Canadian Foodgrains Bank releases annual report

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank released their annual report last week, showing they spent $41.6 million on international programming, assisting 125 projects across 39 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Over half of the funding went to food assistance programs, which work to support immediate food needs, generally in response to crises such as the current conflict in Syria. Close to another third of the funding went to strengthen agriculture and farming in areas like Ethiopia and Mozambique.

"Most hungry people are living in rural areas or depending on agriculture in some form or other for their livelihood, " says Foodgrains Bank executive director, Jim Cornelius. "If we can strengthen those livelihoods, it leads to better economic growth, it reduces hunger, and reduces the need for food assistance in the future."

In 2014/2015, the Foodgrains Bank had the most projects ongoing in Africa, however they budgeted the most money for Asia. Cornelius says this is because of the refugee crises in Syria.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, as of Aug. 16, the are over four-million Syrians seeking refuge from civil war. They've fled to areas like Lebanon and Jordan, where Cornelius says they've provided assistance, in addition to areas in Syria itself.

"These are very long-term programs, it's not just two or three months of assistance," he says, "these are refugees that it's going to take quite a while for them to figure out ways to be able provide for themselves in the longer term. So those are quite expensive programs to deliver in that region."

Over the past year, the Foodgrains Bank received over $11 million dollars in donations from Canadians, with Ontario giving the most. Ontario also has the most growing and community projects, with 127 projects throughout the province.