About Us
In the 1950’s, Ireland was both a relatively undeveloped country and politically introverted. Emigration was an unfortunate and large scale fact of life. For Development NGOs however, Ireland’s very strong missionary tradition established through the efforts of our many priests and nuns was one positive during these hard times.
From 1960 onwards there was a sea change in political attitudes within Ireland and we began to become a much more outward looking society. As a reflection of these changes the Government responded to a call from the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), of which Ireland was an active member, to become involved with a major initiative to tackle hunger in the world’s poorest countries. The Irish Freedom from Hunger Campaign began in 1960 under the auspices of the Irish Red Cross Society. In 1965 gorta, the name deriving from the Irish word for extreme hunger, was founded under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture as the agency with responsibility for tackling hunger through small scale agricultural development projects in the developing world. The original relationship with the Department of Agriculture remained in place until 1979 when it was transferred to the Department of Foreign Affairs. Over the following years, there was rapid growth in gorta’s overseas work and in the public’s understanding of its brief. FAO continues to highlight its strong commitment to the elimination of hunger with World Food Day which is held in mid-October every year and which gorta hosts in Ireland.
From its formation, gorta’s approach to the reduction of poverty and the elimination of hunger has been through helping people in Developing Countries grow their own food. In the early years the main focus of its attention was NE and SE India, especially the state of Kerala. Direct support was given for a variety of small projects centered on such issues as the improvement of cattle breeds – there was even an early shipment of pedigree dairy stock to raise milk yields in the local herd near Hyderabad – development of small-scale farmyard enterprises such as poultry rearing, the provision of clean water to villagers, the supply of nets and marketing training for fishermen and later micro-credit for farmers.
Whilst addressing the typical problems besetting poor communities was often quite straight-forward, over the years gorta has recognised that although the fundamentals of its approach to hunger remain the same, it must also be adaptable to the vast array of new challenges emerging. This adaptability is reflected in its vision which is “a world where there is no hunger and where the poorest communities have the means to create a prosperous future for themselves and their children”.
The challenge for gorta today remains constant and unremitting – tackling where it can the injustice that permits over 850 million people in the world to go hungry every day. This number is expected to grow considerably even by the end of 2008 due to massive food price inflation. gorta is also keenly aware that almost 70% of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas, many of whom are struggling to survive on ever diminishing plots of land.
Although the African continent, where most of gorta’s activities are concentrated, covers a substantial land mass, it has limited land available for cultivation. As a result of intense farming methods land is often exhausted and with growing populations, pressure on productive land is significantly increased. As a result, gorta’s main area of focus over the years has increasingly become food security.
While international aid to agriculture declined dramatically after 1980, gorta has consistently worked to encourage a self help approach to increase agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers and pastoralists. Wherever possible, improved methods of crop and livestock production are promoted to increase yields. Other activities include agricultural training, linking farmers to trained agricultural advisors in Africa, and working with smallholders to promote farming as a business, including better storage, processing and marketing. Hand in hand with this focus on agriculture, gorta also emphasises water security including water management and water harvesting, essential both to agricultural production and in enabling people to gain the most from the food they consume. It now seems that the Development Aid wheel has gone full circle and agricultural production is back centre stage with the international community.
Taking into account the changing fabric in rural Africa over the years, gorta’s well established development approach has been to promote diverse and innovative rural livelihoods alongside agriculture which allow rural populations to successfully adapt to challenges or opportunities that arise. As well as increasing their own food supply directly, rural populations will be able to increase their income and thereby their access to food.
At all times gorta strives to achieve ecological, financial and social sustainability and places the interests of women, who make up the main body of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, at the centre of its work. However, at the same time, the close involvement of men and of the entire family unit is essential. Finally, gorta addresses health issues such as HIV and malaria as integrated components of the food and water security programmes to round off its highly practical approach to tackling hunger.
