Agriculture & Food
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Photo: Erin Gray/Mercy Corps
Most of the world doesn't have the benefit of picking up food from the corner store — they grow it themselves. A family's plot of land has to provide for their nutritional and economic needs.
When food shortages occur due to drought and conflict, Mercy Corps helps prevent hunger and treat malnutrition in the most vulnerable — children, pregnant women, the elderly and the displaced.
Distributing food is necessary in times of crisis, and we always try to procure food from local suppliers to save money, ensure faster delivery and support of the local economy. Learn more about the success of this model in Niger (PDF) ▸
In addition to emergency responses, we quickly focus on long-term solutions that strengthen harvests and livestock for the long-term. Mercy Corps works with families to ensure quality inputs, smart land use, good crop yields and a fair price at local markets.
All stories about Agriculture & Food
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India: Pay Dirt April 10, 2008
Moni Das's village has no name. It's simply referred to as Line 10, Deohall Division, Deohall Tea Estate, Assam. It is a microcosm of life inside Assam's estate fences: anonymous, hidden among acre upon acre of tea bushes and existing solely to serve the needs of the estate.
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India: A Different Kind of Teatime April 10, 2008
Dibrugarh is called India's tea city. But for some people, teatime is about hardship and inequality rather than a pause for relaxation.
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India: Buzzing with Cosmic Energy April 10, 2008
I sensed, right away, that Rajah Banerjee had something to tell us. It was in the measured way he carried himself, the arch of his eyebrows and the calculating glance he cast across the room. What's more, I immediately got the feeling that he would test me to see what I knew.
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India: A Skilled Trade to Last a Lifetime April 10, 2008
The word "manokamana" holds a special place in the hearts of the Nepali people who populate the Himalayan foothills around Darjeeling, India. It signifies one of the culture's most sacred places — a holy site in Nepal — and literally translates as "good wish of the mind."
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Guatemala: Part 1: Owning the land April 3, 2008
Conflicts over land erupted when worldwide prices for coffee plummeted in 2000. Many Guatemalan coffee plantations shut down and forced workers from their homes on the land — leading to violent confrontations between landlords and laid-off workers.
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Guatemala: Worth The Wait April 3, 2008
Alta Verapaz, Guatemala — Machetes are ubiquitous here in rural Guatemala, and Valeriano wields his expertly as he slashes away at weeds on his hillside field.
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Guatemala: It Begins With Land April 3, 2008
To most rural Guatemalans, land means everything.
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DR Congo: Rainstorms, Lava and a Human Flood February 27, 2008
I recently watched as the rain fell for hours over Goma. From the comfort of a house, rain in tropical Africa is spectacular, even magic. But for the thousands displaced Congolese waiting out the storm in their twenty-four square foot huts made of sticks and banana leaves, it is hell.
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China: Finding Hope on the Side of the Road February 6, 2008
One day as 40-year-old Guo Peiling was rummaging around the neighborhood for his recycling business, he found a school for his youngest daughter.
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China: Planting Day February 6, 2008
For many families throughout the world, the spring days when family gardens are planted are a cherished annual tradition. As seeds are sown, loved ones take time to talk, laugh and share thoughts. With any luck, the food grown in the family plot will nourish them later that year.