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Food Security & Livelihoods

Action Against Hunger’s food security and livelihoods programs tackle the root causes of hunger: problems of access and production.
Credit: Marie-Sophie Whitney
Credit: Marie-Sophie Whitney

Encompassing a wide array of activities customized to meet a community’s specific needs, our programs are designed to bolster agricultural production, jumpstart local market activity, support micro-enterprise initiatives, and otherwise enhance a vulnerable community’s access to sustainable sources of food and income.

What We Do

Evaluate Local Needs

To determine what’s causing hunger in a given area, Action Against Hunger carries out comprehensive evaluations by collecting and analyzing key data on local assets, resources, and livelihoods strategies. Our teams meet directly with community members to better understand local conditions and create a collaborative plan of action.

Respond to Emergencies

When disasters destroy infrastructure and food supplies, when violence forces thousands to flee, or when drought disrupts food production, Action Against Hunger responds with distributions of food, cash, and other items to prevent hunger in the short-term and ensure that crops can be replanted and livestock restocked in the future.

Provide Long-Term Solutions

Designed in collaboration with local populations, our strategies are context-specific: micro-grant support for families recovering from conflict; seeds and tools for agricultural recovery; livestock and veterinary services where needed; small business assistance; and other programs that help families regain self-sufficiency.

Recent Food Security News

ACF-Mauritania, François Lenoir
February 2, 2012
More than 10 million people are at risk of food shortages across Africa’s Sahel region, including communities in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, and Ethiopia....  Read
December 6, 2011
Charmaine Brett is our Desk Officer for Pakistan and Nigeria and has worked in emergency humanitarian relief for some of the world’s top agencies in countries across the globe....  Read

Women arrive at a training center operated by ACF in Uganda. Photo: Tine Frank

November 29, 2011
Thousands of families across northern Uganda are slowly rebuilding their lives as they recover from two decades of civil war and displacement. This process is doubly important for the women of northern Uganda, who, as central household figures, must overcome ingrained struggles of abuse if their families are to overcome hunger and poverty....  Read
A man pumps water from his village's rehabilitated borehole. Photo:C.Brett
November 18, 2011
Three months after devastating monsoon rains caused extensive flooding in southern Pakistan for the second consecutive year, Pakistan faces a critical shortage of emergency funding—despite the government’s request for international assistance—with millions of in need of critical support as winter approaches....  Read