2021–22 Report: Bread for the World
2022 donation: $20,000
Donations to date: $240,000
Our donation allowed Bread for the World (Bread) to scale up their advocacy efforts and raise awareness in our government of how climate change makes more people hungry which, in turn, makes our world less stable. Climate change is a major contributor to global food insecurity, especially in low-income countries. Extreme weather events such as drought and floods are increasing, affecting food production, and making it harder for those living in poverty to feed their families and provide a nutritious diet.
In 2022, Bread achieved broad, bipartisan support in Congress for climate-smart investments in agriculture and climate adaptation for smallholder farmers through the Global Food Security Act (GFSA). They also brought a food systems approach – including climate-smart elements — to U.S. and global food and agriculture policy in the farm bill by holding a series of 25 regional farm bill dialogues and more than 100 additional meetings to engage diverse stakeholders, including young adult activists, on climate. And in October, they organized a Convocation on Climate and Hunger with African and European partners — including young adult climate activists focused on Africa — at the Desmond Tutu Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The Convocation was timed to be just ahead of the United Nations international conference on climate, COP27 and the Nairobi participants produced and endorsed a public statement, A Faithful Voice on Hunger and Climate Justice, which will be used to amplify their voice going forward.
In 2023, Bread will advocate for U.S. investments in climate-smart agriculture and food security programs to strengthen long-term food security in the US and around the world. As part of this, Bread will build on their successes advocating for climate-smart policies and investments by highlighting climate-smart adaptations used by smallholder farmers in countries and regions disproportionately affected by climate change. They also plan a series of dialogues with diverse audiences to better understand the perspective of the people working directly with hunger and the impact of climate change, and ensure their voices are part of the solution going forward.
Donation: $200,000
Our donation helped Bread for the World (Bread) scale up their efforts to explain to Congress how climate change contributes to more hunger which in turn makes our world less stable and safe.
In 2020, Bread focused on creating a set of principles to guide their climate-related work and communications going forward. Through a mapping exercise, Bread finalized their policy/legislation niche and drafted their essential message: Slowing and stopping climate change is an essential – and sustainable - component of ending hunger. To Bread, that will mean advocating for universal access to the climate-smart agriculture tools and social protections that create food security by supporting policies that:
- Provide support to people facing shocks such as natural disasters
- Acknowledge climate change as a push factor for migration
- Preserve and prevent further loss of biodiversity
- Put the US on track to ending hunger and malnutrition
- Prioritize racial, gender, and class equity while promoting climate justice
Due to COVID-19, Bread’s plans to identify a climate-specific community from their base was put on hold, but they continue to expand their outreach through social media and webinars. In addition, they signed on to the NGO Climate Compact: Commitments toward Environmental Action and Sustainability 2020-2022 (led by InterAction) and will soon release a paper presenting evidence that climate change has a significant impact on hunger in the US and around the world.
2021 donation: $20,000
Donations to date: $220,000
Our donations supported Bread for the World (Bread) in their advocacy work in the fight to end hunger. Rick Steves' Europe has been proud to partner with Bread for more than 20 years; in the last several years, in addition to our Climate Smart funding, Rick Steves' Europe raised $1 million annually to support Bread's important work.
Our Climate Smart funding is earmarked to help Bread scale up their advocacy efforts and raise awareness in our government of how climate change makes more people hungry which, in turn, makes our world less stable.
In 2021, the federal government was positioned to address climate change for the first time in years, and Bread wanted to help lead the conversation. By creating a grassroots petition, they identified over 900 people who had a shared interest in climate change and ending hunger — forming the foundation of climate-smart, anti-hunger advocates. They also launched their young adult climate and hunger dialogues with two successful Instagram Live events, hosted and attended by Millennials and Gen Z's.
Going forward, Bread will lobby for US investments in climate-smart agriculture and food security programs to strengthen long-term food security in the US and around the world. As part of this, Bread plans a series of dialogues with diverse audiences to better understand the perspective of the people working directly with hunger and the impact of climate change, and to ensure that their voices are part of the solution going forward.
