Project Concern International (PCI)

The World Food Crisis

On April 17th at a joint White House news conference with President George Bush, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, stated that the globe is facing a worsening food crisis unseen in over 30 years.

The World Food Program (WFP) has recently identified at least 30 “high risk” countries from around the globe that they consider vulnerable to the rising international prices of basic food commodities such as rice, wheat, and corn, commodities which have currently soared in the world markets and, in some cases, jumped to an all-time high at the wholesale level.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that 21 countries likely to be directly and adversely affected are in Africa where food-related riots have already been reported in Egypt, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti. The WFP has characterized this as the ‘Silent Tsunami” warning this may lead to potential catastrophe.

Executive director of the WFP, Josette Sheeran, said this week, that the rising food prices are “threatening to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger.”

Though the long-term impact is still unknown, there is a way to help support those who will be severely impacted by this crisis. Through PCI, you can help provide not only nutritious meals, but economic opportunities that will enable those living in poverty provide for their families and communities. Learn more at www.ProjectConcern.org/FoodCrisis.