You might have read that Angola is in the process of emerging from an extremely protracted civil war. In an attempt to secure peace and economic stability, Angola announced a plan to expand farming that could feed the country and attract $6 billion in agriculture investments over the next 5 years.
With arable land of 35m hectares – an area the size of Germany – Angola used to feed its own people as well as satisfy world demand for coffee, sisal, bananas and sugar before the outbreak of a conflict that raged for nearly three decades.
Today it imports more than half its food and only 10 per cent of productive land is cultivated. Keen to diversify the economy away from the oil that has brought rollercoaster expansion since a 2002 peace accord and reduce dependence on foreign food, the government is in the early stages of discussions with leading agriculture investors from Brazil, Spain, Canada, the US, Argentina and its former colonial power Portugal, Joaquím Duarte Gomes, head of planning at the agriculture ministry, told the Financial Times.
The $6bn target by 2013 – compared with total non-oil foreign direct investment of $924m last year – is ambitious. Business people in Luanda complain of graft and labyrinthine bureaucracy. It takes 119 days to set up a company, according to the World Bank, more than double the regional average.
Move over Washington University! You may have had vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden in St. Louis for the debate, but ONE Webster had the ONE Campaign Tour Bus! Sporting a giant ONE logo and blasting great music, the ONE Campaign tour bus attracted students as we tabled throughout the day to promote our vice presidential debate watch party that evening.
Not only did we have the bus, but former Missouri Governor Bob Holden put on a pre-debate analysis with a panel of experts from universities across St. Louis. We packed Webster’s Sunnen Lounge with 170 people. After the chairs ran out, people piled in around the sides and back.
I figured the current economic crisis would dominate the debate, but I wanted [ONE to be there to] make sure everyone remembered those who have been living in an economic crisis their entire lives.
Thank you to all of the ONE Webster volunteers and our co-sponsors: Holden Public Policy Forum, Webster Rock the Vote, College Republicans and College Democrats.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:06 am | posted by Weldon Kennedy
At September’s special United Nation’s Summit, we had a chance to show a short video to a group of world leaders at the Secretary General’s reception. The film - “Celebrate, Accelerate” - marks the progress on the Millennium Development Goals to date and encourages further, faster commitments going forward.
This week a very special guest came to visit Minnesota from the other side of the globe. Pastor Lawrence Temfwe, the Executive Director of Jubilee Centre in Zambia, along with Jason Filleta of Micah Challenge came to Minnesota to speak out for those who are struggling against global poverty and preventable disease.
The trip started with a meeting, along with 5 other local ONE members, at Congressman Jim Ramstad’s office with Heather Renner, the Director of Communications and Relations. We had lunch with some local members in Minneapolis to answer questions and encourage action. We then had a meeting with Rev. Nancy Maeker of the Minnesota Council of Churches and Acting Director of A Minnesota Without Poverty. Following, a meeting with Kathy Stinchfield, Development Director, Mike Llyod, Executive Director, and Richard Proudfit, Founder, of Kids Against Hunger in New Hope. He also attended a prayer supper in Saint Paul with local faith leaders educate and motivate attendees to practice what they preach, as he has said with local church leaders in Zambia. Jason Filleta talked about Micah Challenge and the resources that they and ONE have including ONE Sunday material, to use to engage their congregation to participate.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:01 pm | posted by Brian Sweeney, ONE Volunteer, Jonestown, Pennsylvania
Hello from Pennsylvania! On October 1st, ONE volunteers Dan Donmoyer, Abbey Fisher, and I convened at Mayor Stephen Reed’s office to witness him declare our capitol city of Harrisburg a ONE City! The Mayor also agreed to be an ambassador for our ONE Vote ‘08 platform. Mayor Reed was very informed on our issues and understood the importance of helping those most vulnerable in the world.
He also added that it is certainly in our country’s best interest to lead the fight against extreme poverty because things that happen in foreign countries can affect us here at home. Our volunteers were very happy and excited to witness this historic proclamation. AND this is just in time for Tuesday, October 7th when the PA state legislature will declare October 16th as “ONE Campaign Day” in Pennsylvania!
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 am | posted by Chris.Scott
Now that we’re all back on campus, a lot of us have steered away from that healthy summer lifestyle and plunged into the unhealthy world of junk-food. And, even though our campuses are usually in no shortage of pizza, candy, and chips, Sacred Heart University students pulled together to fight poverty even as we’re putting on some extra pounds.
Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream has teamed up with ONE to create the Cheesecake Brownie flavor, which after a little bit of creative partnering on Sacred Heart’s part, is now available at all of our dining halls for purchase by the pint! Each container has lots of great information about the ONE Campaign on it and is filled with some fantastic ice cream!
Steve, our Official Ben & Jerry’s ONE Model
ONE Webster did beat us to the punch by writing a post about it last year, which is what sparked our interest, and also helped us turn the ice cream into instant advertising 24/7! We’d encourage all campuses to try and get this great little snack on their campuses. Since SHU’s dining service already carries Ben and Jerry’s other flavors, it was an easy partnership, but get out there and ask! For more information on the flavor, visit http://www.one.org/benjerry/.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:50 pm | posted by Maisie.Pigeon
It’s time to kick off a new year of the ONE Campus Challenge, and we’re calling all students, alumni and college fans to sign up under your favorite school’s banner on our OCC website.
I’m Maisie Pigeon, ONE’s Student Coordinator, and I’ll be managing this year’s OCC—a good-natured competition between universities to see which school will be the national champion at tackling extreme poverty.
Our quarterback is three-time Super Bowl winner and two-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. An active ONE supporter since 2005, Tom visited health clinics, schools and other life-saving projects in Ghana and Uganda in 2007 with ONE. Hear what he has to say about OCC at:
Last year, more than 1,400 colleges and universities competed through seven months of rigorous activism, awareness-raising and action-taking. OCC students signed up over 33,000 ONE members, took 182,000 actions, and convinced campuses, cities and even states to declare their support for ONE. And they engaged candidates including Barack Obama and John McCain on the campaign trail, getting them to pay attention to and talk about global poverty and disease.
In January, the 100 top schools sent representatives to the Power 100 Summit, an exciting three-day conference in Washington, D.C. They heard from leaders of the global anti-poverty movement and influential members of the Democratic and Republican parties, and joined forces through workshops and forums to become smarter, stronger advocates.
This year’s ONE Campus Challenge is going to be even better, but we need you to help your school get started. Sign up here.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:34 pm | posted by Emily.Stivers
The October 7th debate between Senators Obama and McCain at Belmont University in Nashville will be a town-hall format in which the candidates will have to field questions on any topic from the audience and the internet. That gives you a really unique opportunity to submit your own ONE Questions for consideration. You can do so by following this link to the MySpace “My Debates” forum:
In the last 2 weeks, we’ve gotten an astounding 120,463 signatures for our “Just ONE Question” campaign, demonstrating that well over our goal of 100,000 Americans believe global poverty is a critical issue Obama and McCain should address in a major media forum.
We hand-delivered about 103,000 of those signatures to debate moderator Jim Lehrer’s office in Arlington in advance of the debate. We’re disappointed Lehrer didn’t ask our question, but our momentum is still going strong and now we’re shifting focus to the next debate: October 7th in Nashville, moderated by Tom Brokaw.
If you haven’t signed on, please sign the petition by clicking the link below.
This weekend, thousands of college students from throughout the state of Pennsylvania walked Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the heart of Center City to get college info, learn about local non-profits, and buy from vendors at Campus Philly College Day. Many sought out the ONE table when they saw others walking around with the white wrist bands.
Lots of students took ONE posters to hang in their new dorm rooms. The majority of those who signed the declaration to lend their voices to the campaign excitedly offered to volunteer for ONE in the future!
October 1st, 2008 at 3:30 pm | posted by Chris.Scott
Check out this post from Habitat for Humanity’s Jeanette Stoltzfus about World Habitat Day next Monday!
-Chris Scott
As UN-Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stated, “There are many other billions of people suffering from lack of affordable housing– all the facilities which make our lives decent. We must work together and generate the political will to have a smooth implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and I will work very closely, and harder than before.”
Monday, October 6th is World Habitat Day 2008, which makes this an ideal time to address the global housing crisis and think about the more than 1.6 billion people who suffer from some sort of shelter deprivation. Habitat for Humanity is engaged and we need you to join us.
Without access to adequate shelter, clean water or sanitation, upwards of 10 million people die each year from preventable diseases. In some parts of the world, entire families face forced eviction from property or land they own. But clean, decent, stable housing for everyone is not beyond reach if, starting today, we get energized and get involved…
Partner with Habitat by building, educating, or advocating on World Habitat Day.
Email us at worldhabitatday@habitat.org with your questions, comments or suggestions.
On October 6th 2008, raise your voice, along with Habitat, and take a stand for everyone in need of adequate housing in cities, towns and rural communities in the U.S. and around the world.
-Jeanette Stoltzfus, Habitat for Humanity International
The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, volunteers, members and coalition partners.
The content of each post and each comment represent the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the ONE Campaign or ONE Action. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any posts expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
