Tag Archives: food prices

Drought Lingers, Winter Wheat Crop Withers | Mother Jones

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Drought Lingers, Winter Wheat Crop Withers | Mother Jones.

If you’re not a farmer, it might not occur to you to think about drought in January. What’s growing these cold, snowy days anyway? Well, winter wheat, for one, which is planted in fall, harvested early summer and responsible for 70 percent of the United States’s wheat crop. Technically winter wheat is dormant right now and should wake back up in spring to keep growing. But it still needs rain. From the article: “‘About 30 percent of the winter wheat in central Kansas has already failed, with further damage likely unless there is rain.’”

Winter Wheat

Photo by Per Jensen, used under Creative Commons.

In the U.S., there’s probably not too much to worry about in terms of our pocketbooks. The bread at the grocery store will probably be about the same retail price in 2013. It’s in the developing world, where Heifer works, that price hikes in commodity crops can quickly and significantly raise food prices. When you’re poor and depend on wheat as your largest dietary staple, there are rough times ahead.

Helping farming families diversify what they grow is an important component of our work at Heifer International. We aim to help families build resiliency against external “shocks” exactly like this. Families raising their own protein sources and multiple varieties of nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits are much less likely to struggle when commodity crop prices raise beyond what’s affordable. Families who are able to grow more than they consume are in an even better position to both earn additional income with the surplus and help their neighbors who may be struggling.

Diverse Garden in Tanzania.

A diverse and flourishing garden of Heifer participant in Tanzania. Photo by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International.

Crisis in the Sahel

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Though it hasn’t received much news coverage here in the United States, there’s another part of Africa facing a food crisis. This time it’s the Sahel region that stretches across the continent between the Sahara and the lusher areas to the south that’s feeling the effects of drought, rising food prices, and in some areas, conflict and locusts.

It is estimated that about 13 million people are in need after the rains failed last year,

Children share a mid-afternoon meal of millet porridge in Diarrere, Senegal.

prolonging a drought that has made it difficult for families to grow food in a place where the growing season is already very short. It remains to be seen what kind of rainy season the region will face this year.

Food prices also rose for the third time in three straight months in March, making it that much more difficult for families who have little to pay for the food that with which they would normally supplement their diets.

The U.S. has sent nearly 40,000 tons of sorghum to the region with it’s expected arrival at the end of the month. UNICEF is also working to raise awareness of the crisis, particularly through its social media channels. They’re right to point out that, like what happened in the Horn of Africa last year, this crisis is preventable.

In Senegal, Heifer has helped the people in this region manage the dry conditions for the past two years, and has prepared them for precisely the kind of situation the region is facing now. Heifer’s projects have equipped participants with a short-haired sheep specially suited to area’s heat, goats, pigs and seeds that can thrive even in the Sahel soil.

Participants are also spreading manure on the nutrient-depleted soils to replenish them, and planting acacia trees to provide shade and help the soil hold water and not blow away.

It’s a long-term solution for an acute problem, yes, but it’s providing people with the means to survive and thrive in changing climates and conditions.

Have You Checked out World Ark?

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The latest issue of Heifer’s magazine World Ark came out a few weeks ago, but we’ve had so many other things going on with Social Justice Day, our International Women’s Day series, and updating you about our history of working in Uganda, that we forgot to tell you about the other great stories we have. Donna featured Roseline Jean Pierre last week, but Katya Cengel’s article on Haiti takes a closer look at our work there in villages around the island country, particularly with the coastal village of La Savane where Heifer has provided fishermen with boat motors so that Haitian fishermen can reach the fish populations outside the bay that has fallen victim to pollution and overfishing.Frank Bures also takes a look at how Kenyans are coping with the rising cost of living, while Dr. Stephen Smith also tackles what is driving the cost of food prices up, and the subsequent effects on the poor.

Take a look at our online edition for all other features like book reviews and donor stories, too. And be on the look out for our next issue, due out in May.