Top Hunger News: New U.N. Agency Addresses Women's Rights

International

After 65 Years, a U.N. Agency for Women. ...The General Assembly on July 2 created a new agency dedicated to promoting women's rights and involvement in development, peacemaking, politics and economic activity. [The Nation]

Prevent the Sahel's Next Food Crisis. Another food crisis is unfolding in West Africa's arid Sahel region, putting 10 million people at risk of hunger. Preventing such a scenario, or even better, avoiding it altogether, would be a noteworthy goal. [IRIN]

Asia Needs More Farm Investments to Feed Hungry. Asia and the Pacific, home to two-thirds of the world's 1 billion hungry people, need increased investment in agriculture of $120 billion a year for the next 40 years to contain hunger and future spikes in food prices, United Nations and Asian Development Bank officials said Wednesday. [Bloomberg Businessweek]

Domestic

Special Savings Accounts Can Help Break Cycle of Poverty. Programs provide matching funds for the poor who put money away for expenses such as education, a home purchase, or starting a business. [The Baltimore Sun]

Poverty, Dropout Rates Bode Grim Future for State. Forecast shows Texas incomes plunging if nothing is done. [The Houston Chronicle]

Marriage Loses Ground as Anti-Poverty Panacea.The Bush administration pushed marriage as a panacea for fighting poverty but a recent government study confirms the view of skeptics who say money problems must be solved first, since they destroy and destabilize relationships. [Women's eNews Inc.]

Climate Change/Environment

Rice and Climate Change. Rice plays a central role in feeding more than 3 billion people, including most of the world’s 1 billion poor, and any significant negative effect on rice production caused by climate change would be devastating for efforts to achieve global food security and address poverty. [IRRI]