Feeding hunger and insecurity

7. conclusionWFP’s success in achieving its target of US$755 millionin additional funds, demonstrated that food aidremains the only large-scale, comprehensive interventionthat the international community is willingto support. While Action Against Hunger welcomesagricultural interventions and food aid, this is notenough. There are a vast array of proven tools whichare more effective in protecting livelihoods and treatingmalnutrition than food aid. Donors, governments,NGOs and other groups who seek to reduce povertycan make significant strides by adopting a seasonalapproach. Propositioning resources before the annualhunger season could save thousands of lives,arguably at little extra fiscal cost. Action Against Hungerestimates that US$38-70 billion per year wouldpermit the implementation of an “essential minimumpackage” (Devereux et al 2008 page 110) to effectivelycombat seasonal hunger worldwide.one-off event and to wait for the next to come. However,not fully understanding all the dimensions of theGlobal Food Crisis will not prevent the future fromunfolding – if action is not taken now, high food priceswill trap millions of children in a downward spiral ofpoverty and malnutrition.In the current environment, the scale-up of malnutritiontreatment should be a top priority. Those whoare severely malnourished are at serious risk ofdeath and need to be treated with therapeutic foods.Despite the potential of recent improvements in thetreatment of severe malnutrition, particularly community-basedmanagement and ready-to-use therapeuticfoods, only 5 percent of severely malnourishedchildren are treated. A pilot investment in five prioritycountries to treat one million malnourished childrenwould cost only US$70 to US$150 million, a cost ofabout US$100 per child, and would provide vital lessonsfor similar efforts in other countries.The four case studies illustrate the importance oflocal variation and, therefore, the need for locallyadaptedresponses. The inability of past initiatives toaddress hunger to establish awareness and an inclusivesphere for policy dialogue, bringing together civilsociety, NGOs and national and international policymakers, must be addressed if we are to make realprogress towards MDG 1 and 4. The financial crisis,the cessation of local protests, riots and violence andthe decline of global food prices have led many torefocus their attention on other priorities. It would beirresponsible for national governments and the internationalcommunity to assume that this crisis was aACF International Network Feeding Hunger and Insecurity 65