"Food. Farming. Future: Breaking the Cycle of Malnutrition and Poverty" - A Narrative Vision

A current hot topic that is trending through the ONE Campaign and is currently a "hot topic" on their site is the fight to end the cycle of hunger and poverty or at least make a dent in the large number of people, especially children who go to bed hungry every night. Many of these children also face malnutrition and stunted growth because they are not receiving the nutrients they need to live even a moderately healthy life style. The new urge by the ONE campaign and the aid they are asking for from ONE supporters is to sign the petition that will encourage leaders meeting at the next 2012 G8 Summit to improve the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative. This initiative was implemented at the last G8 Summit in 2009 in order to "raise[d] the profile of agriculture and food security on the political agenda" in an effort to increase assistance in agricultural development. The initiative had its major flaws though and did reach the expected outcomes or progress that were needed to make a significant change nor were donors held accountable for the lack of progress because the initiative lacked transparency. This push for an improved initiative that would yield results, accountability, and a follow up on past promises is strong and something that can be seen at the next G8 Summit. An outline of the new and improved initiative reads as follows and this was directly taken from the ONE Campaign website under their Hot Topics Section: 


 the initiative should:

• Create clear goals and outcome targets to reduce poverty and stunting linked to measurable indicators;
• Support small-scale, women producers, sustainable farming approaches, year-long access to markets, and proven solutions to reducing childhood malnutrition;
• Provide a greater role for African leadership, and ensure that traditional donors work with non-traditional donors and recipients to share knowledge and experience;
• Incorporate robust measures to improve transparency and accountability, and establish an independent monitoring and evaluation mechanism; and
• Reaffirm the Rome Principles and improve them by:
• Clearly delineating all commitments, identifying specific, measurable actions for each;
• Aligning each action with widely accepted indicators for measuring progress; and
• Providing full transparency of all spending, interventions and meetings

The entire article on the site about this issue of hunger and the initiative read in a narrative form like those discussed in Chapter 9 of our Persuasion and Social Movements book. In between the chunks of very informative text are posters that provide a simple and clear explanation and analysis of this issue. The real narrative though comes from the different Case Studies that lie in between the text as well. These provide real stories on the effects that hunger and the lack of agricultural development are having on different areas and what is being done to help. From project, other organizations, and investment plans, a better life can be provided for people that are suffering from these issues. Their narratives provide what they were dealing with in the past and project their future with whichever plan or project is being implemented. The ONE Campaign website is also filled with other narratives, videos, and personal stories of those being affected by various issues that the ONE Campaign works to spread awareness about. These narratives provide a story that allow ONE supporters to relate to a cause and face the issue together, as "we." The campaign does a fantastic job of appealing to their supports using narratives filled with emotional and fear appeals that encourage more support and identification, even when the issues may not affect them directly. This Campaign on agriculture and the G8 Summit is just one example.