Food security

Food is the most basic of human needs. But even for someone who is skilled at growing food, putting enough food on the table can be a challenge.

The farmers we serve rarely need to skip a meal—and their young children get the nutrients they need to grow.

Nobody who grows food should ever go hungry. Yet farmers often face a “hunger season,” the lean months after the last year’s harvest is finished but before the next year’s crop is ripe.

Farmers we serve directly are more likely to have a steady supply of food all year. They also grow and buy more nutritious food for their families—like beans, fruit, vegetables, and eggs—which is particularly important for children under the age of two.

“I now understand how good nutrition contributes to having a healthy family. I also learned how to rear chickens for their eggs. I feed these eggs to my son Joshua, which provides him with a good source of protein. He is steadily growing in weight and his mind is active and healthy.”

Roselyn Wawili, Bungoma, Kenya

How do we measure our impact on food security?

We assess hunger using the UN Food Insecurity Experience Scale. About half of farmers where we operate face moderate-to-severe hunger, and 15 percent experience severe hunger. In 2021, we saw a 21 percent drop in farmers reporting severe hunger after they joined our direct program.

We also measure whether our customers’ children are eating nutritious diets. In 2021, the share of children under the age of two meeting minimum diverse diet standards increased by 12%, with gains particularly pronounced in Rwanda, where our nutrition programming is most developed.