6 October, 08:30 - ‘We can’t start without coffee’
We’ve already driven one hour from Coro, the capital of Falcón state where, in July, after 46 years, the World Food Programme (WFP) marked its return to Venezuela with a new school meals programme.
Brenda Lopez* pulls the legs of her husband’s jeans inside out and rolls them up as tightly as she can. Juan shoves them into a small grey shoulder bag along with two shirts and some underclothes.
A land-locked country in East Africa, Uganda produces more food than it consumes. Yet, poverty still limits people’s access to nutritious food, especially in the north and east of the country.
The Land of the Thunder Dragon is also a land of contradictions. Although over 60 percent of Bhutan’s population works in agriculture, the country still depends on imports for around 50 percent of its food.
This is partially because, despite lush green hills, just 2.6 percent of the tiny Himalayan nation’s land is arable.
“COVID-19 has affected thousands of families’ access to affordable, nutritious food,” said Md. Akram Al Hossain, Secretary, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Bangladesh Government.
Japanese national Itaru Furuta has been in Yemen since August 2018 working from the southwestern city of Ibb as a programme policy officer for the World Food Programme (WFP).