The Role of International Organisations in Food & Health (SL IB Geography)

Roles of International Organisations 

• International organisations are important in the fight against food insecurity and disease
• They provide:
  • Key policies for food provision
  • Funding for food production and consumption
  • Education 
  • Research 
• They also influence the Nutrition Transition, working towards improving food and reducing disease

World Food Programme

• The World Food Programme (WFP) was founded by the United Nations in 1961
• Mission: Ending the global hunger crisis and food insecurity, and supporting sustainable development 
  • Food support during emergencies and crises
  • Helping communities with nutrition and resilience 
  • Development aid and relief 
• Main focus points of the WFP:
  • Emergency response and preparedness
    • Response to natural disasters, pandemics and conflict
    • Preparing for emergencies, reducing the impact and providing early warning systems

• • Climate Action
    • Disasters caused by climate change e.g. floods or droughts can damage food production systems
    • Preparation, mitigation strategies and insurance support 
    • Forecast-based Financing - providing money to at-risk families, to purchase food and make their homes more resilient to disaster e.g. Bangladesh flooding in 2019
  • Nutrition
    • Battling malnutrition (deficiencies and surplus) to support Sustainable Development
    • Programmes to support healthy diets for vulnerable groups e.g. pregnant women, children and immunocompromised people (HIV)
  • School-based programmes
    • Provision of school meals to support child nutrition and education 
    • Homegrown school feeding sources food locally, bringing income to local farmers 
    • Also working to provide water, sanitation and deworming

• • Small farms
    • Helping small farms produce sustainable food with business training 
    • Improving infrastructures like roads to transport food to markets 

• • Resilience
    • Food Assistance to Assets Programme - provides money for people to afford food, so their focus goes towards other vital projects e.g. climate disaster resilience
    • Cash Assistance - provision of money or vouchers to improve food choices. This also supports local food production and the economy
    • Country Strategic Plans - educating those who work in the public, private and civil sectors, to better mitigate disaster and improve food security. It also provides investment into early warning systems for disasters 
      • E.g. The Ethiopian government received support in using drones to track flooding areas

• It is donation-based and is currently experiencing a funding crisis, with a heavy financial shortfall in 2023 
• In 2022, the WFP supported around 160 million people, a new record

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

• Part of the United Nations, which focuses on ending world hunger and ensuring food security
• Founded in 1945  
• Mission:
  • Ending food insecurity, malnutrition and world hunger
  • Improving sustainability and productivity of agriculture 
    • Ensuring agricultural efficiency to reach food security
  • Lower poverty in rural areas
    • Hunger and food insecurity are higher in rural areas 
  • Inclusivity and efficiency in agricultural systems 
    • The globalisation of agriculture has caused inequality for small-scale farmers
  • Disaster protection 
    • Natural disasters or conflicts can affect vital food resources, impacting those dependent on food production and consumption 
• An example of an FAO programme:
  • Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme:
    • School feeding projects in Latin America and the Caribbean
    • Latin America and the Caribbean Without Hunger 2025 initiative
    • Sustainable Rural Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
    • Development of sustainable aquaculture in Latin America and the Caribbean

World Health Organization 

• The World Health Organization (WHO) is the leader in health emergency response
• The organisation:
  • Is working towards improving health care access, preventing diseases and supporting wellbeing 
  • Is part of the United Nations
  • Was founded in 1948
  • Working towards Goal 3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
    • ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’
  • Funded through the 194 member states’ ‘memberships’ and other voluntary donations from organisations and the private sector
  • Vital for leading the world on health advances, research, creating policies and tracking world health 
  • Led successes e.g. the eradication of smallpox

Role of Governments 

• Governments are vital in providing policies and research that support food security:
  • Import policies and subsidies e.g. the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
    • • Stabilises food supply, protects farmers and their money, and maintains the environment and rural beauty 
      • Ensures food is of good quality, safe and affordable
      • Ensures there is enough food
      • Improves standard of living for farmers
      • Main ideas:
        • Viable food production 
        • Sustainable resource management
        • Balancing rural development
  • CAP uses roughly 40% of the EU’s budget
  • It has been criticised as it increases prices for consumers and increases competition for developing countries 
  • It has also resulted in food dumping from an overproduction of food

• Local projects, e.g. in the UK
  • Free school meals
  • Meals on wheels 
• Government support in combatting disease:
  • Laws or policies for disease control
    • COVID-19 lockdowns, border closures and other mitigation strategies
    • Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the CDC supported the country with personnel aid, including surveillance, testing, tracing and education 
  • Vaccine rollouts 
    • Global COVID-19 vaccine
    • The Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme 2019 (by the WHO) began the rollout of the first malaria vaccine 
  • Health education 
    • In 2008, the Chinese Government introduced the National Health Literacy Promotion Project
      • Media advertisements about important healthcare information 
      • Health literacy to become part of school learning 
      • Health education in workplaces and other public areas
      • Extra support where development is lower

Role of NGOs

• NGOs or Non-Governmental Organisations are non-profit or charity organisations 
• This means they are primarily donation and volunteer-based

The Trussel Trust

• This is a UK-based foodbank initiative
• There are 1300 Trussel Trust foodbanks across the country
• The organisation:
  • Provides food to those in need, through food donations
  • Provides support to help improve people’s lives
  • Works towards ending the need for UK food banks
• In 2022/2023, the Trussel Trust provided nearly 3 million food parcels 

NothingButNets (United to Beat Malaria)

• This is part of the United Nations Foundations
• It is a grassroots organisation, working to combat Malaria 
• The organisation:
• Has supported 39 million people with nets and other resources
• Pushes for more global assistance and funding
• Gives high priority for the most vulnerable groups e.g. children, pregnant women, displaced people and rural communities 

MSF (Medecins Sans Frontiers) - Doctors Without Borders 

• Provides Medical support to those in need e.g. people hit by disasters, conflicts, epidemics
• Founded in 1971 by French doctors, following the war in Nigeria 
• The founding principles of MSF are:
  • Impartiality
  • Independence
  • Neutrality
  • Bearing witness to inequalities
  • Being transparent
• Donation-based, with volunteers and permanent staff