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FOOD SECURITY
Obesity is a major health issue in Fiji.

GVI runs regular healthy eating workshops in Fiji. In one of these classes, a woman from the local community demonstrates how to cook a nutritious meal.

The number of hungry people in the world has increased over the last few years. One in nine people in the world habitually go hungry, and, as a result, suffer from nutritional deficiencies. Food security is the biggest threat to the overall health of the human population, more so that malaria, tuberculosis or HIV.

So, what is the problem? How can it be 2018 and people are still going hungry?

The problem is not we aren’t producing enough food (although this might be a problem in the future), but that people lack access to food. Not having enough money to purchase basic food supplies and not being able to grow your own food are the two main causes of being unable to acquire food. At the root of all these problems is conflict.

While hunger has steadily decreased over the past decade, over the last few years an upsurge of conflict has doubled the number of refugees in the world.

Farmers need to abandon their land to save themselves and their families. Once these farmers reach a safer location, they have no land rights, which means they can’t grow crops. These refugees then need to purchase more highly priced exported foods. When they don’t have enough funds, families don’t eat.

Even though approximately 11% of the world is undernourished, more people, about 40% of the adult population, are overweight.

No country in the world had seen any kind of decrease in obesity rate. In fact, it is rising among both children and adults. While it is tempting to think of obesity as a form of ‘over-nutrition’, it is actually another kind of malnutrition. Persons consume nutrient deficient, high-carb, preservative-rich prepacked food and store unhealthy weight as a result.



Another surprising fact about obesity is that, while you might it expect it to only occur among the wealthy, it actually affects people at every income level. The reason for this is that nutritious food is often more expensive and, when food prices rise, poorer communities have no choice but to choose prepackaged, high-carb options.

You can go test this out for yourself. Visit your local supermarket and compare the price of a punnet of strawberries to a candy bar. Which is cheaper? If you did not have much money, which would you choose?

The UN is working to reduce the number of hungry people to zero by 2030. This is represented by UNSDG 2. In Fiji, one of the countries with the highest levels of obesity, GVI has been working to help the local community with set up their own vegetable garden.

We also conduct nutrition and cooking workshops to provide them with the training they need to create sustainable lifestyle changes in their community. The garden means that the community is less dependent on the ups and downs of the international market and the low production of in-country farmers.

With the help of GVI, they now have a choice of a natural treat over a prepackaged sugary treat. Our other community development projects around the world, in Thailand, India, Nepal, Mexico, Costa Rica, and South Africa also feature many community garden projects similar to those run in Fiji.

#Waste: Waste generation and management create a slew of environmental issues, such as litter, landfills, incineration, marine debris, e-waste, and contamination of water and soil caused by improper disposal and leaching toxins, according to Encyclopedia.com.

#Toxins: Toxic chemicals are used in industry, agriculture, laboratories, hospitals, waste management systems and even residential homes, and include chlorofluorocarbons, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, toxic waste, PCB, DDT, bioaccumulation, endocrine disruptors, asbestos. These can also arise from poorly implemented hazardous waste management. These can be solid, liquid or gaseous and can pollute air, water and soil. When they enter the food-chain, they pose a health risk especially for children and elderly people according to National Geographic.