Action Against Hunger USA

09/30/2026

Asho trained as a tailor years ago. What she didn’t have was a sewing machine. 🧵

The mother of six lives in Diilin, where most families depend on livestock and other income options are limited. To change this, she joined a local Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) group supported by Action Against Hunger, giving her a reliable way to pool savings and access small loans.

After a successful nine-month savings cycle, Asho combined her group share-out with a project-backed revolving loan from Amal Bank. That gave her the capital to open a small retail shop and buy a sewing machine.

Now, running both the shop and her tailoring business provides a steady, diversified income that cushions her family against climate shocks and means they no longer depend only on their livestock.

The extra income means Asho can now pay school fees for three of her children and put more nutritious food on the table. Savings groups give families a reliable way to save and borrow, and with access to credit, a skill like Asho’s becomes a business.

09/24/2026

Action Against Hunger is beginning to see what could become the worst El Niño-related crisis in four decades across Honduras and Guatemala.

In Chiquimula, part of Guatemala's Dry Corridor, most households recently reported losing most of this year's corn harvest to the drought. Community leader José, who lives in Chiquimula, had already lived through a season of crop failure before this crisis intensified. "I keep going back to them until things get done," he says of his advocacy for his community.

Cash assistance from Action Against Hunger helped his family get through the leanest months. As droughts intensify, that support becomes more critical, not less.

Watch his story here:

09/23/2026

Acting early to protect lives and livelihoods 🤝

As Somalia 🇸🇴 prepares for anticipated El Niño-related flooding, the UK 🇬🇧 has announced humanitarian support to help vulnerable communities prepare and respond.

This will help up to 600,000 people access essential health, nutrition, water, sanitation and protection services, while strengthening early warning systems and helping families move to safety.

By acting early, we can help communities withstand future climate shocks and build long-term resilience.

09/22/2026

In Zamboanga City, Philippines, residents are turning plastic bottles into floating traps that catch trash before it reaches the mangroves, the coastal forests that protect their homes from storms and flooding.

This , we're sharing how communities in Zamboanga and Malabon are restoring those forests through the EARTH project, with support from Action Against Hunger and our partners. As of June, nearly 3 hectares (about 7 acres) of new mangroves had been planted, with 169 community members taking part. Communities have also opened a new waste sorting facility, and they're working with local universities to test simple ways to clean the water, like filters made from bamboo and coconut fiber.

Swipe to hear from Hadija, one of the project's EARTH champions. →

📷 Martina Vercoli, Junie Laguidao, Engel Merl de Villa, Roberto Saballero Jr, Vanessa Matuguina for Action Against Hunger

09/15/2026

A model is only as good as the data that feeds it.

In West Pokot, Kenya, a malnutrition forecast helped drive a county commitment to mass screening, community awareness campaigns, and a formal contingency plan. All before caseloads climbed.

That's what MERIAM does: flags where acute malnutrition is likely to rise up to six months ahead. But the surveys and health information systems behind those forecasts are being cut back. Fewer surveys, less geographic coverage, health systems strained by aid cuts reporting less data.

Timothy Staffa and David Backer of the University of Maryland make the case in Devex: nutrition surveys and health information systems are essential infrastructure.

The infrastructure that enables early-warning humanitarian interventions is facing a structural threat as funding cuts jeopardize the critical data pipelines necessary to anticipate acute malnutrition crises.

In a new op-ed for Devex, Tim Staffa of Action Against Hunger USA and David Backer from University of Maryland highlight how predictive tools such as the MERIAM (Modeling Early Risk Indicators to Anticipate Malnutrition) forecasts where acute malnutrition is likely to spike six to 12 months before it happens.

Currently active in Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan, MERIAM uses climate, conflict, prevalence, and caseload data to help humanitarian partners act earlier — from prepositioning therapeutic food to strengthening community health systems.

But as the authors note, severe resource constraints threaten the very surveys and health information systems that underpin these predictive models. Without a reliable and sustained flow of high-quality data, even the most sophisticated models and computing power cannot compensate for gaps in the information they rely on.

Read the full article here: ➡️ https://dvx.cm/rgxfep

09/15/2026

Floods have devastated Nepal's Trishuli River valley and left many areas unreachable. Humanitarian needs are high, and our teams are working to reach nearly 15,000 people in Rasuwa and Nuwakot.

Swipe to see how. →

📷: Kripa Karki and Shahnaz Rahman for Action Against Hunger

09/10/2026

Acute undernutrition doesn't happen overnight. Our response shouldn't start when the crisis is already here.

Join Tim Staffa at Devex Impact House @ UNGA81 on September 23, to learn how Action Against Hunger uses predictive analytics to forecast acute malnutrition up to 12 months in advance, giving decision-makers valuable time to deploy nutrition services, strengthen health systems, and prevent vulnerable children from falling into crisis.

Register now: https://dvx.cm/q9kxlc

Most humanitarian nutrition responses still begin once a crisis is already unfolding. Predictive analytics could help shift that timeline months earlier.

At Devex Impact House @ UNGA, in partnership with Action Against Hunger USA, Tim Staffa, chief of staff at Action Against Hunger USA, will explore how the organization’s MERIAM initiative uses statistical and machine learning models to forecast acute malnutrition prevalence and caseloads up to 12 months in advance.

The discussion will look at how this initiative of longer-range forecasting can help governments, donors, and humanitarian organizations release funding earlier, plan services before peak need, and better target limited resources.

📅 Sept. 23 | New York + On-demand
👉 Register now: https://dvx.cm/q9kxlc

09/08/2026

For years, Dahab Hashi Aden carried the weight of providing for her seven children alone in Ethiopia's Somali Region.

She worked hard to support her family, but sometimes the money wasn't enough. There were days when her children went to bed hungry, and moments when she feared she couldn't save her malnourished son.

Everything changed when Dahab joined a Village Savings and Loan Association through Action Against Hunger's SheCanManage: Empowering Women to Build Economic Resilience project.

Today, all of her children are back in school; she's growing her business, and she's planning to build a home for her family.

As Dahab says: "Financial security is power. Now I feel like I control my future."

Across the project, 200 women are building savings, investing in businesses, and creating brighter futures for their families through financial inclusion.

Read more: https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/story/now-i-feel-like-i-control-my-future/

09/03/2026

How do you forecast a flood with no storm to track?

In Satkhira District, one of the most climate-vulnerable areas in Bangladesh, tidal surges can happen even without a cyclone, making them harder to see coming.

Through the SURF-IT project, Action Against Hunger is working on a new forecasting approach: drone mapping to track embankments, sensors to monitor water levels, and local knowledge to identify where flooding has happened before. All of this feeds into an AI model built to predict dangerous tidal surges.

Earlier warnings. Earlier action.

09/02/2026

As students around the world head back to school, learning takes many different forms.🌻

In Tanzania, through Action Against Hunger's school feeding project, students gain hands-on experience in nutrition-sensitive school gardens, growing crops like sunflowers that can be processed into sunflower oil for school meals.

The project also equips schools with practical tools for sustainability, including water-efficient drip irrigation and fuel-efficient cooking stoves that reduce smoke exposure for school cooks. Together, these efforts improve nutrition, teach climate-smart agriculture, strengthen local food systems, and build resilience for the future.