Hunger Project

AFRICA - In nine countries in Africa, THP's Epicenter Strategy mobilizes clusters of rural villages into "epicenters," which band together 5,000 to 15,000 people to carry out community-led, integrated strategies to meet basic needs. Community members at epicenters create and run their own development programs across sectors such as food security, nutrition, health, education, women's leadership, income-generation, and climate resilience. At the end of 2023, 78 epicenters had declared self-reliance after a multi-year partnership with The Hunger Project, meaning over 1.2 million community partners are now living in a self-reliant community where they have the confidence, capacity, and skills to act as agents of their own development and continue to make sustainable progress. In addition to epicenter sites, special project sites across Africa also utilize The Hunger Project's core mobilization methodologies in community mobilization and leadership development for sector-specific outcomes, such as community reforestation, nutrition, meaningful access to internet, inclusion of people with disabilities, water and sanitation, land conservation, and agricultural entrepreneurship.

EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY - THP's program activities prioritize educating and mobilizing individuals and organizations to create commitment among a critical mass to a world without hunger and to transform thinking in centers of power. This includes public awareness campaigns around international days of significance like World Food Day, International Women's Day, and a special day created by The Hunger Project, World Hunger Day. It also includes hosting events and workshops and participating in national and international forums to promote gender-focused, community-led approaches to development, as well as the importance of systems change efforts that are holistic and address the root causes of hunger.

SOUTH ASIA - In India, THP works with empowered women interested in being elected to local government positions to meet the development needs of their communities. Across six states, The Hunger Project supports the leadership development of women leaders in local village councils (panchayats), each of them champions for gender equality, social and economic development, and nutrition. THP's Adolescent Girls Program teaches girls life skills, their rights, and the importance of active citizenship. In Bangladesh, THP mobilizes local "animators" (trained volunteers), youth, women leaders, and local government representatives across 166 unions, encompassing nearly 2,850 communities, to support peaceful, effective local democracy and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Community partners design and implement holistic, bottom-up strategies focused on nutrition, active citizenship, peace, income generation, climate resilience, girls' rights, and more in order to achieve the SDGs in their communities.