The Stream, October 10: Water and the State of Hunger

Food Security
Approximately 12.5 percent of the global population–or one in every eight people–went hungry between 2010 and 2012, according to a report on food insecurity released by the United Nations, AlertNet reported. This is a 6.1 percent drop from the period 1990-1992, but progress toward eradicating hunger has been slowing in recent years due in part to droughts and rising food prices.

In Somalia, failed rains and rising food prices have led to “alarming” levels of malnutrition that could prolong the country’s humanitarian crisis into next year, Bloomberg News reported, citing international aid agency Oxfam.

The incomes of 1 million small farmers in Central America are at risk from climate change, which is expected to bring higher temperatures and shift rainfall patterns, found a joint study by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Maize production could fall between 11 and 30 percent by the 2020s in areas with poor soil, AlertNet reported.

Water Supply
Toxic wastewater from leather tanneries in Dhaka, Bangladesh poses both a health and environmental hazard as it is released into the city’s river and gutters without treatment, according to a report from Human Rights Watch, Reuters reported.

Many projects to bring clean water to rural Haiti have failed in the past due to shortages of funding and expertise, but the country’s new water and sanitation agency hopes to bring professionalism to a rural water system being rebuilt with help from the World Bank, The Washington Post reported.

A power outage at New Orleans’ main water plant Monday prompted the city to issue a boil water advisory, while many schools and businesses were closed, Reuters reported.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek