We’ve talked a lot these past few weeks about large-scale hunger projects related to food distribution and acute crises. I would like to wrap up our current posts on hunger by circling back to some practical suggestions and things to think about for chronic hunger situations. I won’t delve too deeply in the solutions (such […]

So, we have our assessments. We’ve made a plan. We’ve purchased food goods and made packets to distribute. And we’ve involved the community in the process of determining the hunger needs, what they need from local markets, and even identifying the most vulnerable segments of the community. We’ve even gotten the community organized and they […]

Photo from imb.org Once you determine your target group and have a good idea of your resources available and the scope of your response, you will need to start thinking about what kind of goods, especially foods, that you will be distributing. There are several organizations that create pre-packed, ready to cook foods for groups […]

We’ve talked a lot about assessing hunger needs from the why, to the who, to the where. Today, we’re doing to discuss five very practical reminders for assessing hunger needs. Verify information from sources. One way to do this is focus group discussion among various groups. This is a way of cross-checking information from various […]

Photo Credit imb.org At the beginning of a hunger assessment, how can community development practitioners gather reliable information? Two types of information are needed: macro and micro. Macro hunger issues: There are numerous web resources to help look at the macro issues in a hunger event. One of the best is www.reliefweb.int that has both inter-government, non-government, […]

Population segmentation helps us find the most vulnerable groups and places for hunger responses. In most large-scale hunger events, the government and intergovernmental agencies (such as UN, WFP, etc.) will generally take the lead and bring major resources to the table. In these cases, we must be wise and look for overlooked and underserved groups […]

Photo from IMB.org Today I am outlining an assessment tool that you can use to determine the needed response to a hunger crisis. Our hope is that it will give you a good checklist to determine strategically how or even if to respond. This hunger assessment tool will cover several days of posts. The information […]

If you’ve read posts about community development on the BGR Blog and want to dive deeper, look no further. CEO Jeff Palmer has compiled a list of recommended reading. Have you read other books on these topics? Tell us in the comments below! Refugees Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis By […]

Photo from IMB.org In the early 90s I witnessed a humanitarian committee wrestle with how to distribute a shipping container of high energy biscuits. Cultural issues became the defining guide as they discussed options. Everyone in the targeted distribution area lived in some level of poverty, and they had no objective way to narrow down […]

Photo from IMB.org In our last blog, we looked at some global numbers regarding hunger. Just reading through them can be a bit overwhelming. What, if anything, can we do to make a difference? Why is it important to consider hunger issues as a part of my local ministry/strategies? Addressing hunger and hunger issues can […]