Calculating the exact impact of biofuel production on food price hikes is difficult. Despite the attention to biofuels as a factor in recent price increases, it probably had less of an impact than drought and other factors, said Lisa Kuennen … Continue reading →

As protests over rising food costs spread around the globe, experts warn that high prices are here to stay, and Catholic bishops are calling for governments to take emergency measures to keep their poorest citizens from going hungry. The price … Continue reading →

When Mukwege opens the doors at Panzi Hospital, he knows that at the end of the day, 10 women lucky enough to be alive will have been counseled and had surgery for their injuries. Many others, however, never make the … Continue reading →

Haitians who live on less than two dollars a day rely on food aid and other assistance from abroad. Catholic Relief Services is one of several organizations that seeks to aid working poor, handicapped and other residents.

Catholic Relief Services got a request last week from its partner, Missionaries of Charity in Gonvaives, Haiti, for more money to feed an additional 2,000 people. Currently, the charity feeds 1,200 people a month with lentils, wheat, cooking oil and … Continue reading →

It had been months since she and her husband, Anselm, arrived as volunteers for Catholic Relief Services in the West African nation and they had grown accustomed to the hunger, poverty and daily funerals in the town. But the sound … Continue reading →

Lori Kunze, CRS deputy director for East Africa, says her organization is involved in various anti-poverty and humanitarian programs throughout Africa, including initiatives aimed at providing people with access to clean water, good agricultural practices and emergency relief. But Kunze … Continue reading →

A deepening global food crisis requires not only greater funding for food aid going to hungry nations, but long-term investment to improve agriculture productivity, especially in the developing world, officials and aid groups said on Monday.

As prices increase, desperation is spreading from the slums to Haiti’s working poor, part of the impetus for this week’s demonstrations, said Bill Canny of Catholic Relief Services.

Mark Schnellbaecher, Middle East regional director for the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Relief Services, described the situation as the “flight of moderation” from Iraq because the refugees are Iraq’s educated and middle class.