The Herman Trend Alert

April 4, 2018

Rising Against Hunger

When our author Joyce attended the iconic conference SXSW last month, one of the exhibits she visited was for the international hunger relief organization Rise Against Hunger (RISE). Founded in 1998 as Stop Hunger Now, RISE rebranded itself in 2017, believing that the new brand speaks to their vision for the future and supports their mission to create a global movement to end hunger. Their engaging display gave participants the opportunity to help them in their quest to end world hunger by the year 2030. Attendees were asked to help put together the nutritious meals of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and 23 essential vitamins and minerals that the organization distributes across the globe. All told, RISE has facilitated the packaging of more than 380 million meals distributed to 74 countries around the world.

A hungry world

Primarily due to weather-related incidents, global conflict, and slowing economic growth, in 2016, the number of hungry people increased to 815 million, up from 777 million people in 2015. In virtually every region of the world, women are more likely to be food insecure than men. According to the United Nations (UN), about 11 percent of the entire population is categorized as hungry; happily, that number is down from 24 percent of the world's population in 1990.

What RISE does

With 20 US locations and five international offices, the organization is committed to nourishing lives, providing emergency aid, empowering communities, and growing the hunger movement. We know that the world does have enough production potential to feed everyone in it. Thus, it is possible to end hunger in our lifetimes. RISE is committed to mobilizing the moral and political will to do so.

Their Impact

Since 1998, RISE has facilitated the packaging of over 380 million highly nutritious meals and it engaged more than 376,000 volunteers worldwide in 2016 alone. Now, RISE meals are distributed to people in critical need throughout 74 countries.

RISE's Four-fold Path

In response to the UN's Sustainability Goal 2, ending hunger by 2030, Rise Against Hunger has developed four pathways to end hunger:

1. Responding to "emergencies by distributing food and aid to victims of natural and manmade disasters and crises".

2. Empowering "communities by increasing self-sufficiency through promotion of agricultural development, business skills training, and market access"

3. Nourishing "lives by supporting nutrition-based safety net programs that provide education, training, and opportunities".

4. Growing "the movement by building awareness and the will to end hunger by encouraging volunteerism and advocacy".

An effective model for others

With its numerous programs, including focusing on early childhood development in South Africa, delivering micronutrients to under-nourished children in Haiti, and teaching farmers sustainable practices in the Philippines, RISE is an obvious role model for other organizations wanting to address big issues facing humanity worldwide.

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