How Are You Helping Your Community?
It’s Time To Come Together
The United Nation’s goal of “Zero Hunger” by 2030 cannot be achieved by one person or a group of people’s actions. The world must come together to achieve this goal. Climate change affects all parts of the world with unexpected weather conditions. Weather can not be controlled, unfortunately, but how we respond to these natural disasters can help achieve this goal.
Imagine If We Could Control Weather
Storms and weather patterns around the world are affecting the growth cycle of crops. Here in the United States, we have the luxury of going to a nearby grocery store any time of the year to get whatever food we want. This is not the case in many other countries. The majority of other countries rely on farming and perfect weather conditions to have food. If an unexpected storm occurs, farmers are left “empty-handed.” According to Bishow Parajuli, “extreme and unpredictable weather patterns — dry seasons, droughts, and floods — and climate phenomena — storms, cyclones, and hurricanes — caused by climate change are disrupting agriculture, exposing it crop failures or substantially lower yields. These accounts for up to 90 percent of all climate-related disasters. These can quickly spiral into full-blown food and nutrition crises.” (2020) As you can see weather has a huge effect on people who rely on farming for food. Storms could cause families to be without food for months depending on the severity.
If we cannot control the weather, how can we help communities that are affected by natural disasters?
This is where the community comes into play. We usually all grow up with neighbors and for the most part, treat them as more than just neighbors. There are times where you help your neighbor with food if they are ill, carrying the groceries if they are incapable, watch over their house when they are away, etc. The list can go on forever, but it is just a helping hand in general. According to Bishow Parajuli, “history has taught us that communities around the world have lived through trying climate conditions before and have survived by helping each other. In villages in India or Africa, have had the practice of the community food or grain pooling for supporting a person or a family in times of great need– enough to help them get back on their feet.” (2020) Combating “Zero Hunger” is more than just setting up support programs around the world. To combat the problem, it starts within the person. Helping the less fortunate is a great way to reach this goal while providing for your community.
Parajuli, B. (2020, December 29). Food, Climate Change and Hunger: Safeguarding the Future! [Web log post]. Retrieved March 16, 2021, from https://unwfpindia.medium.com/food-climate-change-and-hunger-safeguarding-the-future-2ab05c3e1197
