Why grow food

According to UN statistics 850 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. They are underweight and do not get enough to eat. Another 2 billion people suffer from malnutrition caused by a lack of vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and minerals. In Africa 210 million people are suffering from hunger. The first UN Millennium Goal, is to  reduce the number of people suffering from hunger, worldwide, by 50%, by 2015.
 
Recently food prices have risen sharply as world stocks of grain have decreased to the lowest level in decades. This is likely the beginning of a long term trend of increasing prices. The higher prices are caused by the increasing prices of fossil fuels, the increasing demand from the wealthy nations and the increasing demand from the middle classes of the developing nations. Global warming and climate change will limit the capacity for food production in many of the countries in the tropical and subtropical areas of the world. To meet these challenges it is time to take defensive actions by strengthening local food production, working towards self-sufficiency, reducing waste, taking better care of the land and water and by educating people.
 
At IICD Michigan we are taking action and have started to produce our own vegetables and herbs. In Brazil, Ecudor and Belize and in most of the positions in Africa include vegetable and fruit production, to secure food and nuitrition and fod fot the families and as income generation activities, so it is of a high benefit to learn as much as possible about vegetable and herb production, during the training at IICD.

We want to take a stand to the food situation in the world today, where it again is the poor people who pay the highest price, and the best alternative to independence food supplies is to grow it ourself and together with families in the poor communities where we work.

Family garden in Belize

IICD Garden