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Why are some communities more vulnerable to hunger and famine?
Why can't people access food?
And why does it strike some places or people more frequently?
It's a negative cycle, called food insecurity.
There are lots of reasons why it happens,
forming a system of vicious circles and recurring poverty;
crops fail due to drought, or conflict, or disaster.
And because the crops fail food has to be bought
and this increased demand plus lower supply
pushes prices up and up.
And those who used to sell their crops
now have nothing to trade and, so, have less money.
And it's harder to feed livestock and keep it healthy,
or there's more risk of it being stolen.
Troubled times mean people may have to leave their homes
and may have lost their jobs and way of life.
And food prices keep going up and up,
forcing them to eat less, or to eat cheap
or wild food with little nutrition.
And after time, this makes them malnourished or ill,
which makes it even harder to grow food or to work.
And buying food might have to be sacrificed
to pay for school, or medical treatment, or water.
And the cycle keeps repeating itself,
only worse each time.
Hunger and food insecurity are the world's number one health risks.
So, what can we do to break this cycle?
And what can you do?
Food distribution can help in the short term,
but breaking the cycle requires investment.
By donating money to the Red Cross
you can help communities build up their resilience.
To combat rising food prices, we encourage and help invest
in community gargens and agriculture.
Investing in seeds, tools, irrigation and training...
healthy communities are better able to witstand hardship
so we include basic healthcare, water and sanitation
into many of our programmes.
And the health of the livestock matters too.
So we help replace lost animals
and maintain the health of the herd.
This means people can benefit from milk, meat and trade.
And while there will always be conflicts
and natural disasters, making communities stronger
means they are better able to cope
when trouble strikes.
That can mean cash grants or
training people in new ways to make a living
or supporting them in the skills they already have.
So we can break the negative cycle of food insecurity
and form something positive in its place.
Find out more about how to prevent food insecurity
and what you can do to help.
redcross.org.uk/seedsofchange