Top Hunger News: Niger's Drought Causes Food Shortages

International
“Niger Drought Made Me a Beggar.” Hadja, like more than half the population of Niger, has no food reserves left because of a prolonged drought. [BBC]

Nepal: Disadvantaged Children Missing out on Education. Millions of children from marginalized ethnic families in Nepal are drifting out of education because not enough is being done to keep them in school, aid workers warn. [IRIN]

Drogba, Zidane join UNDP Drive to Kick Away Poverty. The two soccer stars have appealed to the people to join the cause as part of the anti-poverty program through a TV spot. [Sify News]

Domestic
Many in Fishing Communities Accepting Handouts for the First Time. A month into the oil spill, Bernard Johnson sat in his living room in this Gulf Coast fishing village watching news of the crude's slow and deadly seep into the bays and bayous where he has made a living for nearly three decades ... [Miami Herald]

Advocates Say Poor Need Available Free Cell Phones. TracFone Wireless began initiating the phone giveaway in 2008, dubbed by some "welfare wireless" service …. People who receive food stamps, welfare, or other government assistance can qualify by applying to the company. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

Why is Feeding the Hungry So Controversial? The U.S. Senate is expected to pass the Global Food Security Act, new legislation that would significantly expand the government's commitment to combating hunger worldwide with a broad range of measures and more money, and a special coordinator, or "food czar," to oversee implementation of these provisions across agencies. [IRIN]

Black Leaders Urge Swift Federal Action on Poverty. Poverty-stricken minority neighborhoods across America are "zones of pain" in a "state of emergency" that deserve a swift federal response, a group of black leaders said during a discussion on economic recovery at the Rainbow/PUSH annual conference Saturday. [Sun-Times]

Climate Change/Environment
PathStone to Provide Job Training. The “Pathways Out of Poverty” grants, as the funding awards are known, will support programs aimed at helping disadvantaged people into economic self-sufficiency through jobs in energy-efficiency and renewable-energy industries. [DemocratandChronicle.com]