A major independent survey reports that the best way to end global hunger may be to help small farmers, especially as they try to adapt to the changing climate. According to 98 Caritas organizations, the top three causes of food insecurity are lack of resources—land, seeds, loans, access to markets—for small farmers, low agricultural productivity and the impact of climate change. “The findings of this survey are a window into the struggles of impoverished small farmers, especially those in the developing world,” said Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, the Rome-based umbrella group of national Caritas organizations. Just 19 percent of Caritas respondents said that their countries enjoyed full food security, defined as reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Almost a third said their countries faced food insecurity, and almost half said their countries were only somewhat secure in their food resources. The results of food insecurity were not just hunger and malnutrition but also migration, income disparity and crime.
End Hunger? Help Farmers
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