Nov 30th, 2011 3:28 PM UTC
By Anna Lemberger
Nov 24th, 2011 9:00 AM UTC
By Anna Lemberger
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While people in the United States are celebrating a bountiful Thanksgiving today, many people in the developing world are not so lucky. This new report from Bread for the World provides an eye-opening look into world hunger and is a reminder of those who wake up every day without knowing when they will get their next meal — another reason why we should give thanks today.
This week, Bread for the World launched its 2012 Hunger Report. With the country focusing on family and food for the Thanksgiving holiday, it could not come at a better time. The report, “Rebalancing Act,” includes several recommendations for strengthening international food aid and policies. One suggestion, supported by panelists at Monday’s launch, which I had the opportunity to attend, is to make food aid more effective by allowing for more local and regional food purchases.
Kenya’s Ambassador Elkanah Odembo, one panelist at the event, drove home the importance of international food aid, declaring, “It is in the interest of the United States to invest in Africa to provide aid that is also an investment in sustainable livelihoods.”
The ambassador also talked about his hopes for the success of Feed the Future (FTF), the US government’s commitment to ending hunger in developing countries, calling it a positive beginning step toward these types of investments.
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Nov 17th, 2011 3:57 PM UTC
By Anna Lemberger
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In honor of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Anna Lemberger looks into a phenomenon taking place all over Africa: innovation labs.
What do you get when you give an engineer chicken wire and plywood? Well, if you’re in the University of Nairobi’s FabLab, a program inspired by a similar lab at MIT, you might see one of the engineers turn these items into a low-tech Wi-Fi amplifier. This project might sound a little strange, but FabLab gives these university engineers the much-needed creative space to brainstorm, innovate and collaborate on technologies both big and small.
FabLab, or “fabrication lab,” is part of a wave of incubation labs popping up all over Africa. These labs give entrepreneurs access resources, training and space. Aimed at talented entrepreneurs working to advance both high- and low-tech ideas, including software for computers and mobile devices, the labs provide both business and development benefits. As a result, African engineers and developers are able to receive support throughout the various stages of the invention process, from prototype creation to business expansion, and stay on top of emerging technologies to help solve development issues.
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Oct 25th, 2011 2:22 PM UTC
By Anna Lemberger
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Anna Lemberger, an intern for ONE’s Hunger & Agriculture Griot program, writes an update on the course. This is her first post on the ONE Blog.
 Griots de Sambala. Photo credit: Wikimedia
Inspired by the tradition of griots — a West African term for storytellers, history-keepers and agents of culture change — ONE, in partnership with the World Food Program and the World Food Program-USA, sent out a call; they asked anyone and everyone to add their voices to the fight against hunger by joining our Hunger & Agriculture Griot Project to become empowered, informed and active storytellers. The response was overwhelming.
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