Global Malnutrition A topic report presented to the 2015 National Federation of High Schools Topic Selection Committee New Orleans, Louisiana Summer 2015
Presented by: Roy R. Rodriguez (Coach), Alena Kang-Landsberg (Student), and Eric Pillai (Student) A&M Consolidated High School, College Station, Texas
Representing the University Interscholastic League
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Introduction
The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) noted that 805 million people in the world are undernourished, roughly translating to one in nine individuals in the world. Hunger kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. By solving for global malnutrition, cases could obtain many potential advantages ranging from peace in unstable regions to vast economic benefits. Sustainable nutrition is critical to child development and growth. When a person's nutritional needs are met their ability to pursue education is enhanced. Some sources even note that 3.5 trillion dollars is drained from the global economy due to global malnutrition. It is through solving for global malnutrition, research could uncover new breakthroughs in science and technology. Global malnutrition is a solvable problem, especially since our world produces enough food to provide nourishment the entire globe.
When looking to solve global malnutrition, one could attempt to solve for its root causes. The UNWFP considers the following six reasons why global malnutrition has occurred:
Poverty trap
People living in poverty cannot afford nutritious food for themselves and their families. The lack of nutrition makes them weaker and less able to earn the money that would help them escape poverty and hunger. This is not just a day-to-day problem: chronic malnourishment will “stunt” a child’s growth, affect their future income, and condemn them to a life of poverty and hunger. In developing countries, farmers often cannot afford seeds, so they cannot plant the crops that would provide for their families. They may have to cultivate crops without the tools and fertilizers they need. Others have no land or water or education. In short, the poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.
Affirmative Ground:
Affirmative teams might choose to create a case providing direct or indirect nutritional assistance to the poor. Advanced teams might go for the angle of alleviating global poverty and reducing malnutrition as a result. This resolution is intended to allow a wide range of affirmative topics that address the issue of global malnutrition from a wide variety of perspectives.
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Negative Ground:
Negative teams will have the ability to argue against traditional economic and aid models with Capitalism Kritiks, Imperialism Kritiks, and Ableism Kritiks, to name a few. Traditional politics and global relations disadvantages will be in play with either UN or US agents of action, and regional disadvantages based on shifting power structures in affected nations will also have weight in round.
Lack of investment in agriculture
Too many developing countries lack key agricultural infrastructure, such as sufficient roads, warehouses, and irrigation. The results are high transport costs, lack of storage facilities, and unreliable water supplies. All limit agricultural yields and access to food. Investing in improving land management, using water more efficiently, and making more resistant seed types available can bring big improvements (in agriculture). Research by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) shows that investment in agriculture is five times more effective in reducing poverty and hunger than investment in any other sector.
Affirmative Ground:
Affirmative teams might go for the angle of constructing various forms of agricultural infrastructure or providing business incentives to do so.
Negative Ground:
Negative teams have the option of running imperialism or governmental structure (Capitalism/Communism) Kritiks. Private Counterplans also have significant weight against infrastructure affirmatives.
Climate and weather
Natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms, and long periods of drought are increasing -- with calamitous consequences for the hungry poor in developing countries. Drought is one of the most common causes of food shortages in the world. In 2011, recurrent drought caused crop failures and heavy livestock losses in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. In 2012 a similar situation occurred in the Sahel region of West Africa. In many countries, climate change exacerbates already adverse natural conditions. Increasingly, erosion, salinization, and desertification threaten the world's fertile farmland. Deforestation accelerates the erosion of potential agricultural land.
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Affirmative Ground:
The Affirmative team can run weather modification plans or anti-desertification affirmatives such as the currently proposed idea to build a wall of trees to stop the advance of the Sahara.
Negative Ground:
The obvious Kritiks about environmental modification and destruction of the natural world will provide fertile critical opportunity for negative teams. Additionally, Disadvantages relating to the wide scale changes caused by environmental modification will also be effective against affirmative cases dealing with climate challenges.
War and displacement
Across the globe, conflicts disrupt farming and food production. Fighting forces millions of people to flee their homes, leading to hunger emergencies as the displaced lack the means to feed themselves. In war, food can become a weapon. Soldiers starve opponents into submission by seizing or destroying food and livestock and systematically wrecking local markets. Fields are mined and water wells became contaminated, forcing farmers to abandon their land. Ongoing conflict in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo has contributed significantly to the level of hunger in the two countries. In contrast, hunger is retreating in more peaceful parts of Africa such as Ghana and Rwanda.
Unstable markets
In recent years, the price of food products has been very unstable. Roller-coaster food prices make it difficult for the poorest people to access nutritious food consistently. People need access to adequate food all year round. Price spikes may temporarily put food out of reach, which can have lasting consequences for small children. When prices rise, consumers often shift to cheaper, less-nutritious foods, heightening the risks of micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of malnutrition.
Food wastage
One third of all food produced (1.3 billion tons) is never consumed. This food wastage represents a missed opportunity to improve global food security in a world where one eighth of the population is hungry. Producing this food also uses up precious natural resources that we need to feed the planet. Each year, food produced but not eaten consumes a volume of water equivalent to the annual flow of Russia's Volga River. Furthermore, producing this food adds 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, with consequences for the climate and, ultimately, for food production.
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Resolutions:
During the 2014 Topic Selection meeting in South Dakota, the Wording Committee requested that an international agent be considered as the main actor within the resolution for the next topic selection meeting.
The question remains; which agent would create the most substantive debate?
The United Nations (UN) is an excellent potential actor because they have experience with alleviating malnutrition worldwide. The United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have made significant strides in highlighting the issues surrounding hunger and malnutrition. By exploring what these UN programs have already done, debaters can discover many creative potential Affirmative cases. Furthermore, having the UN as the main actor would allow for debaters to gain a better understanding of the UN and how it functions as an organization, essential knowledge in today’s society.
Additionally, having
With that said, here we provide several potential resolutions for review by the Marshall Committee and the Final Wording committee. Options 1-3 have the United Nations as the main agent of action. Options 4-6 have the United States as the main agent of action Option 7 consider the world as a whole, allowing affirmative teams so select their own actor.
1. Resolved: The United Nations should substantially reduce global malnutrition. 2. Resolved: The United Nations should substantially increase its support of global malnutrition reduction efforts. 3. Resolved: The United Nations should substantially increase its support of World Food Programme nutrition policies. 4. Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce global malnutrition. 5. Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its support of global malnutrition reduction efforts. 6. Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its support of World Food Programme nutrition policies. 7. Resolved: The world community should substantially reduce global malnutrition.
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DEFINITIONS
To gain a better understanding of the issue of hunger, one must consider the terminology. The goal of this section is to give as many possible definitions that relate to the resolutions.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition: defined as a state in which the physical function of an individual is impaired to the point where he or she can no longer maintain natural bodily capacities such as growth, pregnancy, lactation, learning abilities, physical work and resisting and recovering from disease. The term covers a range of problems from being dangerously thin (see Underweight) or too short (see Stunting) for one's age to being deficient in vitamins and minerals or being too fat (obese). (UNWFP, 2014)
"malnutrition, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 9 March 2015.
Nutrition which is not adequate to maintain good health, whether through insufficient or excessive intake of food, lack of essential dietary components, or (rarely) malabsorption; a condition of poor health resulting from this
Malnutrition Quantifying the health impact at national and local levels. Monika Blössner & Mercedes de Onis. World Health Organization Nutrition for Health and Development Protection of the Human Environment Geneva 2005 http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/MalnutritionEBD12.pdf
The term malnutrition generally refers both to undernutrition and over nutrition, but in this guide we use the term to refer solely to a deficiency of nutrition. Many factors can cause malnutrition, most of which relate to poor diet or severe and repeated infections, particularly in underprivileged populations. Inadequate diet and disease, in turn, are closely linked to the general standard of living, the environmental conditions, and whether a population is able to meet its basic needs such as food, housing and health care. Malnutrition is thus a health outcome as well as a risk factor for disease and exacerbated malnutrition (Fig. 1.1), and it can increase the risk both of morbidity and mortality. Although it is rarely the direct cause of death (except in extreme situations, such as famine), child malnutrition was associated with 54% of child deaths (10.8 million children) in developing countries in 2001 (Fig. 1.2; see also WHO, 2004). Malnutrition that is the
6 direct cause of death is referred to as “protein-energy malnutrition” in this guide.
Alderman H, Shekar M. "Malnutrition: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia."U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
Food provides the energy and nutrients you need to be healthy. If you don't get enough nutrients -- including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals - you may suffer from malnutrition. Causes of malnutrition include: Lack of specific nutrients in your diet. Even the lack of one vitamin can lead to malnutrition. An unbalanced diet. Certain medical problems, such as malabsorption syndromes and cancers Symptoms may include fatigue, dizziness, and weight loss. Or, you may have no symptoms. To diagnose the cause of the problem, your doctor may do blood tests and a nutritional assessment. Treatment may include replacing the missing nutrients and treating the underlying cause.
Micronutrient deficiency: A lack or shortage of a micronutrient (vitamins or minerals) that is essential in small amounts for proper growth and metabolism. People are often said to suffer from “hidden hunger” when they consume enough calories, but suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. This form of hunger may not be visibly apparent in an individual, but it increases morbidity and mortality and also has negative impacts on other aspects of health, cognitive development and economic development. Hidden hunger affects over 2 billion people worldwide. (UNWFP, 2014)
Protein energy malnutrition: a form of malnutrition measured not by how much food is eaten but by physical measurements of the body - weight or height - and age (see Stunting, Wasting, Underweight). (UNWFP, 2014)
Stunting: reflects shortness-for-age; a indicator of chronic malnutrition and calculated by comparing the height-for-age of a child with a reference population of well nourished and healthy children. According to the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition's 5th Report on the World Nutrition Situation (2005) almost one third of all children are stunted. (UNWFP, 2014)
Undernourishment: describes the status of people whose food intake does not include enough calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs. The term is a measure of a country's ability to gain access to food and is normally derived from Food Balance Sheets prepared by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (UNWFP, 2014)
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Protein energy malnutrition: It results from a diet lacking in energy and protein because of a deficit in all major macronutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins. (UNWFP, 2014)
Marasmus: is caused by a lack of protein and energy with sufferers appearing skeletally thin. In extreme cases, it can lead to kwashiorkor, in which malnutrition causes swelling including a so-called 'moon face'. (UNWFP, 2014)
Iron deficiency: is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting millions of people. Iron forms the molecules that carry oxygen in the blood, so symptoms of a deficiency include tiredness and lethargy. Lack of iron in large segments of the population severely damages a country's productivity. Iron deficiency also impedes cognitive development, affecting 40-60 percent of children aged 6-24 months in developing countries (source: Vitamin & Mineral Deficiency, a global damage assessment report, Unicef). (UNWFP, 2014)
Reducing
Blacks Law What is REDUCE? In Scotch law. To rescind or annul.
Merriam-Webster reduce verb re·duce \ri-ˈ düs, -ˈ dyüs\ : to make (something) smaller in size, amount, number, etc. : to cause (someone) to be in a specified state or condition : to cause (something) to be in a specified form by breaking it, burning it, etc. re·ducedre·duc·ing Full Definition of REDUCE transitive verb 1 a : to draw together or cause to converge : consolidate
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8 a : to diminish in strength or density b : to diminish in value 9 a (1) : to change the denominations or form of without changing the value (2) : to construct a geometrical figure similar to but smaller than (a given figure) b : to transpose from one form into another : convert c : to change (an expression) to an equivalent but more fundamental expression
Oxford [WITH OBJECT] 1. Make smaller or less in amount, degree, or size: 1.1 [NO OBJECT] Become smaller or less in size, amount, or degree: 1.2Boil (a sauce or other liquid) in cooking so that it becomes thicker and more concentrated. 1.3 [NO OBJECT] chiefly North American (Of a person) lose weight, typically by dieting: 1.4 archaic Conquer (a place), in particular besiege and capture (a town or fortress). 1.5 Photography Make (a negative or print) less dense. 1.6 Phonetics Articulate (a speech sound) in a way requiring less muscular effort. In vowels, this gives rise to a more central articulatory position. 2. (reduce someone/something to) Bring someone or something to (a lower or weaker state, condition, or role):2.1 (be reduced to doing something) (Of a person) be forced by difficult circumstances into doing something desperate: 2.2Make someone helpless with (an expression of emotion, especially with hurt, shock, or amusement): 2.3Force into (obedience or submission): he succeeds in reducing his grandees to due obedience 3. (reduce something to) Change a substance to (a different or more basic form):3.1Present a problem or subject in (a simplified form): 3.2Convert a fraction to (the form with the lowest terms). 4. Chemistry Cause to combine chemically with hydrogen. 4.1Undergo or cause to undergo a reaction in which electrons are gained by one atom from another. T 5. Restore (a dislocated part) to its proper position by manipulation or surgery. Remedy (a dislocation) by manipulation or surgery.
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Oxford English Dictionary
1. Chem. That causes, permits, or promotes reduction (reduction n. 11c).The action of reduce v. (in various senses); reduction.
Significantly
Black’s Law A measurement of how well a company is performing against its competitors.
Merriam-Webster 1: in a significant manner : to a significant degree
Oxford 1In a sufficiently great or important way as to be worthy of attention: energy bills have increased significantly this year[AS SUBMODIFIER]: their situation is significantly different from ours 2In a way that has a particular meaning:[AS SENTENCE ADVERB]: significantly, he has refused to give a straight answer to this question 2.1In a manner that suggests a meaning or message that is not explicitly stated: he paused significantly
Oxford English In a significant manner; esp. so as to convey a particular meaning; expressively, meaningfully. As a sentence adverb: importantly; notably. As a sentence adverb: importantly; notably.
Global
Merriam-Webster Global: 1: spherical 2: of, relating to, or involving the entire world : worldwide 10 system of communication>; also : of or relating to a celestial body (as the moon) 3: of, relating to, or applying to a whole (as a mathematical function or a computer program) : universal Oxford 1Of or relating to the whole world; worldwide: the downturn in the global economy 1.1Relating to or embracing the whole of something, or of a group of things: some students may prefer to be given a global picture of what is involved in the task1.2Computing Operating or applying through the whole of a file, program, etc. Global searches Oxford English 1. Having a spherical form; globular. rare in later use. 2. (a) Relating to or encompassing the whole of anything or any group of things, categories,etc.;comprehensive, universal, total, overall. (b) Of, relating to, or involving the whole world, worldwide; (also in later use) of or relating to the world considered in a planetary context (see sense 4).3. Math. Occurring or valid at every point of a space or every value of a variable; relative to every point of a space, etc. 4. Astron. Of or relating to the (whole of) a planet other than earth 5. Computing. Relating to or affecting the whole of a program, text, etc. Increasing (Increase) Merriam-Webster to become larger or greater in size, amount, number, etc.: to make (something) larger or greater in size, amount, number, etc. Oxford Become or make greater in size, amount, intensity, or degree Oxford English That increases; growing, augmenting, enlarging, etc.: see the verb. Esp. in law of 11 increasing return(s) : the observed fact that in certain manufactures and industries the expenditure of labour or capital up to a certain point produces a more than proportionate corresponding return. Establish Merriam-Webster : to cause (someone or something) to be widely known and accepted : to put (someone or something) in a position, role, etc., that will last for a long time : to begin or create (something that is meant to last for a long time) 1: to institute (as a law) permanently by enactment or agreement 2 obsolete : settle 3 a : to make firm or stable b : to introduce and cause to grow and multiply Oxford 1.1Initiate or bring about (contact or communication):the two countries established diplomatic relations 2 Achieve permanent acceptance or recognition for: the principle of the supremacy of national parliaments needs to be firmly established he had established himself as a film star 2.1Introduce (a character, set, or location) into a film or play and allow its identification: establish the location with a wide shot 3Show (something) to be true or certain by determining the facts:[WITH CLAUSE]: the police established that the two passports were forgeries 12 Oxford English 1. To render stable or firm.a. To strengthen by material support (obs.).b. To ratify, confirm, validate (obs.).c. To confirm, settle (what is weak or wavering); to restore (health) permanently; to give calmness or steadiness to (the mind).d. catachr. To calm (anger), to settle (doubts). a. To fix, settle, institute or ordain permanently, by enactment or agreement. Sometimes with obj. clause. Also (rarely) to impose (something) upon.†b. To secure or settle (property, privileges, etc.) to or upon persons. Obs. 3. To set up on a secure or permanent basis; to found (a government, an institution; in mod. use often, a house of business).c. To impute (guilt) to. Obs. [Compare ‘ne statuas illis hoc peccatum,’ Acts vii. 30 in Vulgate.] 3. To set up on a secure or permanent basis; to found (a government, an institution; in mod. use often, a house of business).†b. To provide for the maintenance of (persons). Obs. Cf. SETTLE v a. To set up or bring about permanently (a state of things); to ‘create’ (a precedent); to introduce and secure permanent acceptance for (a custom, a belief). Also, to secure for oneself, gain permanently (a reputation, a position).b. To erect into (a rule, etc.). †Also (with complement), to secure in a certain condition. c. Cards. to establish a suit (see quot.). d. Cinematogr., etc. To introduce and secure the identity or position of (a character, set, etc.).a. To place beyond dispute; to prove (a proposition, claim, accusation); rarely with personal obj. and complement. b. To affirm judicially the validity of (a disputed will).7. From 16th c. often used with reference to ecclesiastical ceremonies or organization, and to the recognized national church or its religion; in early use chiefly pass. in sense2 (esp. in phrase by law established, i.e. ‘prescribed or settled by law’), but sometimes with mixture of senses 3 – 5. Hence in recent use: To place (a church or a religious body) in the position of a national or state church. 13 United Nations "UN at a Glance." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. Oxford English United Nations n. in the war of 1939–45, the Allied nations who united against the Axis powers; hence, an international peace-seeking organization of these and many other States, founded by charter in 1945 (in full, United Nations Organization ), with a permanent headquarters in New York; abbrev.UN 14 Oxford The members of the United Nations, originally the countries that fought against the Axis Powers in the Second World War, now number 193 and include most sovereign states of the world. Administration is by a secretariat headed by a secretary general. The chief deliberative body is the General Assembly, in which each member state has one vote; recommendations are passed but are not binding on members and generally have had little effect on world politics. The Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security and may call on members to take action, chiefly peacekeeping action, to enforce its decisions. The UN’s headquarters are in New York City United States Federal Government Oxford Learner’s Dictionary http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/federal-government (in the US) the system of government as defined in the Constitution which is based on the separation of powers among three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judicial. This system provides a series of checks and balances because each branch is able to limit the power of the others. The executive branch consists of the President and Vice-President, based in the White House in Washington, DC, and government departments and agencies. The President can approve or stop laws proposed by Congress, appoints senior officials, such as heads of government departments and federal judges, and is also Commander-in-Chief of the military forces. There are 15 government departments, the heads of which make up the Cabinet which meets regularly to discuss current affairs and advise the President. The legislative branch is the Congress which is made up of the two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives which both meet in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The main job of Congress is to make laws, but its other responsibilities include establishing federal courts, setting taxes and, if necessary, declaring war. The President and members of Congress are chosen in separate 15 elections. The Senate has 100 members, two from each state, both of whom represent the whole state and are elected for six years. The House of Representatives has 435 members, who are elected every two years. The number of members from each state depends on the population of the state, with larger states divided into districts, each with one representative. The judicial branch of government has three levels: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeal and many federal district courts. The Supreme Court has nine members, called justices who are chosen by the President and headed by the Chief Justice. The Supreme Court has the power to influence the law through a process called judicial review. US Legal Dictionary http://definitions.uslegal.com/u/united-states-federal-government/ The United States Federal Government is established by the US Constitution. The Federal Government shares sovereignty over the United States with the individual governments of the States of US. The Federal government has three branches: i) the legislature, which is the US Congress, ii) Executive, comprised of the President and Vice president of the US and iii) Judiciary. The US Constitution prescribes a system of separation of powers and ‘checks and balances’ for the smooth functioning of all the three branches of the Federal Government. The US Constitution limits the powers of the Federal Government to the powers assigned to it; all powers not expressly assigned to the Federal Government are reserved to the States or to the people. United States Federal Government http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/federal.shtml The Constitution of the United States divides the federal government into three branches to ensure a central government in which no individual or group gains too much control: 1. Legislative – Makes laws (Congress) 2. Executive – Carries out laws (President, Vice President, Cabinet) 3. Judicial – Evaluates laws (Supreme Court and Other Courts) Each branch of government can change acts of the other branches as follows: ● The president can veto laws passed by Congress. 16 ● Congress confirms or rejects the president's appointments and can remove the president from office in exceptional circumstances. ● The justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The U.S. federal government seeks to act in the best interests of its citizens through this system of checks and balances. World Community MacMillan Dictionary http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/the-international-community political leaders and important organizations from all parts of the world Collins Dictionary http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/global-community the people or nations of the world, considered as being closely connected by modern telecommunications and as being economically, socially, and politically interdependent 17 Timeliness This resolution will remain current. Malnutrition is a major problem that will not disappear in the next few years; if anything, it will increase. In a recent statement from the UNWFP on climate change, they note that “Without considerable efforts made to improve people's climate resilience, it has been estimated that the risk of hunger and malnutrition could increase by up to 20 percent by 2050.” There are hundreds of millions of people hungry today, and with population increase, political instability, increasing inequality, and climate change, those numbers will not decrease. EVEN WITH THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE, HUNGER IS STILL A MAJOR PROBLEM AND HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF GETTING WORSE DUE TO THE INCREASING CLIMATE CHANGE WFP, UN, 2013, https://www.wfp.org/stories/10-hunger-facts-2014 1. About 842 million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy. That means that one in every eight people on Earth goes to bed hungry each night. (Source: FAO, 2013) 2.The number of people living with chronic hunger has fallen by 17 percent since 1990–92. If the trend continues, we will fall just short of the hunger target in the Millennium Development Goals. (Source: FAO, 2013) 3. Most of the world’s undernourished people are still to be found in Southern Asia, closely followed by sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Asia. (Source: FAO, 2013) 4. A third of all deaths in children under the age of five in developing countries are linked to undernutrition. (Source: IGME, 2011) 5. In the developing world, one child in four is stunted, meaning that their physical and mental growth is impaired because of inadequate nutrition. (Source: The Lancet, 2013) 6. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from pregnancy through age two, are critical. A proper diet in this period can protect children from the mental and physical stunting that can result from malnutrition. (Source: IGME, 2011) 7. If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million. (Source: FAO, 2011) 8. It costs just US $0.25 per day to provide a child with all of the vitamins and nutrients he or she needs to grow up healthy. (Source: WFP, 2011) 9. By 2050, climate change and erratic weather patterns could have pushed another 24 million children into hunger. Almost half of these children would be in sub-Saharan Africa. (Source: IFPRI,2009) 10. Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes. The Zero Hunger Challenge, launched by the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, works to galvanize global support around this very objective. Hunger and malnutrition is prevalent around the world and climate change will likely cause hunger to increase. The current organizations are not sufficient enough to eliminate hunger and malnutrition even as it stands today, without increase due to climate change. 18 HUNGER IS A MAJOR PROBLEM AND ITS CAUSES ARE NOT GOING AWAY FREEDOM FROM HUNGER, 2015 https://www.freedomfromhunger.org/world-hunger-facts Among this group of poor people, many have problems obtaining adequate, nutritious food for themselves and their families. As a result, 1.02 billion people in the developing world are undernourished. They consume less than the minimum amount of calories essential for sound health and growth.4 Undernourishment negatively affects people’s health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well- being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation.5 Economically, the effort of constantly securing food consumes valuable time and energy, allowing poor people less time for work and earning income.4 Pregnant women and new mothers who breastfeed infants and children are among the most at risk of undernourishment.4 What Causes Chronic Hunger? Chronic hunger affects more than 925 million people in the world and is, in and of itself, a potentially deadly condition. You may be surprised to learn that it has little to do with food shortages. Global supplies of food far outstrip demand. Far more people die from causes related to chronic hunger than to famine. Chronically hungry people are exceptionally vulnerable when famine strikes. They have fewer resources to protect themselves and their families and are already living on the margin of survival. Five things contribute to most of the world's hunger1: Poverty: Poor people do not have the resources—whether land, tools or money— needed to grow or buy food on a consistent basis. Armed Conflict: War disrupts agricultural production, and governments often spend more on arms than on social programs. Environmental Overload: Over-consumption by wealthy nations and rapid population growth in poor nations strain natural resources and make it harder for poor people to feed themselves. Discrimination: Lack of access to education, credit and employment—a recipe for hunger—is often the result of racial, gender or ethnic discrimination. Lack of Clout: In the final analysis, chronic hunger is caused by powerlessness. People who don't have power to protect their own interests are hungry. The burden of this condition falls most acutely on children, women and elderly people. No matter how much work is done to eliminate global malnutrition, the causes that contribute most are not about to disappear. Poverty, war, environmental overload, discrimination, and powerlessness are continual problems that will not vanish in the next couple years. THERE IS STILL CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS NEEDED IN REDUCING HUNGER State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, UN, 2014 http://www.fao.org/3/a- i4037e.pdf Despite this overall progress in developing countries as a whole, there is still considerable room to reduce undernourishment and improve food security. SOFI 2014 shows that advances in reducing global malnutrition require political commitment expressed through appropriate policies, programmes, legal frameworks and sufficient resources. SOFI 2014 highlights examples of successful national efforts to reduce hunger, but also identifies factors that can act as bottlenecks to progress. Global progress in hunger reduction mainly reflects achievements made in the countries that have already met the MDG 1c target of halving the proportion of undernourished people by 2015; of these 63 countries (out of a total of 136 countries and territories monitored by FAO), 25 have already met the more ambitious World Food Summit (WFS) goal of halving the number of undernourished people between 1990 and 2015. Regional efforts to reduce hunger are gaining traction, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. In July 2014, at the African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, African Heads of State committed to end hunger on the continent by 2025. Last year, at the first summit of the Community of Latin America and the Caribbean States (CELAC), Heads of State and Government endorsed the 2025 zero hunger target by reaffirming a regional commitment to the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative to end hunger by 2025, 19 launched in 2005. Together, these two regions include nearly 90 states and over 1.5 billion people. This commitment sends a powerful message to their citizens and to the rest of the world. The decision of the Latin American and Caribbean Community to end hunger by 2025 underpins the national and regional action to promote food security that has resulted in the achievement for the region as a whole of the First Millennium Development Goal hunger target. In addition, Latin America has also met the World Food Summit target. The African commitment to end hunger by 2025 also acts on this principle and strengthens the ongoing efforts within the framework of the Africa-led Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The commitment made at Malabo also builds on the region´s decision to increase South-South Cooperation efforts within Africa, as signalled by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund for Food Security established in 2013. FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva welcomed the increased commitment and action to promote sustainable food security and the fact that many countries and regions are responding to the Zero Hunger Challenge: “Political commitment of governments is increasingly being translated into comprehensive and effective action, with strengthened engagement of non- state actors. Timor-Leste recently launched its national Zero Hunger Challenge. India has recently approved its National Food Security Act scales up the country’s effort to end hunger, could create one the world’s biggest family farming food purchase programme and is scaling up financial inclusion for direct transfers.Regional efforts are also giving important support to national action to bring the goal of achieving food security in our lifetime closer to reality. Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean are examples of this The African commitment to end hunger by 2025 also acts on this principle and strengthens the ongoing efforts within the framework of the Africa-led Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The commitment made at Malabo also builds on the region´s decision to increase South-South Cooperation efforts within Africa, as signalled by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund for Food Security established in 2013. FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva welcomed the increased commitment and action to promote sustainable food security and the fact that many countries and regions are responding to the Zero Hunger Challenge: “Political commitment of governments is increasingly being translated into comprehensive and effective action, with strengthened engagement of non- state actors. Timor-Leste recently launched its national Zero Hunger Challenge. India has recently approved its National Food Security Act scales up the country’s effort to end hunger, could create one the world’s biggest family farming food purchase programme and is scaling up financial inclusion for direct transfers.Regional efforts are also giving important support to national action to bring the goal of achieving food security in our lifetime closer to reality. Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean are examples of this Despite overall progress in developing countries as a whole, large differences remain across regions. In general, Africa is making slow progress in achieving international hunger targets, with the sub-Saharan region especially lagging behind global trends. The region has been afflicted by conflict and natural disasters, and one in four people remain undernourished in sub-Saharan Africa – the highest prevalence of all the regions. The most populous region in the world, Asia, has reduced the number of hungry people by 217 million since 1990-92. The three countries that have made the most progress reducing the absolute number of undernourished people are in Asia: there are 138 million fewer hungry people in China, while there are 20 million fewer hungry people in India and in Viet Nam today, as compared to 1990-92. However, Asia is still home to two-thirds of the world’s hungry people: in the region as a whole, 526 million people remain undernourished. Western Asia saw the number of undernourished people increase by 10.5 million since 1990-92, from 6.3 to 8.7 percent. In Southern Asia, 276 million people were chronically undernourished in 2012– 14, only marginally fewer than the number in 1990–92. Much more rapid progress has been achieved in Eastern Asia and in South-Eastern Asia. In fact, South-Eastern Asia has already met the WFS hunger target. Even in a report intended to report positive progress, hunger is acknowledged as a persistent problem. Therefore, significant policy action beyond the status quo will be required to remedy global malnutrition. THE UNITED STATES STILL HAS MANY HUNGRY, AND NOT MANY ARE AIDED BY THE CURRENT PROGRAMS NO KID HUNGRY, 2011, http://www.nokidhungry.org/sites/default/files/2011-childhood-hunger-facts.pdf All data refer to the year 2010. They are collected in 2010, and reported in September 2011. 48.8 million Americans—including 16.2 million children—lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis. They live in food- insecure households and as a result, they struggle with hunger at some time during the year. Food-insecure families Food insecurity—the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food—exists in 17.2 million households in America, 3.9 million of them with children. Rates of food insecurity are substantially higher than the national average among households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line, among households with children headed by single parents (35.1% of children living in a single-mom household are food-insecure), and among Black and Hispanic households. Food insecurity is most common in large cities but still exists in rural areas suburbs and other outlying areas around large cities. − 25 % of children living in large cities are food insecure The typical (median) food-secure household spends 27 percent more for food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and composition. 57% of food-insecure households report that in the previous month they had participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs: SNAP (food stamps), School Lunch and WIC. The full USDA report, Household Food Security 20 in the United States, 2010, including state food insecurity data, is available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/err125/ Children struggling with hunger (i.e. children living in food-insecure households) More than 16 million children (nearly one in five children in America) struggle with hunger. They live in families that lack the means to regularly put enough nutritious food on the table for everyone to live healthy, active lives. They are considered “food-insecure.” The USA has several programs devoted to lessening hunger. However, millions remain hungry even with the current programs in place. Clearly, the current programs are not enough to end hunger soon enough for it not to be a current topic in the 2016-17 scholastic year. 21 Scope This resolution has a substantially large scope, considering how many people are affected each day by hunger related issues. The 2014 UN Food and Agriculture report, “ The State of Food Insecurity in the World” notes that the biggest issues are with developing countries. The numbers do not lie: 526 million in Asia and the Pacific, 227 million in Africa, 37 Million in Latin America and the Caribbean and 15 million in developed countries are hungry and malnourished. Debaters will have many options for case areas to look into with hunger being such a significant issue worldwide. AFRICA REMAINS BEHIND IN GLOBAL HUNGER TRENDS UN FAO 2014 UN Food and Agriculture report, “ The State of Food Insecurity in the world” http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4037e.pdf Despite overall progress in developing countries as a whole, large differences remain across regions. In general, Africa is making slow progress in achieving international hunger targets, with the sub-Saharan region especially lagging behind global trends. The region has been afflicted by conflict and natural disasters, and one in four people remain undernourished in sub-Saharan Africa – the highest prevalence of all the regions. HUNGER IS AN ISSUE IN ASIA UN FAO 2014 UN Food and Agriculture report, “ The State of Food Insecurity in the world” http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4037e.pdf The most populous region in the world, Asia, has reduced the number of hungry people by 217 million since 1990-92. The three countries that have made the most progress reducing the absolute number of undernourished people are in Asia: there are 138 million fewer hungry people in China, while there are 20 million fewer hungry people in India and in Viet Nam today, as compared to 1990-92. However, Asia is still home to two-thirds of the world’s hungry people: in the region as a whole, 526 million people remain undernourished. Western Asia saw the number of undernourished people increase by 10.5 million since 1990-92, from 6.3 to 8.7 percent. In Southern Asia, 276 million people were chronically undernourished in 2012–14, only marginally fewer than the number in 1990–92. Much more rapid progress has been achieved in Eastern Asia and in South-Eastern Asia. In fact, South-Eastern Asia has already met the WFS hunger target. LATIN AMERICA IS A “POLICY LABORATORY”IN FIGHTING HUNGER, BUT MANY ARE STILL HUNGRY January 2013 Wainer, Andrew- Immigration Policy Analyst at Bread for the World Institute “Hunger and Development in Latin America http://notes.bread.org/2013/03/hunger-and-development-in-latin-america.html "There can be no sustainable development in the world while millions of people go hungry." FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, January 2013, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States-EU Summit This summit, which included representatives of about 60 nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the European Union, focused on food security as a key component of sustainable development. In the past decade, Latin America has been a leader in both rhetoric and action to make reducing hunger and poverty a top priority.Graziano pointed 22 out that Latin America was one of the first regions to take on the challenge of eradicating hunger, launching the Hunger Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative in 2005. Latin America has been a “policy laboratory” whose anti-poverty and -hunger campaigns include Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) in Brazil as well as the Crusade Against Hunger in Mexico, launched in January 2013. The political commitment of the past decade has been accompanied by significant progress against hunger and poverty in many countries in the region. Governments have harnessed strong economic growth to support anti-poverty and hunger reduction programs that combine market-based economic growth with an emphasis on addressing social problems and inequality. Brazil has been the most visible example of using strong economic growth to address social problems; its combination of growth and social spending has helped lift tens of millions of people out of poverty over the past decade. Hunger has also been reduced in the region as a whole over the past two decades. In 1990-1992, 14.6 percent of the population, or 65 million people, were hungry, while by 2010-2012, 8.3 percent, or 49 million people, were hungry. Graziano said that in Latin America, as a middle-income region, hunger is fundamentally a lack of access to food, not the availability of food. "Latin America and the Caribbean, with a population of 600 million people, produce enough food to feed 750 million people. However, 49 million of the current population still suffers hunger," he said. As in other regions, women and children in Latin America suffer from poverty and hunger more than men. For example, in Colombia, there are 110 women ages 20 to 59 in poor rural households for every 100 men. In Chile 114 women live in such households for every 100 men. Despite the progress in Latin America, hunger, poverty, and lack of economic opportunity still push people to look for work in the United States. Historically, a large majority of immigrants to the United States have been men seeking economic opportunity to support their families at home. But today more Latin American immigrants than ever are female – 51 percent – since women, too, often need to support children who remain in their home countries. 23 Solvency UN PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN BENEFICIAL IN SOLVING FOR HUNGER Lederer, Edith M. "UN Says Hunger in Africa Can Be Eradicated by 2025 with Help of Leaders." CTVNews. The Associated Press, 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 June 2015. Eradicating hunger in Africa by 2025 is achievable -- if Africa's leaders champion it and promote improved crop production and healthy eating, the head of the U.N. food and agriculture agency said Friday.Jose Graziano da Silva went even further in an interview with The Associated Press, saying the Food and Agriculture Organization believes that hunger can be eradicated around the globe "in a generation -- in our lifetime" if there is a political commitment by world leaders to ensure that all their citizens get access to nutritious food."We are not talking about sending a man to the moon or something that complicated," he said. "We have the technology. We have the expertise. We have the things that we need to do it." Graziano said the World Food Programme looked at how the 62 countries that have achieved the first U.N. Millennium Development Goal -- reducing extreme poverty by half -- did it before the target date of the end of 2015, and it found three key factors.First, he said, was "political will" and leadership, because improving food security involves improvements not only in agriculture but in nutrition, health, water supplies and storage facilities, to name a few."If the president doesn't take the lead, or the prime minister ... it doesn't work," he said.Second, Graziano said, is improving agricultural performance and access to food."According to FAO, we have more than enough food produced nowadays to avoid hunger," he said. "People are hungry today because they don't have access to food ... because they cannot pay for the food or they cannot produce it any more as we did in the past."One problem is that one-third to one-half of the food produced today is lost or wasted for a variety of reasons including bad storage, poor transportation and cultural issues, including the move from traditional cuisine to fast food, he said. A lot of food that could be consumed is thrown out, often because of huge portions.Third, Graziano said, is improving the nutritional value of the food people eat."We are seeing more and more malnutrition rise in developed countries ... because of the quality of what (people) are eating," he said.When children are listed by income, for example, "you see in families with the lowest income a proportion of obese and malnourished (youngsters) similar to the families that have high level income," he said.Graziano said the FAO is promoting the best practices collected from around the world to eradicate hunger, especially in Africa, "where we have the worst situation at the moment." He expressed hope that an African Union summit in January will set a target to eradicate hunger in Africa by 2025."All countries in Africa can do it ... with the proper assistance FAO is giving them," he said.For example, the FAO in early 2012 declared a famine in Somalia, but Graziano said "we have been able to pull Somalia out of famine in six months" with improvements in agriculture and livestock raising and a cash-for-work program aimed primarily at women because they provide food for the family. This program was based on the FAO's experience in Brazil, Vietnam and other countries, he said.Graziano was in New York to launch the "International Year of Family Farming" in 2014.There are almost 500,000 family farms, mostly in Africa where 95 per cent of farmers are small or subsistence farmers, many of whom don't produce enough to eat, he said.Graziano said the FAO is promoting family farms because they are "the most efficient" when it comes to using land and water resources and because the agency wants to 24 promote local production and local use of food, which avoids increasingly high transportation costs.Graziano is also still promoting this year's International Year of Quinoa -- "the unique cereal that has all the proteins and amino acids that the human being needs" and requires 100 per cent less water than any other cereal. That makes it perfect for dry areas, and it can be cultivated at any altitude. The FAO achieved its goal of introducing quinoa in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, where countries are testing different varieties, as well as in Yemen, he said. "It takes one or two years of testing and choosing the best one," Graziano said, "but after that ... the wind helps a lot because it spreads the seeds all around -- you don't need to pay Monsanto for the seeds! So it will be really amazing to see the Sahel and many drought areas of the world cultivated with quinoa in the future, and we are working on that." UN IS A KEY PLAYER IN PROMOTING PROGRAMS TO REDUCE MALNUTRTION AND HUNGER "United Nations Millennium Development Goals." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 29 June 2015. The United Nations Secretary General gives top priority to the elimination of hunger. This requires comprehensive efforts to ensure that every man, woman and child enjoy their Right to Adequate Food; women are empowered; priority is given to family farming; and food systems everywhere are sustainable and resilient. The challenge of Zero Hunger means: • Zero stunted children less than 2 years • 100% access to adequate food all year round • All food systems are sustainable • 100% increase in smallholder productivity and income • Zero loss or waste of food Eliminating hunger involves investments in agriculture, rural development, decent work, social protection and equality of opportunity. It will make a major contribution to peace and stability and to the reduction of poverty. It will contribute to better nutrition for all – especially women from the beginning of pregnancy and children under the age of two. The UN Secretary General encourages all partners to scale up their efforts and turn the vision of an end to hunger into a reality. He appreciates the bold leadership by many from government, civil society, business, labour unions, consumer groups and the scientific community. They succeed through working together. They encourage participation by a range of organizations, social movements and people around a common vision. They promote effective strategies, more investments and increased development cooperation, in line with existing national and international agreements. 25 They strive for results and are accountable for their efforts – particularly to those who are hungry. "Our world has enough food to feed every man, woman and child. Yet 870 million people – one of every eight members of the human family – go hungry. People across the world share my outrage and are taking up the challenge to end hunger in our lifetime.” United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon 870 million (1 in 8) people hungry 165 million malnourished children At least 20 countries talking about Zero Hunger 23 High Level Task Force Agencies aligned with the Zero Hunger Challenge Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes. We are already seeing progress taken in that direction. Since the Zero Hunger Challenge was launched by the Secretary‐ General at the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference in June 2012, governments, NGOs, private sector companies, religious leaders, and citizens around the world have taken up the call. Underlining the fact that strong political leadership and the right policies can produce dramatic reductions in levels of hunger and malnutrition, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced in June that 38 countries have already halved either number or percentage of their population who is hungry before the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. Achieving MDG1 is the first step towards zero hunger. “When it comes to hunger, the only acceptable number is zero.” FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva Programmes in line with the Zero Hunger Challenge are taking shape or being discussed in some 20 countries around the world, as governments set their own goals and work out plans with UN agencies and other partners. Regional multistakeholder programmes, including the HungerFree Initiative for West Africa, La Iniciativa América Latina y Caribe sin Hambre, and the Zero Hunger Challenge for Asia & the Pacific, bring global actors together to create operational programming. From monetary commitments from governments, civil society and the private sector, including over US $25 billion at the “Nutrition for Growth” event in London, to political commitments by parliamentarians, the African Union, London and Mexico City, the world is coming together to form effective partnerships for the eradication of hunger. NOW is the time to take up the Challenge Political and societal to eliminating hunger is higher than ever. The moment for leaders from government, business, and civil society to come together is 26 now. Successful partnering involves working together in support of national authorities – examples include the Movement for Scaling Up Nutrition, with 41 countries and hundreds of organizations and agencies working to end child malnutrition, and the “Think. Eat. Save” initiative which aims to reduce food waste and loss. Countries are driving the response, with bold commitments from their political leaders, and continuous sharing of experiences. Political and thought leaders are exchanging proposals for accelerating the achievement, in 2015, of the MDG hunger reduction target. Together we can build the world the future we want – a future with Zero Hunger. UN HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF HELPING THOSE WHO ARE HUNGRY AND MALNOURISHED "World Food Programme." Preventing Hunger. World Food Programme, n.d. Web. 29 June 2015. WFP's post-emergency and development operations are built around projects focused on preventing hunger taking hold in the future and breaking the cycle of hunger which is at its root.WFP's innovative projects allow the weak and poor to stop worrying about their next meal and build a sustainable future for themselves, their families and their communities. Here are some of the ways in which we work to prevent hunger in the future: School meals-As well as directly addressing hunger, school meal projects encourage families to keep their children in school and so help them build better futures. If children are not hungry they will also concentrate better on their lessons. With a solid education growing children have a better chance of finding their own way out of hunger. These projects benefit girls especially. 27 Food for Assets-WFP's Food for Assets projects pay the hungry with food to lay the foundations for a better tomorrow. When poor farmers no longer have to worry about the next meal, they have the time and energy to build irrigation systems that can boost production. Similarly, Food for Training projects allow the poor to devote time to learning skills that will sustain them economically in future HIV/AIDS-WFP uses its food rations to soften the blow of HIV and AIDS. The agency distributes its rations to people living with HIV and AIDS, so they can keep providing for their families for longer and have time to transfer vital knowledge and skills to the growing number of AIDS orphans - the next generation of food providers in developing countries. Purchase for Progress (P4P)-WFP already buys large amounts of food in developing countries. P4P harnesses this purchasing power and uses it to help poor farmers connect to reliable markets where they can get competitive prices for their produce. With secure markets, farmers will be encouraged to produce more and innovate. The knock-on effect is more food security for everyone. Focus on Women-WFP has long believed that women are the first and fastest solution to reducing hunger and poverty. In both its emergency and development projects, WFP has a special commitment to helping women gain equal access to life's basic necessity. US INITIATIVES SUCH AS FEED THE FUTURE HAVE HAD EARLY SUCCESS USAID, April 13, 2015, http://www.usaid.gov/sustaining-ftf-progress For generations, the United States has been a leader in providing development assistance across the globe to alleviate suffering and build shared progress and prosperity. But global food price spikes and resulting instability in 2007 and 2008 were a wake-up call: More needed to be done to break the vicious cycle of hunger and poverty. The answer: Unlock the potential of agriculture as the key to reducing hunger, extreme poverty, and malnutrition through a movement that became Feed the Future. Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, has pioneered a comprehensive approach to ending global hunger that draws on partnerships across sectors, country leadership, and a focus on achieving results. With an emphasis on supporting smallholder farmers to strengthen global food security and nutrition, Feed the Future is building on early success to drive real change at a large scale. The momentum to achieve the long-term vision of Feed the Future – a world where the scourge of hunger, poverty, and malnutrition no longer threaten the peace and prosperity of millions – is strong. U.S. leadership and bipartisan commitment have been integral to driving the progress that Feed the Future has made in just a few years. The ongoing Ebola crisis emphasizes the urgent need to secure progress toward eliminating extreme poverty and chronic hunger, 28 which are key drivers of such crises. Poverty can allow a single case to become an outbreak and turn an outbreak into an epidemic. Long-term food security, which the U.S. Government supports through Feed the Future, is essential to combating poverty in developing countries. It helps provide for long-term stability and security and serves to mitigate the impacts of future crises. An Urgent Need Food, fuel and financial turmoil in 2007 and 2008 pushed millions of people around the world back to the precipice of poverty. Food prices hit all-time highs, sending prices for basic staples like rice and wheat beyond the reach of the world’s most vulnerable people. The resulting spike in food insecurity worldwide and its destabilizing effects served as a wake-up call to policy makers about the depth of the problem. More needed to be done to address not just the symptoms of food insecurity, but the root causes to break the cycle of poverty, hunger and crisis. Investing in agriculture was integral. Under the Bush Administration, the United States allocated resources for a near and longer-term response to the food price crisis focused on boosting agricultural productivity, strengthening supply chains, and promoting sound market-based principles for agriculture sector development and regional trade. This approach built on ongoing efforts by African leaders to invest in and revitalize agriculture as a proven means for pulling people out of poverty. Early success provided a near-term boost to agricultural productivity in West Africa and increased food availability. What began on a modest scale in several countries through the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa provided the foundation for a more comprehensive, global response to address the underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition. Following the food price crisis, the United States mobilized a movement that is increasing investments in agriculture and approaching implementation of these resources in a new way: One that coordinates efforts across donors and sectors, supports country-owned plans for improving food security and nutrition, and is highly accountable for achieving results. Through Feed the Future, the U.S. Government contributes to this global effort, working hand in hand with partner countries to develop their agriculture sectors and improve global food security. Putting “whole-of-government” into practice, Feed the Future draws on the agricultural, trade, investment, science, development, and policy resources and expertise of departments and agencies across the U.S. Government. In just a few years, this U.S. Government initiative is already delivering results that are helping reduce poverty and hunger while also improving nutrition for millions of children and families around the world. More Results: U.S. Government Initiative Reduces Hunger and Poverty for Millions “In the past, we thought our job was done when we taught a farmer how to plant a new crop. Today, our job isn’t done until we also help her – and her neighbor – learn how to run a successful business. We don’t want our impact to stop at just one family, business or community. We want communities around the world to see real change at a large scale.” Sustaining Progress In March 2015, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), along with 11 other co-sponsors including House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), introduced H.R. 1567, the Global Food Security Act of 2015. The legislation would authorize and codify international food security programs and is similar to the bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last Congress. The legislation would codify the U.S. Government’s commitment to the productivity, incomes and livelihoods of small-scale producers, particularly women, by working across agricultural value chains and expanding farmers’ access to local and international markets. It would strengthen the Feed the Future initiative’s existing accountability mechanisms and establish parameters for robust Congressional oversight, monitoring and evaluation of impact toward this commitment. What Has Feed the Future Achieved? As the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future has been led by USAID since 2010 in concert with 10 other federal departments and agencies. We have built a broad network of stakeholders to advance global food security and nutrition through agriculture-led development as a means for sustainable, broad-based economic growth that reduces extreme poverty. Feed the Future is the signature U.S. Government initiative contributing to this global effort. There is broad bipartisan support for sustaining Feed the Future due in large part to tremendous gains made over the past few years. 29 WAYS FEED THE FUTURE HAS HELPED SOLVE HUNGER/MALNUTRITION Ramundo, Kelly, May 19th, 2014, http://blog.usaid.gov/2014/05/10-ways-america-is- helping-feed-the-world/ In this environment, President Obama was determined to reverse course and give millions of people a pathway out of extreme poverty. In his first inaugural address, the president outlined his vision of a world without hunger. “To the people of poor nations,” he said, “we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean water flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.” His remarks marked the beginning of renewed global attention that brought poverty, hunger and undernutrition back to the top of the international agenda. As one of his first foreign policy acts, President Obama launched Feed the Future. Its aim: to strengthen food security and nutrition for millions of people by focusing on the smallholder farmers at the foundation of the world’s agriculture system. This week, Feed the Future marks four years of progress and has just released a report on its impact to date. In the spirit of this progress, here are some of the ways that Feed the Future is helping grow a more prosperous future for the 842 million people who will still go to sleep hungry tonight. 1. By Empowering Farmers Farmers working small plots of land are the backbone of the world’s agricultural system, but often struggle to feed their own families. In the past year alone, Feed the Future has helped nearly 7 million farmers and food producers use new technologies and management practices on more than 4 million hectares, or over 15,000 square miles, of land to boost their harvests. 2. By Helping Families Nourish their Children Poor nutrition is a stealthy killer and the underlying cause of one out of every three deaths of young children in developing countries. Conversely, good nutrition in the 1,000-day window from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday lays the foundation for health, development, and even prosperity for the next generation. In 2013, Feed the Future, in collaboration with the Global Health Initiative, reached more than 12.5 million children with nutrition interventions that can help ensure a stronger and more successful future. Feed the Future also supported nearly 91,000 women farmers in homestead gardening, improving access to nutritious foods and increasing income for women and children. 3. By Encouraging Banks to Loan to “Risky” Borrowers The ability to borrow money is what allows farm families to make the investments needed to grow more for their families and communities. Working with Feed the Future, local banks are using innovative finance mechanisms to lend to more smallholders, often considered too “risky” by banks. Last year in Senegal alone, more than 17,000 farmers and small entrepreneurs benefited from nearly $20 million in rural loans and grants which helped them access better seeds and modern equipment, as well as weather-indexed crop insurance, and helped negotiate favorable contracts with commercial mills. The results? Farmers’ profits for rice rose by 56 percent and for maize by 173 percent between 2012 and 2013. 4. By Involving the Private Sector in the Fight Against Global Hunger A food-secure world will not become a reality without a combination of public and private sector investment. Last year, Feed the Future assistance created 1,175 public-private partnerships, up from 660 the previous year—8 out of 10 involved local small and medium-sized firms. That same year, U.S. Government investments also leveraged more than $160 million in private sector investment, a 40 percent increase from 2012. These alliances foster growth in emerging markets by commercializing new technologies; helping to create policy environments that enable even greater growth; increasing opportunities for investment, finance and risk mitigation; and improving market access and trade. 5. By Promoting Responsible Investment It’s not enough to just encourage investments that “do no harm.” The U.S. Government works to ensure that the countries we partner with to improve food security adhere to specific policy measures so that the investments benefit women and smallholder farmers as well as investors. 6. By Helping Farmers Become Entrepreneurs Feed the Future reflects a new model for development—one that emphasizes partnership, linkages and access to tools, technologies and the global economy. Whereas in the past, success meant helping farmers grow more crops, success today means also helping them learn how to be entrepreneurs. 7. By Reforming Food Aid to Save More Lives In addition to Feed the Future, in 2014, President Obama proposed changing our largest international food assistance program to allow more flexible, efficient and effective food aid through the purchase of local commodities and the provision of cash vouchers. The goal was to enable the United States to reach 4 million more people in crisis, with the same resources, and speed response time to emergencies. 30 Combined with other legislation, reforms in the 2014 Farm Bill now mean USAID can reach an additional 800,000 chronically food- insecure people with no extra funds. The 2015 Budget seeks additional reforms for emergency food aid that would allow around 2 million more people in crises to be helped without additional resources. 8. By Involving U.S. Students and Universities in the Fight against Global Hunger The United States boasts some of the world’s cutting-edge agricultural research facilities. Feed the Future fosters strong partnerships with both U.S. and international agricultural research institutions, such as the University of California, Davis; Virginia Tech and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to, for example, help develop new strains of cowpea that can fend off common pests and to help India control the papaya mealybug pest that was decimating its horticulture sector. So far, 23 Feed the Future Innovation Labs made up of 70 of the United States’ top academic research institutions have been created. 9. By Sending Some of our Best and Brightest Abroad The Peace Corps has a long history of being on the front lines of the U.S. fight to end global poverty. Partnering with USAID as part of the Feed the Future initiative, the Peace Corps has fielded more than 1,200 Peace Corps Volunteers in countries overseas to help people make sustainable changes in how they cultivate their food, address water shortages and feed their families. 10. By Helping Farmers Weather the Weather Maize is the major staple and an important cash crop for farmers in East and Southern Africa, but it is threatened by climate change. U.S. Government-supported projects have contributed to the release of 140 drought-tolerant maize varieties in 13 countries since 2006. Building on this work, Feed the Future strengthens public and private sector seed systems to ensure that new varieties can reach smallholders at scale. In 2013 as a result of U.S. Government investments, farmers planted more than 28,000 hectares, or nearly 90 square miles, of land with improved high-yielding varieties across the key maize-producing countries of Tanzania, Ghana and Kenya. Balance AFF Cases The following is a list of potential case areas with an explanation and some examples for each area. Not all areas may be applicable to all resolutions. Also many cases address the causes of malnutrition rather than directly addressing malnutrition. ● Vitamin Deficiency-One of the major problems related to global malnutrition is vitamin deficiency. There are many ways to solve vitamin deficiency ranging from completely solving hunger to developing new cheaper genetically modified foods. a. Bugs b. GMO Rice c. GMO Bananas d. Vitamin Distribution e. Infant and Prenatal nutrition f. Palm Weevils ● Food Sources/Technology-One suggested way to solve for hunger, and thus malnutrition, is to develop more sources or cheaper methods of gathering food. The basic idea is that more food means less hunger. a. Aquaculture b. Vertical Farming c. Unconventional Food Sources (Bug Meat, Jellyfish, Seaweed, etc) d. Breadfruit e. Hydroponics f. Urban Farming g. Improve crop yields h. Agroecology i. Improve farming tech/availability of tech 31 ● Money-Many problems (including hunger) can be solved with the addition of more money or money related incentives. Also many organizations devote themselves to ending hunger, so especially for novice debaters, simpler cases could just be to pick an organization to fund. a. Help assorted organizations b. Local business giveaways c. Subsidize low income farmers d. Tax Breaks for donations alleviating hunger e. Microloans f. Gramin Banks ● Education-Education is a major part of quality of life, and schools have had a large impact on hunger in more developed countries through school lunches and acting as a distribution center. Expanding education means expanding that infrastructure. a. Encourage education b. School lunches ● Addressing Poverty/Standard of living-Most organizations agree that the root cause of hunger is poverty and unstable environments. Although these cases would straddle the line of FX topicality, they allow for a wide variety of substantive debate, especially among older debaters. a. Encourage job creation b. Improve Education c. Empower Women d. Raise Minimum Wage/International Minimum Wage e. Increase spread of basic sanitary and medical care f. Refrigeration g. Encourage stability ● Prioritization-Solving hunger could also be done by ensuring quality land for agricultural purposes, or by improving current land usage. These cases would require research on current land use as well as research on malnutrition. a. Land usage b. Limit speculators c. Local farmers d. Agroecology ● Promotional Campaigns-In these cases students could argue about changing people’s mindsets through promotional campaigns. In these cases, simple changes in the lifestyle of large groups of people could have a large effect on lessening global malnutrition. a. Shift Crop Production from Biofuels to Food b. Vegetarianism/Veganism c. Reduce Beef Consumption d. Limit desertification e. Help farmers organize f. Agroecology ● Redistribute food/Change current distribution system-Most organizations agree that plenty of food exists, but skewed distribution causes the majority of global 32 malnutrition. While reasonable plans for this area may be difficult to write, the result would be a completely topical plan that solves global malnutrition. a. Food drops b. Localizing food production NEG Ideas The following arguments could be run on just about any affirmative case: ● Capitalism Kritik ● Funding Tradeoff Disadvantage ● Non-Inherent-Malnourishment is simply a symptom of hunger/food insecurity ● Solving hunger is bad ○ social structure/destabilization ○ environmental concerns ○ overpopulation (quasi-Malthusian Theory) ● Solvency: Local forces prevent ● US Agriculture Economy DA ● The US Model of agriculture is bad/Spreading said model is bad ● Pesticide arguments ● Globalism Kritik The following is a chart describing potential negative arguments depending on the resolution and the case area. An explanation will follow. Topic Area w/ UN actor w/ US actor w/ WFP Vitamin ● S-Doesn’t solve ● S-International ● S-Doesn’t solve Deficiency distribution problem distribution ● DA-politics ● DA-politics ● Vitamins are ● S-UN=unsuccessful ● CP- not calories ● CP-Actor NGO/International ● Doesn’t ● Vitamins are not actor completely Calories ● S-Doesn’t solve solve ● Doesn’t completely distribution malnutrition, solve malnutrition, ● K-Imperialism ex.protein ex. protein ● Vitamins are not deficiency deficiency calories ● GMOs bad ● GMOs bad ● Doesn’t completely ● Environmental ● Environmental K solve malnutrition, K ● Monoculture is bad ex.protein ● Monoculture is deficiency bad ● GMOs bad ● Environmental K ● Monoculture is bad 33 Food ● S-Enough food ● S-International ● S-Enough food Sources/Tech worldwide, more problem worldwide, food/tech is not the ● S-Enough food more food/tech same as better worldwide, more is not the same distribution food/tech is not the as better ● S-Expensive same as better distribution ● Bad for distribution ● S-Expensive environment ● DA-politics ● Bad for ● DA-politics ● CP- environment ● S-UN=unsuccessful NGO/International ● No current ● CP-Actor actor section of the ● Taste preferences, ● S-Expensive WFP does it dissatisfaction, civil ● Bad for ● Taste unrest environment preferences, ● Environmental K ● Taste preferences, dissatisfaction, ● Monoculture is bad dissatisfaction, civil civil unrest unrest ● Environmental ● K-Imperialism K ● Environmental K ● Monoculture is ● Monoculture is bad bad Money ● Not the UN’s ● S-International ● the WFP jurisdiction problem doesn’t have the ● DA-politics ● DA-politics power ● S-UN=unsuccessful ● CP- ● CP-Private ● CP-Actor NGO/International donorship ● CP-Private actor ● Environmental donorship ● Not the US’s K ● Environmental K jurisdiction ● K-Imperialism ● CP-Private Donorship ● Environmental K Education ● DA-politics ● S-International ● Environmental ● S-UN=unsuccessful Problem K ● CP-Actor ● DA-politics ● Monoculture is ● Environmental K ● CP- bad ● Monoculture is bad NGO/International ● Western forms ● Western styles of actor of education are education is bad ● K-Imperialism bad ● Environmental K ● Monoculture is bad ● Western styles of education is bad 34 Poverty/ ● DA-politics ● S-International ● Not part of Standard of ● S-UN=unsuccessful Problem WFP living ● CP-Actor ● DA-politics ● Environmental ● Environmental K ● CP- K NGO/International actor ● K-Imperialism ● Environmental K Prioritization ● Destroys free ● S-International ● Destroys free of resources markets Problem markets ● DA-Politics ● Destroys free ● Not part of ● S-UN=unsuccessful markets WFP ● CP-Actor ● DA-politics ● Environmental ● Environmental K ● CP- K NGO/International actor ● K-Imperialism ● Environmental K Promotional ● K-Ad campaigns are ● S-International ● K-Ad Campaigns evil Problem Campaigns are ● DA-Politics ● K-Ad campaigns evil ● S-UN=unsuccessful are evil ● Environmental ● CP-Actor ● DA-politics K ● Environmental K ● CP- NGO/International actor ● K-Imperialism ● Environmental K Distribution of ● Consult Amazon CP ● S-International ● Consult food ● DA-Politics Problem Amazon CP ● S-UN=unsuccessful ● Consult Amazon ● Environmental ● CP-Actor CP K ● Environmental K ● DA-politics ● Monoculture is ● Monoculture is bad ● CP- bad NGO/International actor ● K-Imperialism ● Environmental K ● Monoculture is bad Arguments that can be run depending on the actor(s): ● The UN ○ The UN is inefficient ○ The UN has no real power ○ Actor Counterplan- USFG/China/India/Private Corporation 35 ○ politics Disadvantage depending on whatever international crisis arises in 2016 ○ Eurocentrism Kritik ○ Environmental K ● The United States Federal Government ○ global malnutrition is an international problem ○ global malnutrition occurs mainly in Asia and Africa ○ politics Disadvantage ○ International Actor/Privatization/Charity counterplan ○ Imperialism Kritik ○ Environmental K ● The World Food Programme ○ Not within WFP Jurisdiction ○ The WFP is ineffective, (past performance demonstrates) Arguments that can be run depending on the case area: ● Vitamin Deficiency a. It doesn’t solve for the distribution b. Solving for vitamin deficiency means that while people might receive enough nutrients they might still not receive enough food c. Doesn’t solve all forms of malnutrition- ex. protein deficiency d. GMOs are bad e. Environmental K f. Monoculture is bad ● Food Sources/Technology a. There is enough food worldwide, more food or technology will not solve for the hungry because of unequal distribution b. Development of new sources or technology will be expensive c. New sources or technology may be bad for the environment d. Taste preferences leads to dissatisfaction-leads to civil unrest-leads to nuclear war e. Monoculture is bad f. Environmental K ● Money a. Counterplan-Private donorship b. Solvency-Throwing money at a problem doesn’t necessarily indicate a solution will be found c. Inefficiency d. Environmental K ● Education a. Inability to reach some of the most unstable areas meaning inability to solve global malnutrition b. Environmental K ● Addressing Poverty/Standard of living a. Doesn’t solve for hunger caused by war b. Environmental concerns c. Environmental K 36 ● Prioritization a. Destroys free markets b. Environmental K ● Promotional Campaigns a. Kritik-Ad campaigns are telling people what to think b. Campaigns don’t have a significant enough impact c. Environmental K ● Redistribute food/Change current distribution system a. Counterplan-Consult Amazon for their distribution system b. Free trade c. Environmental K d. Monoculture is bad Fundamental Negative Clash An important element for substantive debate is that a true ideological clash exist between the affirmative and negative sides as a matter of principle in round. Otherwise, one team will always be at a significant advantage since they have to essentially concede that the other team is correct in their fundamental outlook. While World Hunger may seem to be the epitome of this problem (who could possibly argue for letting children die miserable deaths without seeming like a monster?), the Kritikal ground provided to the negative under our resolution ensures that even if the negative team has to concede that human life has value, they are still left with significant ground to attack the idea of “ending world hunger” as an institution rather than being pigeonholed into accepting the affirmative’s worldview. A key element of what made last year’s ocean topic easy to debate was that the oceans are, for the most part, fairly neutral ground. There is a wealth of arguments on both sides, both advocating for and against human intervention, exploration, and infrastructure development. This year’s surveillance topic exists in a significantly more polarized area, yet the core of the debate is split into two fairly clear areas- the affirmative arguing for the philosophical concept of civil liberties and the negative arguing for ruthless pragmatism in the face of existential threats. While there are some fringe arguments about not solving world hunger due to overpopulation concerns, the vast majority of organizations dealing with the issue are in support of providing nutritional aid to those affected rather than allowing them to die. This adds a new dimension of complexity to the World Hunger topic because it requires each individual team to take a position somewhere on a fairly fuzzy spectrum of what level of involvement is acceptable. This rewards advanced debaters because it allows high-level rounds to come down to argumentation of what constitutes “affirmation” and “negation” of the resolution, since the most advanced negative teams will most likely rely on agent of action counterplans with some degree of overlap with the agents specified in the final resolution. However, the fuzzy scale also helps novice debaters because it both fosters strong topicality argumentation skills as well as allows novice teams to 37 Sources The amount of information available concerning global malnutrition seems endless. Debaters will not have any issues finding evidence for this topic. Should the wording committee choose the UN as the actor debaters must become familiar with UN sources. Regardless, the UN sources will play a critical role in this topic as they are a major source for hunger statistics. Below are some important organizations that focus on the issues of global malnutrition. UN World Food Programme: http://www.wfp.org/hunger UN Food and Agriculture Organization: http://www.fao.org/home/en/ The State of Food Insecurity in the World: http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/ Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research: http://aciar.gov.au/AIFSC Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition: http://www.barillacfn.com/en/ Bioversity International: http://www.bioversityinternational.org The Chicago Council on Global Affairs: http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/globalagdevelopment CGIAR: http://www.cgiar.org/ Food and Water Watch: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/ Food First: http://foodfirst.org/ Heifer International: http://www.heifer.org/ IFAD: http://www.ifad.org/ ONE Campaign: http://www.one.org The World Vegetable Center: http://avrdc.org/ Norman Borlaug Institute: http://borlaug.tamu.edu/ Food Tank: http://foodtank.com/ World Food Prize: http://www.worldfoodprize.org/ UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/ This Website has a list of 99 organizations fighting global malnutrition http://mswonlineprograms.org/poverty-hunger/ 38 Interest The countless charity programs, food drives, and aid initiatives run by people from all walks of life demonstrate that a debate resolution about global malnutrition would be interesting and engaging for a wide variety of debaters, judges, parents, school officials, and donors. Young People are involved in fighting world hunger "#YouthNow: Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the World Programme of Action For Youth." #YouthNow: Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the World Programme of Action For Youth. United Nations, 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. Weekly, in partnership with UN agencies and global stakeholders, #YouthNow will release relevant materials to raise awareness about youth development opportunities and challenges based on the 15 cross-cutting youth priority areas outlined in WPAY including: Education, Employment, Hunger and Poverty, Health, Environment, Full and effective participation of youth in the life of society and in decision making, Youth in conflict, Girls and young women, Armed Conflict, HIV/AIDS, and Information and Communications technology. The WPAY+20 campaign will come to an end in September 2015, with the General Assembly Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda. The YouthNow conference demonstrates the significant investment that youth have in solving the pressing issues of the day, including world hunger and malnutrition. Just as the issue of world hunger appeals to these youth, it will appeal to debaters as well. Teens Get Involved in Fighting Hunger Amishai Gottlieb, Jewish Exponent Newpaper, Nov 21, 2014 http://jewishexponent.com/headlines/2014/11/philly-jewish-teens-raise-hunger-awareness-at-hunger-games-preview Just before the lights dimmed at an exclusive showing of the newest Hunger Games movie the night before its mass release, Evan Finkelstein and Leah Kay led a theater filled with about 200 of their teenage peers in a pledge to fight global malnutrition.Teens from grades six through 12 also brought canned food to be donated to Philabundance to the event, hosted by Jewish youth movement BBYO. The Nov. 20 showing at an AMC theater in Plymouth Meeting was part of a national BBYO initiative, a “collaborative adventure” that in Philadelphia involved partnering with 10 other Jewish community groups to help raise teens’ awareness of hunger, said Arielle Weisberg, the group’s local associate regional director. A grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia also helped subsidize the event.“Jewish teens really do care about issues in their community,” Weisberg said. "They’re helping in hunger relief while also doing something that’s really social and fun and exciting.”Finkelstein, 39 an 18-year-old senior at William Tennett High School and BBYO’s regional co-president, has been involved with local initiatives combatting hunger over the last couple of years and said he recognized the importance of teen involvement in social action leadership.He volunteers every few months with the Jewish Relief Agency through his synagogue, Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, helping to box and deliver food packages to the needy. “It expanded my horizons to learn that there’s more to life than just my life, and we’re fortunate enough to have food on the table so we should be helping out everyone else that doesn’t,” said the Bucks County native.Though event-goers filled two tall boxes with canned foods, Finkelstein explained that the main goal was to bring new faces into the Jewish youth movement fold and open their eyes to the helping roles they can play in the future.“To be honest, I think for the majority of them it’s just an event, but the follow-up is what matters to us,” he said.Weisberg agreed with that assessment and noted that using pop culture events and social media is the way “to really get teens involved” in volunteering. Another example is BBYO’s upcoming text campaign, which will be the youth group's first foray into #GivingTuesday, a national and international movement focused on charitable giving following the post-Thanksgiving spending sprees of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.For that campaign, teens will text their family and friends asking for money pledges, similar to a telethon, only using text messages.“Teens are more comfortable texting,” Weisberg said, likening the text campaign to Federation's Super Sunday, but with a slight twist. “I think that we’re seeing more than ever that this is the way to really get teens involved. The passion is there, we just have to find out the right outlets.”However teens get involved, Weisberg continued, it’s important that they do so because hunger is “not just affecting countries across the world, but it’s also right in our backyard.”Some 12 percent of families in the Keystone State lived in food insecure households between 2011-2013, according to the Coalition Against Hunger’s website. That's roughly 1.5 million families — and the numbers aren’t improving.The statistics can seem daunting, Finkelstein said, "but if you really want to help” out in the community “there’s a way to do it." Kay, Finkelstein’s fellow regional BBYO co-president, said that when she was in middle school she used to volunteer one Sunday night a month at the University of Pennsylvania Hillel, serving food to the homeless. Just as the UN organized youth movements to combat global issues, teenagers themselves have organized efforts to tackle hunger and malnutrition in their own communities. These small-scale efforts demonstrate that youth take a personal interest in the issue of hunger. Both large and small scale initiatives to combat hunger and malnutrition have been started and participated in by teens and youth. These initiatives offer irrefutable proof that young people are interested in solving malnutrition. This real-world commitment translates to interest in world hunger as a debate topic. 40 Community: Many Food-Based Charities Exist Feeding America 2015 http://www.feedingamerica.org/our-response/how-we-work/food-bank-network/ Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs that provides food and services to people each year. Together, we are the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization. Our network serves virtually every community in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Thousands of charities, food banks, and other nutritional aid organizations exist and gather support from members of their communities. These broad-based aid organizations exist as a result of the interest in solving for malnutrition by adults. This interest in real-world action translates to interest in malnutrition as a debate topic. Quality Hunger and malnutrition affects everyone. As such, it is of immediate relevance to those debating the topic. Additionally, hunger and malnutrition are real and pressing issues that future leaders will need to address. As such, this debate topic will expose debaters to the issues that will have to be confronted as well as give them experience in critically evaluating plans and, when writing affirmative cases, solve problems. Global Malnutrition Statistics UN World Food Program 2015 http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats Some 805 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That's about one in nine people on earth.The vast majority of the world's hungry people live in developing countries, where 13.5 percent of the population is undernourished.Asia is the continent with the most hungry people - two thirds of the total. The percentage in southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in western Asia it has increased slightly. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence (percentage of population) of hunger. One person in four there is undernourished.Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five - 3.1 million children each year.One out of six children -- roughly 100 million -- in developing countries is underweight. One in four of the world's children are stunted. In developing countries the proportion can rise to one in three.If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.WFP calculates that US $3.2 billion is needed per year to reach all 66 million hungry school-age children. 41 Malnutrition affects millions of people around the world. Therefore, debating solutions to it is of immense real-world value to debaters. Since debaters will grow up to be the leaders of the future, exposing them to the real and pressing issues of the day will inform their future choices and possibly lead to real and lasting change in the world. Hunger Affects Everyone Sodhexo Foundation, 2007 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070605120859.htm While thirty-five million Americans feel the physical effects of hunger each day, every household and individual in our nation feels the economic effects. So finds a new study released today by the Sodexho Foundation and researchers affiliated with Harvard University School of Public Health, Brandeis University and Loyola University.The study, titled "The Economic Cost of Domestic Hunger: Estimated Annual Burden to the United States," finds that the U.S. pays more than $90 billion annually for the direct and indirect costs of hunger-related charities, illness and psychosocial dysfunction and the impact of less education/lower productivity. These costs are borne by all Americans.Distributed on an individual basis, it means that on average, each person residing in the U.S. pays $300 annually for the hunger bill. Distributed on a household basis, it means that the annual cost is closer to $800 each year. And calculated on a lifetime basis, each individual's bill for hunger in the nation is nearly $22,000.The study found that the lion's share of the overall cost, $66.8 billion, resulted from illness associated with hunger, said Brandeis health economist Donald Shepard, who led the economic analysis. These illnesses included iron deficiency, colds and depression, and other causes of fair and poor health. "What was unusual about hunger was the wide range of problems associated with it, which included not only the illness burden, but also expenses on food pantries and other charities to mitigate the problem, and lost productivity due to hunger's adverse impact on learning," said Shepard."The Cost of Hunger study is a call to action for communities, legislators, the private sector and individuals to look at hunger as more than a social issue -- hunger also is an economic issue," said Stephen J. Brady, president of the Sodexho Foundation. "As such, it is everyone's responsibility to end hunger. The first step is to be aware of the magnitude of the impact of hunger on every American." A solution to global malnutrition has not yet been found. People still go to bed malnourished. Therefore, since the issue hasn’t been solved in the real world and since there are many competing ideas, opportunities will be available for varied debate on both the affirmative and negative side throughout the year. Affirmative teams have a plethora of options available to them, each with its own positives and negatives, creating a varied set of debates. Repetitive debates occur when the topic area is limited, as both affirmative and negative teams are forced to find unique and unpredictable cases in order to secure the maximum competitive advantage. 42 Range A resolution focusing on global malnutrition will allow for all debaters, from novice to experienced to have fruitful debates. The idea of solving for world hunger and malnutrition is not a difficult concept to understand and has the potential of attracting new and diverse students to debate. General Public: -Global malnutrition is an issue that often comes up when discussing charity work and problems facing the world. As such, presenting a global malnutrition topic for Policy Debate will interest those who are currently not a part of Policy Debate, bringing fresh blood into the event, helping to secure private sponsors, and generating increased respect for the event. Novice Debaters: -Since global malnutrition is a well-researched topic area as it is a major issue facing the world, novice debaters will have no trouble finding evidence for both the affirmative and negative sides. Additionally, the emotionally charged nature of the topic provides an easy way for novices to learn the concept of the Kritik in an environment which lends itself strongly to critical debates. Advanced Debaters: -Global malnutrition has numerous scholarly articles and research from every imaginable perspective. While this mass of information helps novices find evidence, it also provides an enormous amount of ground for warrant debates and analytical arguments that force advanced debaters to make analytical arguments extemporaneously, contributing to their overall educational experience and creating a skillset that will be applicable to them throughout their lives. UNICEF Has Volunteers From All Demographics UNICEF, 2014, http://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/volunteers Supporting UNICEF From Within the United States Our volunteers are of all ages, gender and race/ethnicity living in the U.S. who educate,advocate and fundraise on behalf of UNICEF in their communities. Our vast network of volunteers across the United States have increased awareness on issues of child survival, advocated on behalf of, and raised or leveraged funds for UNICEF for nearly 60 years. 43 Children volunteer to curb Detroit area hunger Gleaners Community Food Bank, 2012 http://www.gcfb.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pg_edutraining_kidshelpingkids Hunger can be reduced by the deeds of children. That was the philosophy of Gleaners' board members Kathryn Michalak and Ruth Ellen Mayhall, who together with staffers Peg Roberts and Jack Griffo developed the Kids Helping Kids® Hunger Awareness Program in 1986 and presented the idea of involving school- age children in hunger relief to Detroit area schools.KHK OverviewToday KHK invites students to Gleaners for volunteering and education. Students visiting Gleaners begin with an introduction to the history of the food bank, a tour of the warehouse, and an education session, followed by a hands-on experience. The educational focus is on the importance of good nutrition and hunger awareness. Over the years, KHK has introduced thousands of school-aged children to community service helping their fellow students. International Rugby Board and UN World Food Program Team Up World Food Program, Sept 2014 https://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/wfp-and-irb-team-tackle-hunger-rugby-world-cup-2015 The focus of the drive in the build up to the world’s third-largest sporting event, which kicks off on September 18, 2015 will be a Million Meal Challenge, to raise funds for WFP to provide meals to school children in developing countries.The Rugby World Cup Tackle Hunger partnership has been hugely successful in raising awareness and support of WFP’s work feeding the world’s hungry. And with England 2015 set to be the biggest Rugby World Cup to date, fans are digging deep to support the Million Meal Challenge.More than US$21,000 has already been raised by voluntary online donations through the English Rugby Community ticket sales phase, and with global public ticket sales set to launch on September 12, the Rugby family is set to get behind the campaign.“There is a powerful connection between good nutrition and sporting excellence and as the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, WFP is instrumental in ensuring that young children get the food they need to reach their full physical and intellectual potential,” said WFP Executive Director, Ertharin Cousin. “The Tackle Hunger partnership with the IRB shows how the global rugby community can play an instrumental role in supporting our work on the frontlines of hunger.” As for veteran debaters, there is a significant amount of Kritik potential from avenues such as Malthusian Theory, Capitalism Kritik, and Ecological Kritik, just to name a few. 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