Concern Blogs

The winner! Ester Jerome (left) receiving a sculpture from Sophia Simba, Minister of Community Development, Gender, & Children. Photo: Isla Gilmore, Concern Worldwide

By Isla Gilmore, Communications and Advocacy Officer, Tanzania

On World Food Day last month, Concern Tanzania took part in a major national event to honor the winner of the ‘Female Food Hero’ prize. Ester Jerome was selected out of 7,000 country-wide entries based on her use of innovative methods of farming, animal husbandry, and food processing; and her work to be a leader of change in the community helping others to tackle the challenges facing small scale producers.

Members of the public voted for their favorite candidates out of 20 selected by the judges and 11 finalists made it to a training camp to learn about improved farming practices, gender, and health issues.

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By Allyson Brown,
Acting Operations Director
for Concern Worldwide US

The Summit on the UN Millennium Development Goals is fast approaching. If we are serious about beating global poverty, the empowerment of women farmers must be high on the agenda. Why?

Did you know that women produce more than half of the world’s food but earn only 10% of the world’s income?  And although women produce up to 80% of food in the developing world, they often are not able to grow enough to feed themselves and their families.

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Mrs Sokhom pictured feeding the chickens that managed to provide her with a lifeline. Photo: Cambodia, Concern Worldwide

I have been in Cambodia for just nine months now, and the hectic nature of the lifestyle in Phnom Penh is matched only by the sheer volume of work that needs to be tackled on a weekly basis.

Then again, I have come to expect this when working with Concern, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It is easy, particularly in an office-based role such as mine, to get immersed in the Mekong-like flood of different things coming across your desk. Read the rest of this entry »