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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Niger: Children suffer most in hunger crisis June 6, 2012
Lauretta dreams of becoming a teacher. But she hasn’t been to school since January, when she had to drop out in order to help her family at home.
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Guatemala: Planting better crops June 1, 2012
Seven-year-old Ancel Cual excitedly gets his hands dirty helping to plant yucca in his community of Corozal in the northern highlands of Guatemala.
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Mongolia: New techniques protect herders’ traditional way of life May 31, 2012
In southwest Mongolia, the mix of soaring snow-capped mountains and sweeping sand dunes makes for a stunning landscape — but a tough life for residents trying to raise livestock between two harsh environments.
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Yemen: New food program prevents kids from going hungry May 26, 2012
Milk? Vegetables? Women from Mawza District in central Yemen laugh. “We dream about the taste of milk, vegetables and fruits.” The reason? Mafi fuloos, they answer — no money.
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Niger: Surviving the Sahel hunger crisis May 18, 2012
More than 6 million people in Niger do not have enough to eat this year. The first signs of a dire food crisis began converging months ago: drought, failed crops and inflated food prices.
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Niger: Maintaining wells as drought takes its toll May 10, 2012
In Niger, cycles of drought and hunger are a harsh reality. Here, a family works on a well that Mercy Corps helped them rebuild.
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Mali, Niger: Expanding hunger relief efforts May 1, 2012
Our teams are working on expanding desperately needed cash distribution to hungry families in Agadez, the largest city in northern Niger, as the country's food crisis deepens.
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Nepal: Protecting natural resources April 12, 2012
Villagers in southwestern Nepal gather to tell Mercy Corps staff about their needs and how they make use of their surrounding environment — land, plants, water. The work is part of an assessment to figure out how to reduce natural resource-based conflict in the area.
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Guatemala: Women stake their claim in the land of machismo April 3, 2012
Their roots of land conflict may date to the Spanish conquistadors, but today we’re giving women the tools to resolve them without resorting to lawyers or guns.
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Niger: Schools empty as food shortage worsens April 2, 2012
Twelve-year-old Lauretta was forced to drop out of school to help keep house and watch her younger brother while her mother forages for food to feed the family.