Food Security - Specialised organisations and mechanisms

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Description: "The right to food is one of the most widely violated human rights. Although enough food is produced to feed the world, it is estimated that more than 850 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Only a small percentage can be attributed to natural catastrophes or civil wars. The vast majority suffer from chronic hunger in everyday life. Scarce or low quality food, contaminated water and the resulting diseases are part of the normal course of life for these women, men and children. They lack control over basic resources like land, seeds or income to be able to feed themselves adequately. They also lack political power and access to justice to claim their rights..."
Source/publisher: FIAN International
Date of entry/update: 2016-09-11
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Standards, mechanisms, publications, links, other resources...."The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement..."
Source/publisher: Office of the UN High Commisioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Date of entry/update: 2016-09-11
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...WFP is the food aid arm of the United Nations system. Food aid is one of the many instruments that can help to promote food security, which is defined as access of all people at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. ¹ The policies governing the use of World Food Programme food aid must be oriented towards the objective of eradicating hunger and poverty. The ultimate objective of food aid should be the elimination of the need for food aid..."
Source/publisher: World Food Programme (WFP)
Date of entry/update: 2016-09-11
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Sub-title: Local liquor manufacturers are struggling to stay profitable as competition from illegal importers continues eat into their margins, said U Soe Lwin, chair of The Myanmar Liquor Association (MLA). Legally imported liquors and spirits like whiskeys, rum and gin are taxed upon entry and this is passed on to consumers.
Description: "“The total tax payable for our industry has increased to K200 billion for the 2019-20 year of assessment. The amount of taxes paid by this industry is rising by 25 percent to 30pc every year,” said U Htay Lwin, general secretary of the MLA. Illegal distributors, however, escape taxes and are able to sell liquor at lower prices in the black market. Imports of spirits are tightly restricted in Myanmar and it wasn’t until late 2015 that permitted the import of wines was permitted. However, only hotels and duty-free outlets have been allowed to import spirits and beer thus far. This has led to the proliferation of illegal imports, mostly at the border. The government is in the process of enacting laws intended to relax Myanmar’s existing ban on alcohol imports. Work on a draft legislation has moved to the attorney general for approval, after which it would be presented to the cabinet, according to the commerce ministry. U Win Thaw, a secretary of the MLA, said the main problem with the impending relaxation of the new import policy is that it does not address the black market situation where alcohol is smuggled through our borders without being taxed. He added that the legislation should not only formalise, but level the playing field between local producers and foreign liquor importers. Locally produced liquor brands include High Class, Glan Master and Grand Royal whiskies as well as Mandalay Rum..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2020-02-05
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "With frequent floods, landslides, cyclones and other natural hazards, Myanmar is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which lead to massive population displacements and destruction of livelihoods, crops and other food sources. It ranks 3rd out of the most affected countries in the last two decades since 1998, according the 2019 Global Climate Risk Index. The humanitarian situation in Myanmar remains fragile. In Rakhine State, more than 140,000 people, mainly Rohingya Muslims, remain internally displaced following several waves of inter -communal violence in 2012, with severe restrictions of movement and limited access to livelihoods, health care, education and other basic social services. The Government’s security operations in August 2017 followed by attacks on border guard posts resulted in 700,000 people, mostly Rohingya Muslims, fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh and exacerbated the food security and overall humanitarian situation of the remaining population. An escalation of fighting since 2018 in Rakhine State between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military, as well as the intensification of ethnic armed conflict in Kachin and Shan states since 2011, has further contributed to instability. An estimated 823,600 people living in conflict-affected areas are vulnerable to food insecurity. More than 240,000 remain internally displaced with limited access to farmland and other livelihood opportunities..."
Source/publisher: World Food Programme via Reliefweb
2019-06-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 302.51 KB (2 pages)
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Description: "Climate change has disrupted weather patterns across the globe, destroying farmland and increasing pest outbreaks. As a result, both the livelihoods of farmers and food supplies have been pushed to breaking point..."
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Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera English"
2017-06-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "There are currently 7.6 billion people on the planet, and they all need feeding. However, producing crops and rearing livestock is hugely environmentally unsustainable. Nearly one third of the Earth’s land is severely degraded and 90% of our oceans are quickly being emptied of fish. The pace of harvest is relentless and with the worldwide population expected to grow to 10 billion by 2050, it is clear that our planet won’t be able to keep up the pace of food production. In this episode of earthrise we first head to Connecticut to meet a commercial fisherman turned climate farmer who has developed a system of polyculture vertical agriculture in the ocean, called 3D farming. We then travel to Holland where scientists are developing a way to avoid farms and livestock altogether by creating meat in a lab..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera English"
2018-05-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Humanitarian needs in Myanmar are characterized by a complex combination of vulnerability to natural disasters, food insecurity, armed conflict, inter-communal tensions, statelessness, institutionalized discrimination, protracted displacement, human trafficking and risky migration. In Rakhine, the situation remains tense following the armed attacks and the military operations and violence in 2017 that led to the exodus of over 700 000 people to Bangladesh. In Kachin and Shan states, the escalation of armed conflict caused new and secondary displacements..."
Source/publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
2019-01-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.64 MB
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Description: "The Rohingya Emergency Vulnerability Assessment (REVA) was carried out by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Food Security Sector partners in November and December 2017. More than 2,000 families were interviewed to understand the priority needs of refugees and host communities. Households were asked about their diet, expenditure on food and other items, and what measures they resorted to in order to feed family members, amongst other things. With more than 656,000 people fleeing into Bangladesh from Myanmar since 25 August 2017, on top of a previous refugee community of around 300,000 people, the food security situation in Cox’s Bazar is extremely precarious. WFP is providing food and food vouchers to more than 700,000 refugees. Country Director Christa Rader explained: “WFP will scale up its e-voucher programmes in 2018 to reach new arrivals in Cox’s Bazar. Food vouchers for refugees make sense on all levels: it leads to more nutritious diets, it empowers women, and in the long run, it costs less than distributing actual food.” The study highlights that people who receive e-vouchers have a better-quality diet than those who do not, and in response WFP will scale up this programme in 2018. Currently, some 90,000 people are enrolled in WFP’s e-voucher programmes, under which they receive a monthly amount on a pre-paid debit card which can be used in allocated shops to buy 19 different foods, including rice, lentils, fresh vegetables, chillies, eggs and dry fish. By contrast, WFP’s food distributions to the new arrivals is rice, vegetable oil and lentils – an emergency ration designed to provide basic calories, but lacking in dietary diversity. Women are the receivers of the e-voucher card for each family, they can then take decisions on what to buy and how to allocate the assistance provided among family members. In light of the very high levels of acute malnutrition according to surveys conducted in October and November, WFP is also providing nutrition support to children under five years of age and pregnant and breast-feeding women. The study also recommends the scaling up of livelihood support programmes within host communities prioritizing especially women who have no income. Similarly, the study advises that refugees in the camps should be given the opportunity to earn cash in order to reduce their economic vulnerability. Also, the study advocates for the scaling-up of services and the distribution of non-food items to meet other basic needs, including improving the access firewood and drinking water meeting minimum quality standards..."
Creator/author: Shelley Thakral, Maherin Ahmed
Source/publisher: World Food Programme (WFP)
2018-01-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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