Conversation with Freedom from Hunger President, Dr. Christopher Dunford
28 September 2007, 8:30 AM PDT
As Freedom from Hunger moves towards its goal of reaching three million women achieve self-sustaining victory over hunger in their families, we believe it is important for people to understand how we work to end hunger - for good. Please read the transcript below to see what our President, Christopher Dunford, has to say about how Freedom from Hunger equips women around the world with resources to improve their livelihoods and how we are challenging ourselves to reach more families than ever before.
Read more about Christopher Dunford
Transcript
Freedom from Hunger enthusiast:
What is the goal of Freedom from Hunger day, and why are you having an online "event"?
Christopher Dunford:
A very important part of our work is to help people around the world understand what it is like to live in poor communities where many families are so poor they cannot get enough food to eat throughout the year. And to realize the resilience and resourcefulness of these people, which enables them to use whatever help is offered them to help themselves. Freedom from Hunger Day is a focal point in our ongoing effort to help others see what we see every day around the world. An online event makes it possible to reach millions of concerned global citizens who care for others. Thanks for being a part of Freedom from Hunger Day.
Freedom from Hunger enthusiast:
What has Freedom from Hunger learned from its clients?
Christopher Dunford:
Everything! We have learned how to build self-support programs for the chronically hungry poor by being with the poor and listening and then collaborating with them to find new ways to support their self-help efforts.
Amber:
What advice do you have for someone interested in learning more about microfinance. There are so many different organizations using this tool. Is there a difference in how microfinance works, or are they all similar?
Christopher Dunford:
Microfinance is a simple idea but can be very complex in action. And there are lots of variations. You might read my paper posted for Freedom from Hunger Day at http://www.freedomfromhunger.org/bytes/ffhday/ffhday0830.php or check out some of the websites that focus on microfinance. I particularly recommend CGAP's Microfinance Gateway (www.microfinancegateway.org).
Nancy:
How does a loan to a woman improve the lives of her children?
Christopher Dunford:
When a poor mother or grandmother receives a loan, she has an opportunity to invest in her own tiny business to make money for food, clothing, medical care, school fees, and more. Who do you think she spends this money for? Her children or grandchildren, of course. And even more, she gains confidence when she is able to repay her loan and get a new one if she wants. Self-confidence that emboldens her to do more for her children or grandchildren, with new hope that life can be better for them than it has been for her.
Jimmy Pan:
What have you learned most through your work with Freedom from Hunger this year, and what sort of learning experiences do you anticipate for this coming year?
Christopher Dunford:
We've learned how to challenge ourselves to grow. We've almost doubled our staff in the past year or two, in order to expand our outreach to 3 million women and their families by 2010. But growth is scary. Will donors respond to support our growth? Will our staff and volunteers be able to deal with the strain of a changing organization? Growth means change, and change is always difficult. But growth to reach many more chronically hungry people is our moral imperative. It is why we exist.
Karen:
Can you tell me more about your local partners. Do you have long-standing relationships with these local partners in other countires? How does this strenghten your mission?
Christopher Dunford:
Partner organizations in developing countries are the key to Freedom from Hunger reaching so many people. With a staff of only 35 two years ago, we were able to reach 500,000 women and families by training and supporting about 50 local organizations in 16 countries -- credit unions, rural banks, community service organizations. These are long-term relationships over years of partnership. Initially, we are teachers and funders and then colleagues and co-learners. We provide expertise from a global perspective and they provide expertise from a local perspective. We bring them ideas from all over the world and they bring ideas from the nation, culture, and poor communities and families.
Steven Simonitch:
I know that Freedom from Hunger does a lot of work with rural communities, but what about more urban areas? Is microcredit as affective of a tool in cities and urban areas as it in rural areas?
Christopher Dunford:
Actually microfinance works best in cities, because there is more economic activity, therefore more small business opoportunities. The challenge for microfinance is to serve rural areas, which are generally poorer and less economically active than the cities. Freedom from Hunger specializes in innovating new ways to deliver microfinance services sustainably in rural areas.
David Asch:
What are the plans to take your plan to the communities in California where values, respect and ahistory of decay by the corrosive elements of poverty have reigned?
Christopher Dunford:
We have no plans for California right now. Our microfinance combined with education and linkage to health services has been designed for the very different conditions in very poor, rural communities in developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. A lot of re-design work is needed to adapt our work to serve the poor in California. There is so much to do still overseas to deal with the more severe conditions of poverty there that we haven't been able to turn our attention yet to the USA. Moreover, every organization needs to specialize to some extent to be effective, and there are so many other organizations that specialize in USA problems.
Karen:
Which do you think empowers women more - the financial help or the support groups that are built during the classes?...or is there a unique synergy that requires both components for optimum success?
Christopher Dunford:
Karen, you've answered your own question. Yes, it is the synergy of the financial service, the education and the collective courage of the group that makes for a truly powerful impact for the poor -- information and money in the minds and hands of women is the key to family self-help against chronic hunger.
Wendy Phoenix:
Other than the obvious lack of funds, what are the greatest obstacles to your success in eliminating hunger in the world.
Christopher Dunford:
The lack of faith that no one in the world HAS to be hungry, that global problems can be solved through innovation, collaboration, energy and determination.
Jessica:
What makes Freedom from Hunger different than other microfinance organizations?
Christopher Dunford:
Our unique contribution to the microfinance world is our linkage of education and health services to group-based lending and saving services. Our integrated model of microfinance has inspired many other microfinance providers to follow our example.
Bill Stack:
Do you address diseases? Are water born diseases a problem in India?
Christopher Dunford:
A major reason people are chronically hungry is their poor health, which is often due to water-borne diseases causing diarrhea and more serious problems. So our integration of education to microfinance has emphasized prevention of disease and how to manage illness. India has a LOT of problems with water-borne diseases.
Kim Tackett:
Good morning Chris,
Last week I heard Wangari Maathai (2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Kenya's Greenbelt Movement) make a compelling argument about why environmentalism was so critical for world peace.
Is there a parallel argument for the end of world hunger impacting world peace? To many of us, it seems like the biggest challenge of all.
Thank you!
Last week I heard Wangari Maathai (2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Kenya's Greenbelt Movement) make a compelling argument about why environmentalism was so critical for world peace.
Is there a parallel argument for the end of world hunger impacting world peace? To many of us, it seems like the biggest challenge of all.
Thank you!
Christopher Dunford:
As long as there are more than a billion people who cannot get enough to eat through the year to lead healthy, productive lives, it is hard to imagine the possilibity of world peace. That is one-sixth of humanity. About two-thirds of humanity are living on the equivalent of four dollars a day or less per person. Such prevalence of poverty, even extreme poverty, in a world with so much money and so many resources surely cannot be sustained for long. Whether such iniquity inevitably leads to violence is debatable, but it is hard to believe that our global humanity will not be corrupted and diminshed by tolerating this iniquity as normal and acceptable.
Freedom from Hunger is unique in the world of anti-hunger programs because our goal is self-sufficiency-both for the families and for our programs. We create a lasting solution that doesn't require endless subsidies, and that taps into the entrepreneurial spirit of women living rural areas to end hunger...for good.
If you happened to miss the event you can still check out the transcripts of the live chats, or keep connected by posting on our blog!
Check out these links to learn more:
Freedom from Hunger Integrated Services
UN International Year of Microcredit website
Banker to the Poor (Book)
Creating a World Without Poverty (Book)
"What Makes Microfinance Work" by Chris Dunford (Book)
