This post originally appeared on the Outrage and Inspire blog.
We’re excited to announce the launch of a new multi-part film series on Roger Thurow’s The Last Hunger Season. Now through October 16—coinciding with World Food Day 2014—we will be releasing two episodes from the series per week. Part 3 is now available below. See all episodes.
While struggling through the hunger season, Leonida noticed that some other farmers in western Kenya were doubling or tripling their maize harvest. Curious, she asked for their secret.
They had become members of One Acre Fund, she was told. One Acre was a new social enterprise organization determined to conquer the hunger season by ending the decades-long neglect of smallholder farmers. It hoped to unleash the potential of those farmers by providing access to the essential elements of farming: better quality seeds, soil nutrients, technical training, and the crucial financing to pay for it all.
One Acre Fund farmers come together in groups of eight to 12; friends and neighbors who help each other during the busy times of planting, weeding, harvesting. They give their groups inspirational names like Hope or Faith or Mercy or Grace or Happiness or Success. Leonida and several neighbors formed a One Acre group and called it Amua. In their local language, Amua means “decide.”
What had they decided? Their inspiration came from the Bible, Exodus 3:17.
In this episode of The Last Hunger Season film series, Leonida explains their decision to embark on a modern-day exodus.
Roger Thurow - Amua: Leonida Decides
About
The Global Food and Agriculture Program aims to inform the development of US policy on global agricultural development and food security by raising awareness and providing resources, information, and policy analysis to the US Administration, Congress, and interested experts and organizations.
The Global Food and Agriculture Program is housed within the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent, nonpartisan organization that provides insight – and influences the public discourse – on critical global issues. The Council on Global Affairs convenes leading global voices and conducts independent research to bring clarity and offer solutions to challenges and opportunities across the globe. The Council is committed to engaging the public and raising global awareness of issues that transcend borders and transform how people, business, and governments engage the world.
Support for the Global Food and Agriculture Program is generously provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Blogroll
1,000 Days Blog, 1,000 Days
Africa Can End Poverty, World Bank
Agrilinks Blog
Bread Blog, Bread for the World
Can We Feed the World Blog, Agriculture for Impact
Concern Blogs, Concern Worldwide
Institute Insights, Bread for the World Institute
End Poverty in South Asia, World Bank
Global Development Blog, Center for Global Development
The Global Food Banking Network
Harvest 2050, Global Harvest Initiative
The Hunger and Undernutrition Blog, Humanitas Global Development
International Food Policy Research Institute News, IFPRI
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Blog, CIMMYT
ONE Blog, ONE Campaign
One Acre Fund Blog, One Acre Fund
Overseas Development Institute Blog, Overseas Development Institute
Oxfam America Blog, Oxfam America
Preventing Postharvest Loss, ADM Institute
Sense & Sustainability Blog, Sense & Sustainability
WFP USA Blog, World Food Program USA
Archive
Guest Commentary – The Environmental Issue You’ve Never Heard Of
As part of our Food-Secure Future series, John Mandyck of United Technologies discusses how food waste innovation can reduce the impacts of climate change and feed a growing population.
A Food-Secure Future: Social Entrepreneurship in India
The latest post in our Food-Secure Future series discusses private sector investments that are transforming global agriculture.
Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations
Highlighting approaches, technologies, and ideas that have the potential to radically advance global food security.
Guest Commentary: Mentoring Youth to Shape the Future of Agriculture and Food
YPARD on proven techniques to help engage youth in the agricultural sector.
Guest Commentary – Agriculture and Climate Change
Journalist Lisa Palmer on the was in which farmers are innovating in the face of climate change.
Guest Commentary – Supporting Agriculture and Capacity Building: Twin Pillars of a Youth Employment Strategy for Africa
T.S. Jayne and Felix Kwame Yeboah of Michigan State University discuss strategies to involve youth in the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
Guest Commentary – Meeting Youth Where They Are
Paul Weisenfeld of RTI International on the need for better data on youth to engage them in the agricultural system.
A Food-Secure Future: Engaging Youth in Global Agriculture
The latest post in our Food-Secure Future series covers the state of global youth populations and the ways in which we can better engage them in the agricultural sector.
She Succeeds, We Succeed: Empowering Girls and Women to Achieve Global Goals
Empowered girls and women are transformative for the nations and societies they reside in, and key to ending global hunger and malnutrition. But how can we move the needle on girls’ and women’s empowerment? A new blog series, She Succeeds, We Succeed, explores.
Guest Commentary – Can We Turn “Generation Yum” into “Generation Ag”?
Robert Hunter and Yvonne Harz-Pitre, Co-Chairs of Farming First, on getting youth around the world involved in the agricultural sector.
Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations
Highlighting approaches, technologies, and ideas that have the potential to radically advance global food security.
Guest Commentary: Five Data-Driven Insights for Greater Food Security in 2017
Craig Burnett, formerly of Concern Worldwide, on the findings of this year's Global Hunger Index.
Keep Your Eyes on the Ball
Alesha Black, director of the Council's Global Food and Agriculture Program, on progress in combating global malnutrition.
Guest Commentary – Growing Our Way to a Healthier Climate: A New Future for Agriculture and the Environment
Ginya Truitt Nakata of the Nature Conservancy on the need to align farming practices with environmental needs.
A Food-Secure Future: Innovation in the Face of Evolving Threats
The latest post in our Food-Secure Future series dives in to the importance of innovation in the face of threats to the food system.