The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) commemorates World Food Day on October 16, 2010, recognizing the severe lack of access to food in many countries around the world. With more than a billion people going to bed hungry every night, World Food Day refocuses the world’s attention on the increasing need for food assistance worldwide.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), hunger and malnutrition remain the number one risk to individual health worldwide, posing a higher health risk than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. More than 925 million people are currently undernourished globally.

"The needs are urgent and great and require all of us to be able to be as effective, efficient and as united as we can be," said Josette Sheeran, executive director for the WFP.

To answer that call and meet these ongoing challenges of today’s hungry and malnourished, ADRA continues to provide food access for millions of vulnerable people around the world.

In Niger, where severe famine has affected more than 7 million people, ADRA is distributing much needed food, reaching more than 105 villages. To date this intervention has directly benefitted more than 30,000 individuals. According to UNICEF, nearly 860,000 children under age five in Africa's Sahel region are at risk of severe malnutrition. Among the five countries worst affected-Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, and Chad-Niger is the most in need of help with nearly 380,000 children under the age five at risk of severe malnutrition, UNICEF reported.

After the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti, ADRA began distributing emergency food and water within 48 hours of the quake. Selected as one of five lead humanitarian agencies by the WFP, ADRA provided food for more than 10,000 beneficiaries a day throughout the months of March and April. The project was implemented by the Haitian government, in collaboration with the U.N. Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the WFP and other partners.

In Madagascar, ADRA addressed the nutritional needs of more than 18,000 families in Madagascar’s southern region who continue to suffer from food shortages as a result of a perpetual drought. The project distributed more than 4,000 tons of food and provided much-needed agricultural implements to beneficiaries through its ongoing Food-for-Work activities.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the vast majority of the world’s hungry live in developing countries, with 65 percent of those suffering from hunger found in India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s hungry live in Asia. World Food Day was created to raise awareness about global food scarcity, motivating communities to get involved in the fight against world hunger.

ADRA is a global non-governmental organization providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org