Bread for the World recommends changes to help the hungry feed themselves Bread for the World recommends changes to help the hungry feed themselves Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New York, and Washington. The report says governments, corporations and individuals have opportunities to make economic life less harsh for hungry and poor people. It urges governments to encourage the expansion of employment and self-employment, and corporations to pay living wages. It says markets must be tempered with governmental and civic action to provide decent jobs and living wages.
People go hungry because they are poor and powerless, the report says.
It notes that over the past two decades global competition has contributed to rising unemployment and falling wages in the industrial countries, adding that meanwhile, governments have cut back on safety net spending. Agricultural trade can help overcome hunger by providing access to less expensive food, offsetting shortages and raising farm incomes, but at the same time small farmers can be driven out of business by larger producers, the report says. Development efforts too often focus on male-controlled export crops, the report says, advocating that international aid should support the efforts of women farmers. Also according to the report, agricultural policies and development programs emphasize boosting yields, sustainable farming practices and diversifying production for both export and domestic consumption. Giant corporations have created millions of new jobs and improved incomes, especially in East and Southeast Asia, but they also have resulted in child labor, appalling working conditions, wages at a few cents an hour, environmental devastation and dismal shanty towns, says the report.