Browse by Theme: Food Security

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Mali, most families CARE works with that had been eating three meals a day suddenly had to drop to eating only once a day. The combination of markets closing, quarantine measures, and falling incomes meant that people had to conserve food carefully. Six months later, most of those families are eating three meals a day again. Why? Because local communities mobilised to share information, and worked with CARE to distribute cash transfers to the families most in need.

“I felt like life will go on, and we are able to find new ways to live a better life.” Nidal is one of more than 150,000 people who worked with CARE’s Food For Peace project to improve food security in Syria. From growing more food, to building bakeries, to monitoring quality — Syrians drove dramatic improvements in their own livelihoods.

Families who participated in the Nampula Adaptation to Climate Change project in northern Mozambique were able to grow more food, better respond to crises, and save more money. Adopting many climate change conscious practices in their fields helped them achieve this. One of the things families invested in when they got more savings and credit was their children’s education. Here is more about what the project achieved.

In the West Bank and Gaza, CARE helped farmers raise milk production by 10% and reduced the cost of water by 80%. To achieve this it wasn’t enough to look at just a farmer’s skills or livestock techniques. We had to look at the whole market system and use rigorous research to guide the programmes. In the West Bank and Gaza, although the market system faces threats every day, it’s still the best bet for sustainable change. Here is what we achieved and how we did it.

2017 has no question been a year of harrowing humanitarian crises, a deadly year of natural disasters. According to the UN, never in our lifetimes have so many people been in need of humanitarian assistance as in 2017. What might surprise you is that many of the millions of people in need do not live in any of those places you have seen on TV. They live in Chad, Burundi, in the Central African Republic or the Democratic Republic of Congo...

Having finished up a week of intense discussions on cash programming in Geneva earlier this month, I have to say that even I, a cash advisor who is avidly passionate about cash-based programming, am all “cashed out!” However, there is one major takeaway from the Global Cash Forum that I can’t help thinking about. I was struck by how much the discussion about how best to deliver cash at scale efficiently and effectively dominated the whole day – and for good reason.

CARE International provides humanitarian and development assistance in 79 countries around the world. We are committed to evidence-based delivery, continuous improvement, value for money, and providing appropriate, flexible aid to communities. So cash was always going to be on the agenda for us.