The U.S. Department of State has produced a video narrated by actor Matt Damon to discuss why food security and combating global hunger is an urgent foreign policy objective, not just for the current administration, but for the entire international community.
“Every 5 seconds a child dies of hunger. Each year we’re losing 6 million children,” says Damon in the video. "That’s more than the population of Manhattan and Paris combined. Today, some of us wake up to a full meal, while others wake up to nothing. We may live in different worlds, but we share the same planet. And what affects some of us now, may affect all of us tomorrow.
“Without action, climate change will cause widespread decreases in crop yields. For every one degree rise in temperature, we get a 10% decline in agriculture production. Water shortages threaten to reduce the global food supply by more than 10% in the next 25 years.”
The Department is actively engaging the public about the implications of global hunger and food insecurity. This video was introduced to help answer these questions in an accessible way not just for the American population, but to be used as a tool around the world.
“If we don’t work to counteract these effects, we will lose our ability to grow enough affordable food on our planet. By 2030, there will be an estimated 1.8 billion more people to feed. Instability and political unrest rise as food becomes more scarce.
“See the future – feed the future – change the future.”
To view the video, click here.
