In June 2012, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the Zero Hunger Challenge, which sought to bring together the international community to ensure the right to adequate food. Now, a year later, the Community for Zero Hunger launches as an independent initiative to identify needs and gaps in fighting hunger.
Community for Zero Hunger includes a diverse group of advisors and fifty private companies, all dedicated to ending hunger and malnutrition. Members include Martin Bloem, Chief for Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Policy at the World Food Programme, Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO of Heifer International, and Food Tank co-founder Danielle Nierenberg.
“With between 870 million and 1.3 billion people suffering from hunger and malnutrition today, we need innovative, concrete and sustainable solutions to scale up our response to fighting hunger and malnutrition and poverty,” says Nierenberg.
The goals of the U.N. Zero Hunger Challenge include 100 percent access to adequate food all year round, zero stunted children less than two years old, sustainable food systems, a doubling in smallholder productivity and income, and zero food loss or waste. The Community for Zero Hunger will identify specific priorities, knowledge and experiences, sustainable solutions, and provide a platform for collaboration to support the UN Zero Hunger Challenge.
Nabeeha Kazi, the Chairperson of Community for Zero Hunger, asserts that “[t]he intention of the Community for Zero Hunger is to provide information and spur collaborations that will not only allow us to effectively fight hunger today, but also stamp it out as we look toward the future.”
Over a period of twenty-four months, the Community for Zero Hunger brings together experts, organizations, and private companies from across sectors to work alongside international institutions in achieving the goals of the U.N. Zero Hunger Challenge.
