According to United Nations statistics: 800 million people are chronically malnourished. Of these, 200 million children under the age of five suffer from acute or chronic protein and energy deficiencies. Over the past three decades, world food production has increased at a greater rate than population.
However, in the developing world, only one out of five people can get enough food to meet their daily needs. Only the combined efforts of governments, intergovernmental agencies, and the private sector can break this chain of hunger and poverty.
Rotary International is a global network of 33,660 community based clubs, with a world membership of 1.2 million. Each club is composed of men and women, established in their professions, who work as volunteers to improve the quality of life in their home communities and around the world.
Rotary's commitment
The Board of Directors of Rotary International has given high priority to the worldwide alleviation of hunger with special emphasis on projects assisting the aged and mothers with children.
The Health, Hunger and Humanity (3H) Program of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International provides major grants for international projects that improve health, alleviate hunger, and enhance human and social development. Rotary defines development as an improvement in the quality of life through an increased competence or capacity that leads to self-reliance.
Through 3H projects, Rotarians assist those who are working to improve conditions for themselves and their communities. Those projects designed to alleviate hunger support food production, preservation, and distribution with particular emphasis on agro forestry and aquaculture. Background Historically, one of Rotary's earliest initiatives was the 1919 "Boys and Girls Week" program, sponsored by the Rotary Club of New York, USA .
Rotary clubs' distribution of food to schools foreshadowed later public school breakfast and lunch programs. During the 1930s, many Rotary clubs distributed food to the indigent in countries affected by widespread unemployment. In 1945, Rotary clubs contributed to the flow of food to post war Europe. Today, Rotary clubs design projects to provide people with the tools and training necessary to produce their own food.
Project examples: The Rotary Clubs of Kampala and Kampala West, Uganda used a 3H grant to help establish a national network of clinics which treat and rehabilitate malnourished children. Working with British Rotarians and Save the Children, they also created programs to train mothers in nutrition and gardening. In Washington, USA, Rotary's Operation First Harvest arranges the transportation of millions of pounds of surplus, wholesome food for state food banks throughout the state. . Rotarians from France and Senegal worked to bring improved water supplies and sustainable agricultural practices to rural communities on the edge of the Sahel.
The Rotary Club of Comilla, Bangladesh, with Rotarian volunteers from different countries, used a 3H grant to teach local residents how to develop fish nurseries for food and income.
Nearly 16,000 people now participate in the production and sale of reasonably
priced fish to some one million villagers. The Rotary Foundation funds
matched with contributions from clubs in the United Kingdom used Matching
Grant funds to provide equipment for reforesting shelterbelts and windbreaks
in northwest Sudan.
A Rotary Village Corps project brought water to a chronically dry region
of Pakistan With the assistance of three Canadian Rotary clubs and a Rotary
Foundation Matching Grant, a tube well was installed which provides drinking
water for the entire village of Tamma. In addition, the well irrigates
a portion of village land for growing vegetables.
With the support of area Rotarians, Stephen Sherwood, a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, has educated Honduran farmers about preventing and fighting crop diseases. Rotarians in Norway used a Matching Grant to help fund the education of 16 Polish farmers in modern Norwegian farming techniques. Rotary clubs in the Philippines used a Matching Grant to help provide 70 rain water reservoirs for farming in Thailand.
