In fight against hunger, 6 principles to increase resilience in food-insecure communities

"As we grow more interconnected, a range of complex risks, including climate change, environmental degradation, population growth, conflict, and food and fuel price volatility, are exacerbating the challenges faced by vulnerable communities," Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP); José Graziano da Silva, director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); and Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), write in the Huffington Post's "World Economic Forum" blog. "Unless we protect the world's poorest people and empower them to adapt to change and build robust, adaptable and more prosperous livelihoods, we face a future where every shock becomes an opportunity for hunger and poverty to thrive," they continue.

"All of us engaged in the fight against hunger -- governments, international organizations, non-governmental and community-based organizations, private businesses and foundations -- recognize the need to shift the way we work with food-insecure communities to help them become more resilient," the authors write, noting, "The Rome-based United Nations agencies are championing this shift by aligning our policies and programs with six core principles." According to the authors, these principles focus on building resilience, planning frameworks, protecting the most vulnerable, managing risk effectively, and implementing evidence-based interventions. They conclude, "If we do these things, we will help build a future where periodic shocks no longer plunge people into hunger and poverty, and communities thrive where the threats of hunger and poverty once ruled" (1/25).