The Feed

Stories of Feeding God's Children Hungry in Body & Spirit

FMSC Hunger Bulletin | March 2023

March 29, 2023
Julie Smith
From the Field

Each meal you pack, fund and pray over equips FMSC partners to do transformative work around the world. Hunger relief is usually just part of what our partners do — but food is the foundation for so much more.

Contributing factors to hunger: Tropical cyclone season

In the southern hemisphere, tropical cyclone season is November–April. This overlaps with the region’s “lean season,” during which communities rely heavily on stockpiled food to carry them through the rains.

Like many extreme weather events, cyclones can cause catastrophic damage to critical infrastructure. Flooded roads leave communities cut off from food supplies and can wash away fisheries and farmland. Families are without food in the short-term and have lost essential food sources they were counting on in the following season.

FMSC partners continue to respond to two recent massive cyclones:

Cyclone Freddy | Africa

ForAfrika delivering MannaPack meals in response to Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique

Image courtesy of ForAfrika.

Countries hit: Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi
Storm duration: February 4–March 14, 2023

Cyclone Freddy is the longest-lasting cyclone ever recorded. Freddy rapidly intensified March 1–14, causing severe damage in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi. More than 600 people are dead. Hundreds of thousands are displaced.

Communities that were already facing high levels of food insecurity are now experiencing widespread crop failure. Flooding and damage to critical infrastructure including water, hygiene, health and sanitation systems, threatens to exacerbate the region’s ongoing cholera outbreak.

A representative from the World Health Organization has said, “The cyclone has left an appalling humanitarian situation in its wake … increased and concerted humanitarian assistance is needed.”

Local food prices are soaring, particularly in Malawi, as hunger worsens. FMSC partners are responding on the ground, bringing relief and distributing MannaPack® meals where they’re needed most.

Featured partners:

ForAfrika, Reach Now International, Feed the Hungry

Cyclone Yaku | South America

Buckner International distributing MannaPack meals in Peru in response to Cyclone Yaku

Image courtesy of Buckner International.

Countries hit: Ecuador, Peru
Storm duration: March 7–20, 2023

Cyclone Yaku struck South America in mid-March, bringing deluges for nearly a week straight. Even small amounts of precipitation can cause problems on Peru’s arid coast, where drainage systems are essentially nonexistent.

Thousands of homes have been damaged, as well as schools, medical facilities and miles of road. Flash flooding and overflowing rivers caused mudslides that buried cars and homes. In the ongoing rainy season, nearly 60 people have died.

FMSC partner Buckner International said, “We were blessed to have food on hand, thanks to FMSC, and were able to work immediately with authorities to get it to affected areas.”