Creating Brighter Futures and a #BalanceForBetter This International Women’s Day

on  March 8, 2019

On International Women’s Day, we are calling attention to the fact that women are more likely to be food insecure than men in EVERY region of the world. As Rise Against Hunger works toward a hunger-free world by 2030, we recognize that it can’t happen without empowering girls and women towards brighter futures and reaching their full potentials. We believe this change happens by keeping girls in school, providing them equal access to resources and empowering them to achieve their dreams, setting examples for others along the way.For Raghiema, a 4-year-old girl in South Africa, a daily meal at school means her parents are more likely to continue to send her to classes to further her education. Through the Rise Against Hunger school feeding program, Raghiema’s teachers have witnessed a transformation from an often-sick child to a joyful girl excelling in school and leading her peers. With your support, girls like Raghiema look forward to a future where nutrition and education are foundational.For Dracier, a 22-year-old in Haiti, the dream of becoming a nurse is closer to becoming a reality thanks to an agronomist hired by Rise Against Hunger who is teaching people in the community how to farm. Because of these classes, Duracier now grows a variety of produce and plans to support her and her mother with the money she makes from selling her harvest, giving her the chance to pay for and focus on her nursing education. With your support, we can provide further access to new farming techniques which give women like Duracier the opportunity to generate and sell more competitive produce at their local markets, opening doors to even brighter futures!Since her first competition at age 10, Arielckis, an aspiring swimmer in the Dominican Republic, has demonstrated the discipline and talent it takes to be an amazing athlete, but her lack of access to nutritional foods hindered her development and wellbeing. Now 18 and receiving regular meals from Rise Against Hunger’s in-country partner, she is stronger and healthier, setting her eyes on the opportunity to swim in the Pan-American Junior Championship. Because of your contributions, girls like Arielckis can grow into strong, healthy women who aren’t held back because of limited resources.For every donation and meal packaged, there is a story of impact and a chance for girls and women around the world to succeed and press on toward brighter futures. This International Women’s Day, invest in the futures of women around the world who are the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

About the Author

Jessica Hubacher has served on the Marketing team at Rise Against Hunger since September 2017. As the Marketing Communications Specialist, Jessica manages and assists with the Rise Against Hunger digital strategy.

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.