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Case study 1: School feeding programme, Rwanda

The milk comes from two cows that were donated to the school by ActionAid to help improve the pupils’ feeding and learning, and to provide an income to the school through animal rearing and the school gardens. Half of the milk produced is used to feed malnourished children, with the rest being sold. The school has saved enough money to build two more classrooms and to buy textbooks. The manure produced by the cows is used on the school gardens, which produces vegetables for the children to eat, as well as being sold to make an income for the school. Doreth is very pleased with the cows. “This ensures that our children [in the local community] have a better education and future.” *Malnutrition refers to inadequate or unbalanced food intake or from poor absorption of food consumed. Lacherie, 8, from Rwanda, drinking cow’s milk at school. PHOTO: SULAH NUWAMANYA/ACTIONAID

Lacherie (see picture) was suffering from malnutrition* until the feeding programme at her primary school started to provide her with 0.5 litres of fresh cow’s milk a day. Her mother Doreth is a small-scale farmer who grows just enough sweet potatoes and beans to feed her seven children. She cannot afford to change the crops to more nutritious ones.

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Case study 2: Seed banks, Pakistan Khudaija Pandrani (see picture) and her family grew crops on a landowner’s farm as small-scale farmers. They could only afford to buy low-quality seed at a high price, so they were always in debt to seed traders. Once their crops grew, half went to the landowner as rent with the remaining crop either eaten by the family or, if there was enough, sold for income.

Although Khudaija worked alongside her husband and sons in the field, she wasn’t allowed to buy seed and sell crops because she is a woman. This meant she had no say in how the family’s income was used. ActionAid and a local organisation distributed 120 kilograms of organic seed to the poorest female smallholder farmers. The women had to agree that after harvest, they would save the seeds produced. They also had to give any leftover seed they did not sow to a seed bank for other women in the area to use. The seed bank saved the farmers money and because the seeds were only given to women, they were more involved in making decisions. The seed bank has had a big impact on Khudaija’s life. “Men respect us now, because they know that it is because of us that they are benefitting... We will not let them exclude us from important decisions anymore. After all, we women are equal contributors in the family.” Khudaija Pandrani, from Pakistan, is a farmer who has benefitted from access to a seed bank. PHOTO: ACTIONAID

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Case study 3: Disaster risk reduction, Haiti Following the devastating earthquake of January 2010, Lila and her family moved to a camp for displaced people in Lascahobas, central Haiti. As well as providing food, water and tents, ActionAid and a local partner set up a scheme called ‘cash for work’. All the women in Lila’s camp took part. Heavy rainfall was washing away soil and making it hard for farmers to plant crops. The women from the camp created small canals and dirt walls to provide channels for the rainfall. They then planted ‘Fey elefan’, the roots of which hold the soil together while the leaves provide food for goats and cows. Local farmers were then able to plant seeds without worrying about soil erosion preventing their crops from growing. By paying workers for their disaster risk reduction work, Lila and others in the camp have money to look after their families and have also learnt a great deal about ways to reduce the impact of extreme weather conditions. Lila, from Haiti, shows an example of disaster risk reduction. Digging small canals and dirt walls provides channels for heavy rainfall. PHOTO: ACTIONAID

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Case study 4: Campaigning for land rights, India

Yerrampalli (see image) is a Dalit farmer from south-eastern India. In India, 60% of women are farmers but less than 10% own the land.* The Dalit people, also known as ‘Untouchables’, do not own land and are usually very poor. Yerrampalli’s family could not always find work which meant they did not have enough money to buy food and would have to go hungry.

In the summer months, they would have to travel far from their village to find work. Yerrampalli knew that if she could farm her own land, she and her family would have enough food to eat and sell, and her children would be able to go to school. Yerrampalli and other local women got together to demand land ownership in their village. Over a year, they took part in rallies to fight for their right to land. Local men didn’t believe they would be successful but their campaign for land rights eventually led to 120 women being given their own land in the village, including Yerrampalli. “I am a proud women now. I had never imagined that one day I would own a piece of land. I cannot describe my happiness in words.” *Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/english/fsheets/women.pdf Yerrampalli , from India, at a land rights march for local women. PHOTO: ACTIONAID

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Case study 5: Campaigning against hunger, Brazil

Growing up in Brazil, Vicky Deccache is aware of the unequal society in which she lives, particularly when it comes to accessing food. “In such a huge country [like Brazil], it is unacceptable that people are still landless [and unable to] plant their own food. The farmers are responsible for 70% of Brazil’s food production.” As a volunteer with ActionAid Brazil, Vicky was able to campaign against hunger in different ways. For example, Vicky helped to organise and took part in an event where campaigners

made a minute’s noise to ‘Free the Hungry Billion’. The event also called on Brazilian politicians to include the right to food as a national law. The variety of events and accompanying media attention helped to make sure that the Brazilian government put access to food at the centre of policy. As for the future, Vicky believes it is important that young people around the world make a stand against hunger. “To ignore this issue is to neglect the future of one billion people living in hunger. Let’s make the change!” Vicky, from Brazil, food rights campaigner. PHOTO: ACTIONAID