Dreyfus – control 70-90% of the global grain trade… Never before have we seen such a hyper-concentration of power at all points from farm to fork… Another four companies – ChemChina, Corteva, Bayer and BASF – control 66% of the world’s agricultural chemicals market, while a similar cluster… owns 53% of the global seed market.”   Gillespie details corporate political tactics (analogous to those historically used by the tobacco industry) and policy inertia, while highlighting citizen movements, local successes (e.g., city-level strategies), and practical levers for change such as public procurement, taxes with revenue recycling, marketing restrictions, conflict-of-interest rules, and broader mobilization.  The book mixes exposé with a call for structural transformation toward a system that prioritizes people and planet.  He concludes:  “The large-scale damage done to people and planet is a feature of our food system, not a bug.”

He particularly criticizes global trends in the consumption of ultra-processed foods.

“Governments need to act because malnutrition represents what economists call a market failure, a negative externality – and what the rest of us call an injustice.”    He adds that “malnutrition is multi-causal in nature,” requiring a whole of government response, and “Economic growth won’t fix it.  nor will technology.”

He criticizes nutritionists who promote national food fortification schemes or other efforts to provide vitamin and mineral supplements for involving the private sector (corporations).  Yet he explains the importance of micronutrients:  “micronutrient malnutrition also travels through generations.  A lack of essential vitamins and minerals can be devestating for a pregnant woman and her unborn child.  The micronutrient-deficient mother is more likely to have complications in pregnancy and more likely to die giving birth.  Iron-deficiency anemia causes one in four maternal deaths around the world.”

Some of his history is confusing, such as when he writes about the Bay of Bengal famine “starting” in 1943, when the conditions leading to it began in 1942, and he refers to the United Nations in the same breath, though the U.N. was not founded until 1945.  Yet, he is critical of the donors and aid agencies helping, referring to “white saviourism.”

He correctly critiques an obsession in the 1950s and 1960 with a “protein gamp” and notes how in 1974, Donald McLaren “blew the protein obsession out of the water.”

His recommendations span all of society to take more responsibility and he addresses NGOs like Save the Children, and repeatedly UNICEF.  He seeks a revolution in the governance of for-profit corporations.  Though citing examples in a few countries, his book is generic, about the world.  Though a preponderance of his interviews, analyses and criticisms are targeted to one country, the United Kingdom.

He recommends four “Ins” incentives, institutions, information and interests.  He recommends the use of taxes and subsidies to reshape the food environment.  Governments should tax products and practices that damage health or the environment, especially ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, and earmark the proceeds to make nutritious foods more affordable for low-income households.

–  Contributed by WHES board member, Steven Hansch

Nigeria’s Ongoing Nutrition Crises

July 4, 2026    In Nigeria, some 35 million people are projected to experience acute and severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season, according to the most recent Cadre Harmonisé, representing the worst levels of hunger recorded in a decade.  The hunger crisis is worst in the country’s northeast, where an estimated 15,000 people in Borno State are at risk of catastrophic hunger.

In 2026, about 3 million children under five in Nigeria are projected to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.  One million of these children are in the cluster of northeastern BAY States.  In addition to conflict and displacement, overcrowding, low maternal income and the use of infant formula are associated with a higher prevalence of wasting.  Nigeria has experienced near 30‑year‑high inflation, driven by rising food prices, supply‑side constraints, and exchange‑rate depreciation.  Food inflation has historically been the dominant driver of headline inflation.  The Government of Nigeria eliminated fuel subsidies and tightened monetary policy; these reforms may improve long‑term economic growth but have raised short‑term living costs.

Recently, displacement and flooding have also fueled cholera and measles outbreaks, with damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and low immunization coverage accelerating transmission.  In North and Central Nigeria, armed groups, rural bandits, and farmer-herder clashes have forced thousands of producers off their land, disrupting farming cycles and leaving large portions of farmland unused. Between 2022 and 2024, farmer-herder conflicts were recorded in 31 states, kidnappings in 10 states, and crop theft in 20 states. Over two million hectares of farmland in northern Nigeria are now inaccessible. 

this NE region borders Lake Chad where violence has increased.   UNHCR reports that more than 77,500 people have been displaced across the Lake Chad Basin since January 2026 as violence intensifies across Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.  According to UNHCR, incidents of violence rose by about 80 per cent between January 2024 and April 2026.  Similarly,  nearly 1,800 attacks and more than 5,700 deaths were recorded between September 2025 and May 2026 alone, reflecting what the agency described as a deepening protection crisis across the basin.

The “maize belt” (Borno, Niger, Plateau, Katsina, Gombe, Bauchi, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo, Taraba), which produces ~44% of national maize, contains nearly half of that unused farmland.  Between April 2024 and March 2025, Nigeria spent $2.39 billion on food imports, 11.6% higher than the previous year, despite government commitments to boost local production.

Nigeria’s population roughly doubled from ~95–97 million in 1990 to ~232–237 million by 2024–2025 (growth rate ~2.1–2.4% annually). The under-5 population surged similarly. Agriculture (now ~24–28% of GDP, down historically) has grown too slowly (~2–3% annually in recent periods) to match, leading to rising food imports, per-capita production shortfalls, and pressure on resources. Smallholder-dominated, rain-fed systems with high post-harvest losses cannot keep up.  Nigeria’s child population is so large that even a stable or slightly declining malnutrition rate can mean millions of children affected.

Stunting remained alarmingly high, ranging from 7.2% (Osun, South West) to 61% (Kaduna, North Central), while wasting was as high as 29% (FCT Abuja, Central).  Stunting (chronic malnutrition, measured as height-for-age) among children under 5 fell from around 42–45% in the early 2000s (e.g., ~43% in 2003 NDHS data) to roughly 37% in 2013–2018 surveys and around 31.5–32% in more recent UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME).  The overall prevalence of anemia and vitamin A deficiency ranged between 55.2 to 75.1 % and 5.3 to 67.6%, respectively.

The World Bank estimated the number of impoverished Nigerians rose from 89.8 million at the start of 2023 to 104 million in roughly a year.

SOLUTIONS

The National Home-Grown School Feeding Program (NHGSFP) provides school meals.  The National Social Safety Nets Program (NASSP) Cash Transfer gives cash to poor households.  The Federal Government, with UNICEF and other partners, has committed $30 million to the Small Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (SQ-LNS) initiative, targeting 2 million children aged 6-23 months in high-burden states.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization launched a $347 million Emergency and Resilience Plan (2026–2028). The strategy combines rapid agricultural assistance with long-term climate resilience, aiming to restore food production and reduce dependency on food aid for 12.6 million people across the north.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs nutrition projects in seven states in Nigeria: Borno, Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi. IOM tracks displacement and manages humanitarian hubs; UNHCR co-leads protection and durable-solutions work; Intersos and Helen Keller Intl operate where others have withdrawn.

Other NGOs with long-standing programs in Nigeria include Action Against Hunger, Partners for Development, Malteser, Christian Blind Mission, Save the Children, Plan International, and Catholic Relief Services.

  –  Contributed by WHES board member, Steven Hansch

 

Most of Yemen is Now Hungry, UN Declares

June 17, 2026    Yesterday, the UN was advised that the extent of food insecurity in Yemen had ratcheted up further:  “The hunger crisis in Yemen is worsening sharply, with the share of people unable to meet basic food needs rising from about half to nearly 60 percent within a month,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher warned on Tuesday, calling for urgent funding to prevent further starvation.  “The number of Yemenis facing the most severe levels of deprivation has increased from one in four to nearly one in three. More than 18 million people, …are now experiencing acute hunger, ” Fletcher told the UN Security Council during a June 16 briefing.

Over 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished, including more than half a million in the severe, life-threatening form. Nearly half of all children under five suffer chronic malnutrition (stunting), locking in lifelong disadvantages for a generation. In hard-hit areas, half of households with young children report at least one malnourished child, while one in four has a malnourished pregnant or lactating woman.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification System (IPC) of famine predicts and projects a growing number of regions moving into Phase 4 — Emergency, shown in red in the map at right — for the period September to December 2026.  The Orange Zones are very food insecure and Red are emergency.

The 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan of the U.N. requested $2.16 billion for aid in order to reach 12 million of the 22.3 million people in need of assistance.  Yet, donor fatigue and competing global crises threaten another shortfall. Recent floods have destroyed displacement camps and livelihoods, while economic pressures and regional shipping tensions continue to inflate food and fuel prices. In government-controlled areas alone, nearly half the population now are now suffering crisis-level acute food insecurity, with emergency levels expected to climb through the lean season.The country’s arid climate, limited arable land, and chronic water scarcity have always constrained domestic production. Yemen has long depended on imports for over 90 percent of its food, especially wheat, of which it imports around 96 percent, leaving it acutely vulnerable to global price spikes, shipping disruptions, currency collapse, and fuel shortages that drive up transport costs.  War has only deepened this dependency.

The current civil war, fueled by Iranian support to Houthi rebels, has made humanitarian aid more difficult.  NGOs that had been building long-term food resilience for years had to shift to more short-term life-saving aid.  Damaged irrigation, lost livestock, displacement of farmers, and soaring input costs have left cereal production well below average. Even when commercial imports through Red Sea ports remain adequate in volume, economic collapse and rial devaluation put basic staples beyond reach for millions.

The chart at right comes from the CEOBS Report: Yemen’s agriculture in distress – ceobs.org

What is new and especially alarming in 2026 is the sharp contraction of the humanitarian response itself. In January, the World Food Programme announced it was terminating operations and contracts for its 365 staff in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen, home to roughly 70 percent of the country’s humanitarian needs—after repeated obstructions, arbitrary detentions of aid workers, and an increasingly impossible operating environment. This followed earlier suspensions and adds to chronic underfunding.  The 2025 appeal was only 29 percent funded, forcing agencies to scale back nutrition, health, and food programs nationwide.

Yemen’s food insecurity has deep roots, but the convergence of aid cutbacks, operational halts in the areas of greatest need, economic freefall, and climate shocks risks erasing fragile gains in nutrition and pushing more families beyond their breaking point.

Aid agencies helping to address malnutrition in Yemen include:  the International Committee of the Red Cross, Action Against Hunger, Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee, Médecins Sans Frontières, CARE, Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council, Oxfam, Islamic Relief, Medair and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.  Relief International is working with WFP in food aid in the south of Yemen.  UNICEF coordinates much of the nutrition programming for children and mothers, and the U.N. Nutrition Cluster (led by UNICEF), which reports for 44 operational nutrition partners in Yemen.

Further information, see:  https://www.nutritioncluster.net/country/yemen

and https://fscluster.org/yemen

–  Contributed by WHES board member, Steven Hansch

 

Hunger Increases Even Further in The Sudan

August 28, 2025:  Aid agencies estimate that malnutrition in Sudan increases in scale, depth and scope.  Much of the reporting comes from the far western region of Darfur, where, between January and May 2025, North Darfur saw a 46% increase in children admitted for SAM treatment at health centers compared to the same period in 2024 — with over 40,000 children treated in just that region.

As a result of 2 1/2 years of civil war, over 14 million Sudanese have been displaced by violence, both internally and across borders.  In the largest camp for displaced persons, Zamzam in North Darfur,  Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported devastating malnutrition rates — as high as 29–30% acute malnutrition, and high mortality (e.g., one child dying every two hours.  Similarly,  Save the Children reported a nearly fourfold increase in severe acute malnutrition cases seen in one South Kordofan clinic from June 2023 to June 2024, with 1,457 children admitted in June 2024 alone.

Though access by international organizations to children in this large, rural country is limited, UNICEF estimates that some 3.2 million children under 5 may have  acute malnutrition in 2025, including about 770,000 experiencing Severe Acute Malnutrition, meaning they are extremely wasted.

The U.N.’s advisory body about famine, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported 25.6 million people in the Sudan are food insecure, and of those, 8.5 million are in Emergency (Famine degree Phase 4) and another 755,000 are in Catastrophe/Famine (Famine degree Phase 5).

Humanitarian access is greatly constrained, with persistent fighting preventing deliveries of food or supplies into many areas, notably in Darfur, Khartoum, and regions with large numbers of internally displaced person.

Concern Worldwide is supporting 81 health facilities across Sudan, particularly in West and Central Darfur, treating children under five for acute malnutrition, with a focus on delivering ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF).  Despite the destruction of Sudan’s only RUTF factory in 2023, Concern has secured and delivered 10 metric tons of RUTF to vulnerable communities. In 2024, they reached nearly 484,000 people with lifesaving health and nutrition support.