Research Papers
Effective Development Assistance: Now Is The Time (Development Works #1)
Development Works Number 1 (March 2012)
Bread for the World and other organizations working to end global hunger frequently talk about development assistance and how it can help hungry people overseas. But what exactly is development assistance? And why should we support funding for it when many Americans are facing hard times?
Improving Food Aid to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition
Briefing Paper Number 15 (February 2012)
The United States is the world's largest provider of food aid products. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that early childhood nutrition interventions, aimed at the critical "1,000 Days" window from pregnancy through a child's second birthday, are extremely effective and cost-efficient ways to arrest the lifelong effects of malnutrition. More than 100 country governments and civil society organizations have signed on to the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, which supports efforts to expand effective nutrition programs to undernourished pregnant women and young children.
Reducing maternal and child malnutrition is a key priority of the U.S. government's Feed the Future and Global Health initiatives. There are opportunities to reform food aid to better align it with the objectives of these two programs. With debate on the next farm bill beginning, now is the time to improve this essential program.
Linking Nutrition and Health: Progress and Opportunities
Briefing Paper Number 14 (February 2012)
In the last few years, there has been an unprecedented global effort to scale up maternal and child nutrition. The effort is prompted by increasing recognition of the devastating and largely irreversible impact of undernutrition on children in the 1,000-day window from pregnancy to age two—and by a growing consensus on a set of evidence-based, cost-effective nutrition interventions.
The United States has been a leader in the global effort and has made maternal and child nutrition improvements a primary objective of its Feed the Future and Global Health initiatives.
Expanding the Circle of Protection
Background Paper Number 218 (February 2012)
Since the 2010 elections, members of Congress have been primarily focused on reducing the federal deficit in order to balance the budget. But the deficit-reduction proposals Congress is considering could result in the most severe cuts to programs for hungry and poor people in Bread's history.
While Bread members and activists were able to help prevent major cuts last year to vital programs for hungry and poor people, the threats are far from gone. We need to protect what we achieved in 2011 and defend programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps) and international food aid from across-the-board budget cuts in 2012. Bread's 2012 Offering of Letters campaign will urge members of Congress to draw a circle of protection around these critical programs.
Development and Migration in Mexico’s Rural Communities
Background Paper Number 213 (February 2012)
Here's a question conspicuous by its absence from most U.S. discussions of unauthorized or illegal immigration: Why do people risk their lives crossing the Mexican border, take jobs most Americans won't do, and live away from their families—surrounded by an often unfamiliar language and culture? The answer isn't complicated: inequality, hunger, and poverty in the communities immigrants leave behind.
Los Trabajadores Agrícolas y la Política de Inmigración
Briefing Paper Number 12 (December 2011)
Por más de un siglo, la agricultura ha sido un punto de entrada al mercado laboral para los inmigrantes en EE.UU. Actualmente, cerca de tres cuartos de los agricultores contratados son inmigrantes, la mayoría indocumentados. Dicho estatus legal, salarios bajos y horarios inconsistentes, contribuyen a una precaria situación económica.
Making Development Assistance Work Better
Briefing Paper Number 13 (December 2011)
In 2005, through the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the international community accepted ambitious commitments to improve the impact of development assistance. Today, important questions emerge: to what extent have these commitments been implemented? Is aid being delivered in a more effective way?
In 2008, the Accra Agenda for Action called for greater focus on country ownership, accountability and transparency, and inclusive partnerships. Globally, progress has been made but more needs to be done. In general, the governments of developing countries have gone further than donors in implementing their commitments, though efforts and progress vary.
Rebalancing Act: Updating U.S. Food and Farm Policies
Background Paper Number 217 (December 2011)
The global agricultural system faces many daunting challenges. Seven billion people currently inhabit the Earth, and the population is expected to rise to 9 billion by 2050. Food production must increase as climate change puts additional stress on natural resources. Nearly 1 billion people around the world suffer from hunger. In the United States, one in four people participates in a federal nutrition program. U.S. food and farm policies absolutely need to be aligned.
The 2012 Hunger Report recommends ways for the federal government to better respond to the agriculture and nutrition challenges of today and tomorrow. Normally change in food and farm policy occurs incrementally. The 2012 Hunger Report calls for bolder, more determined thinking about how U.S. food and farm policies can meet the global and domestic challenges of the 21st century.
Farm Workers and Immigration Policy
Briefing Paper Number 12 (December 2011)
For more than a century, agriculture has been an entry point into the labor market for immigrants in the United States. Presently, close to three-fourths of all U.S. hired farm workers are immigrants, most of them unauthorized. Their unauthorized legal status, low wages, and an inconsistent work schedule contribute to a precarious economic state.
Immigrant farm workers fill low-wage jobs that citizens are reluctant to take. Attempts to recruit citizens for farm worker jobs have failed. Domestic production of fruits and vegetables could decrease without immigrant farm workers.
Hambre y Pobreza en los Niños Latinos Inmigrantes
Background Paper August 2011
En el año 2000, los Latinos se convirtieron en la minoría étnica más grande de los Estados Unidos. Hoy en día, el 16.3 por ciento de la población de los Estados Unidos es de origen Latino: es decir, más de 50 millones de personas. La creciente presencia de los Latinos es evidente en las escuelas, comunidades y lugares de trabajo.
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