A drop in the ocean or a teaspoon in a teacup?


As a volunteer, I often wonder how big an impact I am making on the problem. Volunteers have a good understanding of their immediate work and the people they are helping day-to-day. While that is very rewarding, sometimes I wonder how big the problem of hunger really is, and is my contribution (in the form of time or money) a drop in the ocean or a teaspoon in a teacup?

I have found some good data sources, which I will study and present in the next few blogs. Today, we look at data from the UN Refugee Agency  - it has collected stats about refugees to/from various countries for the last 60 years. Here are some interesting graphs about USA.

There has always been a stream of incoming refugees, with a large increase starting in the 2010s. In the last 60 years, there have been 4.5 million refugees. US population is about 332 million, making refugees ~1.4%, not counting children born into refugee families. These refugees get public benefits for 90 days, after which they are mostly on their own. So, they have about 90 days to find a job, house, get a car, and get kids settled in school, while also sometimes learn to drive and speak English.


 
The 4.5 million refugees over the last 60 years have been from various countries around the world.
 

The above chart shows the same data for the last 22 years (instead of the last 60 years). Refugees over the last 22 years have also been from various countries around the world.

Looking closely at two countries (Afghanistan and Ukraine) to see how the few recent wars have affected the influx of refugees into the US.

The above graph shows that the end of the War in Afghanistan in 2021 displaced a lot of people, and thousands of those people are trying to find a new home in USA.


The above graph shows the impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict. While many of us are familiar with the recent (2022) invasion and can understand the recent upward trend, the conflict has been going on since 2014, which explains the spike between 2014 and 2018.

The above data clearly demonstrates that conflicts lead to displacement of people. This leads to poor conditions and ofcourse hunger [source], which is something I will try to get more data about. Stay tuned...

Sources:

  1. Wasted Food Facts
  2. Surplus Food Data Insights
  3. Food Waste and Climate
  4. UN Refugee Data Finder
  5. Estimates of Homelessness in the US
  6. Hunger and Conflict
 

Please comment below for any suggestions you may have.

 

Subscribe to the newsletter. 

#NoHungerNoWaste 

#NHNW 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How can you help?

Image
I have received an overwhelming response from this community with willingness to help. You can donate food, money or your time by helping at these places: Place Address Types of donation accepted Dates/Times of operation Little Free Pantry San Pedro Dr, Fremont CA 94536 Canned food, grains, snacks Any time. Do not disturb residents. Fremont Feed the Homeless - a group of >650 volunteers fundraiser link nextdoor group link Monetary Donations and Volunteer Services - join this group N/A TCV Food Bank 37350 Joseph Street, Fremont CA Monetary donations and Volunteer Services Weekdays - morning and afternoon shifts Centerville Presbysterian Church 4360 Central Ave, Fremont, CA 94536 Food and essentials like juice, canned, and tissues , Monetary donations and Volunteer Services Thursday volunteer shifts: Thursdays 9:30-11:30, 3:...
Read more

Where and how do refugees settle?

Image
My last post shed light on the volume of incoming refugees, and people who have applied for asylum. A very small percentage of them actually end up being refugees incoming countries have a limit on the number of refugees they can take. For example, USA's limit for 2022 was 125,000 [ source ] while 250,000 people applied for asylum that year. These refugees settle in many different states - the top ones being Texas, Washington, Ohio, California and New York.   Source: https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-refugee-resettlement/   In June 2022, I had attended a webinar hosted by the Newark Library highlighting the struggles that refugees and local organizations face when trying to settle Afghan refugees that were displaced when the Afghan war ended. They Bay Area local organizations were equipped to resettle ~70 refugees every 6 months. This number aligns with the graph above - if CA sees about ~1400 refugees per year, that is ~700 every 6 months - and Bay Area be...
Read more