Food prices have soared by a staggering 83 per cent since 2005, according to the World Bank. In the last five weeks alone, the price of rice— a staple food for millions of people worldwide—has more than doubled. For the one billion desperate people who live on $1 a day, these rising prices, coupled with food shortages, spell disaster.

“This is a silent tsunami,” says Josette Sheeran of the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest distributor of food aid. To distribute the same amount of food as last year, the WFP needs an additional $750 million from donor governments, including Canada.

As one of WFP’s largest partners, World Vision operates emergency food aid programs in 35 countries, benefiting millions of people.  This year, because of food shortages in the WFP pipeline, World Vision has been forced to reduce rations to more than a million beneficiaries. “Around 572,000 of these people are children who urgently need enough healthy food to thrive,” said Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada.“Unfortunately, we simply can’t distribute food that we don’t have.

“This pricing crisis is likely to take at least two years to stabilize.That is far too long for the millions of children under five who need sufficient levels of nutrition now to develop properly.”

World Vision is addressing the current food crisis on two fronts, including short and long-term solutions.

Short-term :
We are continuing to provide food aid to millions of people worldwide, working in partnership with the WFP and the support of World Vision’s donors in Canada and around the world.

We are lobbying our government and the international community to keep their commitments to the World Food Programme so that millions of people in emergency situations can be fed. When WFP gets the required funding, it will be able to supply sufficient food to World Vision and other distribution partners. This will allow us to scale our rations back up and expand our programs as planned. We are thankful for the fine record that Canada has as a leading contributor to the WFP and we are asking that our government keep—and increase—its commitment.

Long-term :
In the face of the global food crisis, World Vision’s sponsorship programs are helping communities toward self-sufficiency and food security.  Sponsorship programs help whole communities achieve substantial, lasting change.

With the support of our 600,000 Canadian donors and millions of supporters worldwide, World Vision is enabling families not to be dependent on food aid. Our development programs, which are funded by child sponsorship, teach parents to grow their own drought-resistant, higher yield crops. This helps them to cope when food prices rise. Our micro-credit loans also create more sustainable livelihoods so parents can better provide for their children.

You Can Help
You can help children and their families to cope with the current food crisis long term by sponsoring a child. You will help children and their whole communities toward self-sufficiency with better access to food, safe water, seeds, farming tools and agricultural training.

Click here to sponsor a child now.