* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
By Esther Williams
On first impressions, our guest house in Rwanda presented itself as a haven of tranquillity. The first morning we were woken up by a Christian group singing. Bliss, I thought, but everything changed on night two. A cockerel decided to introduce himself - at midnight.
I’ve decided that it’s a total lie that cockerels only cry at dawn. They're definitely nocturnal creatures. At least this one is; he cried on the hour, every hour, like some sort of 24 hour roving cockerel reporter. Not funny.
So, it’s fair to say that I’m a little worse for wear, which isn’t ideal as we have a four hour drive to South Rwanda. But it’s a massive privilege telling the stories of those in the forgotten corners of the world that people in the UK seldom hear.
Millions of people across the world are going hungry as the price of basic foods goes through the roof. The causes are varied. Natural disasters, such as droughts, are hitting harvests and climate change is affecting crop yields. As a result, communities that depend on agriculture for their daily meals and to earn a living are struggling.
Rwanda is no exception. Even though it has made some impressive progress on poverty indicators, particularly given its painful past, people in remote rural areas, like the one I visited, still go to sleep wondering where their next meal will come from.
Melanie Mukamana and her family live in a drought prone area. There is too much sun, she says, and unpredictable rain patterns sometimes cause harvests to fail.
To make matters worse, Mukamana explains that high food prices make it impossible for them to be able to afford food when crops are destroyed by flash floods. Some days she has one meal and on others the family have nothing.
She is hopeful though, as now she is in a training programme run by Tearfund partner Moucecore and is learning new farming techniques. She smiles and says: “One day I will be able to send my children to school and give them food to eat.”
Mukamana’s life will improve. However, it’s scandalous that people in the 21st century are in a position where they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
In November, G20 leaders will meet in France and global food security and food prices should be high on the agenda. Currently, donor money falls short of what is needed to meaningfully reduce hunger.
In December, thousands of campaigners, political advisors and a smattering of heads of state will descend on Durban, South Africa, to continue working on efforts to secure a global climate deal.
An agreement must be agreed to deliver adequate finance to the new green climate fund to help families - like those living in Rwanda and other parts of developing world - adapt to climate change.
The G20 must initiate a long term plan to provide predictable funding to help poorer communities fight food insecurity.
Developing countries desperately need both these meetings not to be another talking shop. World leaders wouldn’t delay if it were their own children and families that were starving, so backtracking on their global climate and food security commitments is not an option.
Esther Williams is a journalist working for Tearfund, the Christian relief and development agency.
