From home gardens to rabbit hutches in Tanzania
By Beth Ann Saracco
On a recent summer day, Lucy Masaka, a community health worker with the Mwanzo Bora Nutrition Program in Tanzania, walked among the houses in the village where she serves. The name of the program means "good start" in Swahili.
As she made her rounds and visited clients, she saw small home gardens, rabbit hutches, and sack gardens. Sack gardens prove especially helpful in this drought-prone community, as vegetables planted in a sack grow especially well. Lucy leads a weekly peer-support group in this village and shows participants' vegetable-demonstration plots, as well as how to raise animals for villagers to add protein to their diets. She also counsels women on hygiene and discusses ways to provide better nutrition to their children.
Will you support workers like Lucy by telling your members of Congress to cosponsor the Global Food Security Act of 2015?
Because of workers like Lucy and programs like Feed the Future, nearly 9 million children under 5 were reached with nutrition programs in Africa in 2014 alone. U.S. government programs like Feed the Future are building more food-secure and better-nourished communities — one village, one health worker, one small home garden at a time.
And now, because of Bread for the World members like you, we are getting closer to ensuring that Feed the Future is made a permanent program. The Global Food Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 1567/S. 1252) is pending in Congress. In July, we asked you to contact your members of Congress to cosponsor this legislation, and since then, over 15 new House members have added their support, bringing the number of supporters to nearly 75. But, in order for the bill to be brought to the House floor, we need to reach at least 100.
ACT NOW: Call (800/826-3688) or email your members of Congress today. Urge Congress to cosponsor the Global Food Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 1567/S. 1252)!
When you act, you are going with Lucy from house to house in her village. You are supporting her vital work and the important role she is playing in ending hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty in her village in Tanzania and around the world.
Beth Ann Saracco is a senior international policy analyst at Bread for the World.
Photo: Vegetables at a market in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Racine Tucker-Hamilton for Bread for the World
Tools
from our Resource Library
For Education
Election Resources
One of the best times to raise the issues of hunger and poverty is during election campaigns. Engage candidates in your state/district on hunger and poverty using our elections resources.U.S. Hunger and Poverty State Fact Sheets
These fact sheets provide a snapshot of hunger and poverty in the United States and in each state plus Washington, D.C.
Fact Sheet: COVID-19 Global Pandemic, Better Nutrition Protects Lives
With the coronavirus now spreading in low-resource contexts and new waves of infection expected in the coming year, better nutrition for vulnerable people is more important than ever.
For Faith
Finding Hope, Ending Hunger on Both Sides of the Border: A Bilingual Latino Devotional
Devotional writers challenge us to feel the Spirit of God within us and to hear God’s urgent call to demand justice so all can put food on the table.The Bible on Health as a Hunger Issue
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith.” These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
The Bible on...
Unity Declaration on Racism and Poverty
A diverse body of Christian leaders calls on the churches and Congress to focus on the integral connection.
Dear Members of Congress,
As the president and Congress are preparing their plans for this year, almost 100 church leaders—from all the families of U.S. Christianity—are...
For Advocacy
Fact Sheet: Coronavirus (COVID-19) and SNAP
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fact Sheet: Why We Need $200 Million for Global Nutrition Programs
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition in the fiscal year 2020 budget.
Fact Sheet: Hunger by the Numbers
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.