Rethinking food aid in humanitarian crisis

This solution was shared by Glocolearning , 20 December 2022

Print date: 13 April 2024 00:20

Description of the innovative solution

Food delivery Behavior change Big data Desert agriculture Food environment - external Food environment - personal Consumer choice Retail promotion Infrastructure Investment fund Indigenous crops Traditional food Tuft's Innovation Lab

New initiatives for disaster relief for the recovery of devastated communities are needed to establish resilient food systems. Food aid is a crucial part of humanitarian aid because it aims to relieve affected populations from being food insecure during and after emergency situations. In most cases, food is transported from various regions around the world, and imported into the affected region. This takes time, especially if the humanitarian crisis involves floods, disease, or war conflict. Rethinking food aid in humanitarian crises proposes to find new ways that improve the accessibility and desirability of food, which considers the local food system. This solution could be, for instance, an initiative that empowers local cooks to prepare food in times of a humanitarian crisis. In this way, vulnerable communities have access to tasty options that consider the local traditional diet. Or this solution could include handing out assistance cards for local vendors to stimulate the local food sectors. Rethinking food aid could also include easy-to-use and culturally appropriate rapid dietary quality tools to collect information of consumption of particular food groups. These tools take at most 5 min to administer and could derive indicators of diet quality and patterns of at-risk populations during and after humanitarian crises.

Supply chain segment

Consumers

Maturity level

Gaining traction

Criteria

Food quality Food availability Food desirability Climate mitigation Reducing biodiversity loss

SDG target

SDG 2: Zero Hunger SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth SDG 10: Reduced Inequality SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions SDG 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal

Context

Urban Peri-urban Rural Marine/Coastal

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