Transforming lives out of poverty

To commemorate International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we're bringing to you the story of Sree Shanaton Kumar Biswas. His story shows that even indirect involvement in ACIAR projects can lead lives out of poverty. 

Transforming lives

The lives of Bangladeshi Sree Shanaton Kumar Biswas and his family have been transformed since he became a machinery contractor. While they once lived in poverty, they now run a successful business and also became land owners.

Shanaton Kumar Biswas, Bangladesh
Image CC BY Conor Ashleigh

This came about after Shanaton took the opportunity to purchase a ‘versatile multi-crop planter’ in 2007 that was being introduced to farmers through an ACIAR project.

World Food Day 2012

The Australian International Food Security Centre (AIFSC) is excited to be celebrating World Food Day 2012. This year, agricultural cooperatives are the focus of World Food Day, highlighting the role of cooperatives in improving food security and contributing to the eradication of hunger.

As we observe World Food Day and acknowledge the one in eight people on the planet who suffer from undernourishment, we can be heartened that the world is making progress in eliminating hunger. The recently released report by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) The State of Food Insecurity in theWorld 2012 has highlighted a decrease in undernourishment in most regions since 1990. 

However, there is still a way to go.  Especially in sub-Saharan African where our Centre is focusing its efforts, where more than one in four is hungry and rising by 2 per cent per year since 2007. The 2012 Global Hunger Index, published recently by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), shows that progress in reducing the proportion of hungry people in the world has been tragically slow.