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Thank You, Teachers, For Paving the Way to Zero Hunger!

on  September 25, 2019

When we look at the wide range of contributors involved in accomplishing our efforts to end hunger around the globe, it’s difficult to think of a group of people more critical to this work than teachers.We know that ending hunger starts in the classroom, where school meals incentivize attendance and teachers provide the essential tools for self-sufficiency and breaking the cycle of poverty.It’s not surprising that time and time again, we hear from children who receive Rise Against Hunger meals that they hope to become teachers when they grow up. Even from a young age, these students understand the important role their teachers play in changing the futures of their communities.Sharon, a 7th-grade teacher in a dusty city borough outside Lusaka, Zambia, was one such child. As a little girl, she remembers coming to school and receiving meals between attending classes in second grade. She quickly connected with Dorothy, the volunteer principal who remains the leader of her school today. Because of Dorothy’s devotion to her students years ago and commitment to creating opportunities for them, Sharon has returned to the school to pay tribute to her, not only repaying her kindness but also continuing her legacy of hope.Smart, age 12, also lives in Lusaka, where proximity to large sewer retention pond, flies and disease-carrying mosquitoes lead to high rates of illness and disease. Life began to change for Smart when he was given the opportunity to enroll in the Family Legacy Missions International school. At school, Smart receives a quality education and a Rise Against Hunger meal for lunch each day. He says one of the best qualities of the Rise Against Hunger meals is the packaging — the sealed package ensures that the food is safe from contamination. Smart hopes to become a teacher someday because he understands the importance of education and wants to help others benefit from the same quality of education that he has been fortunate to receive.The community of Imeristiafindra, Madagascar, is home to 12-year-old girl Maminiaina and her teacher, Mamihantaniaina. Mamihantaniaina says she loves her job as a teacher because she loves taking care of children and hopes to give them a brighter future. She also hopes her school and community will be a model for its neighbors in terms of school academic performance, hygiene and environmental status. Maminaina says she wants to follow in her teacher’s footsteps.On World Teachers’ Day, we cannot begin to express our gratitude to those who are dedicating their lives to lifting up their communities through education. Please join us in celebrating and supporting teachers across the globe! Donate now to provide school meals and hope to kids worldwide.

About the Author

Maggie is Rise Against Hunger's Director of Marketing and Communications and has been a team member since 2016. Maggie works to spread the word about the mission to end hunger and to engage people globally to take action.

More Posts by Maggie Luckadoo

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.