We Can End Malnutrition In Our Lifetime
Penny Oleksiak
Canada’s most decorated Olympian and World Champion Swimmer creating waves of change in Africa.
Penny Oleksiak has partnered with the Thrive team to be an ambassador – raising awareness and funds for the current global food crisis. She has a tremendous passion to make a difference and impact in the world.
Thrive empowers people who can’t afford healthy food to grow their own—in abundance. We train and equip individuals and communities living in poverty to create sustainable, organic gardens for nutrition and income generation.
The hunger for nutrition is universal.
Access is not.
We are on a mission to change that.
The Problem
4 out of every 10 people globally can’t afford nutritious foods.
When people don’t get enough nutrients to thrive and prevent disease, they experience “hidden hunger”—a type of malnutrition that affects billions around the world, including half of children under 5.
Hidden hunger is a leading cause of illness and premature death. It keeps adults from work and kids from school. It orphans too many children. That’s why hidden hunger is a root cause of extreme poverty.
To break the cycle of poverty, we need to end hidden hunger.
Until now, a nutrient-dense diet has seemed out of reach for the poor.
But with Life Gardens, anyone can grow health.
For people in emerging economies, access to nutritious food can change everything.
Health
Preventable diseases linked to malnutrition kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
45% of those deaths are children under five years old. Access to nutrition and disease-fighting food can save around 16,000 lives every week.
Education
Hidden hunger causes kids to miss school.
Less time being sick means more time in class. Not only that, but when their growing bodies are well fed with nutritious, life-giving food, kids are able to focus, study and learn more.
Job Creation
The poorest regions have up to 40% unemployment. When 2 billion people live on less than $2 per day, hope is distant.
However, with health and the skills to generate an income from growing surplus food in a Life Garden, they can escape the vicious cycle of poverty.
Restore The Environment
Industrial food production is hurting the planet. And people still go hungry.
Thrive’s model for growing diverse, 100% organic food is nourishing the planet’s people and the environment — sustainably.
The Solution
How do we tackle hidden hunger?
Simply, through Life Gardens.
Thrive trains and equips people to grow an abundance of healthy, organic, disease-fighting foods and medicinal plants. With knowledge, simple tools, and starter seeds, people who can’t afford to buy healthy food can grow their own – sustainably.
We call the projects “Life Gardens” because they provide a foundation for flourishing. Gardens give people security, health, income, and a future.
The Solution
How do we tackle hidden hunger?
Simply, through Life Gardens.
Thrive trains and equips people to grow an abundance of healthy, organic, disease-fighting foods and medicinal plants. With knowledge, simple tools, and starter seeds, people who can’t afford to buy healthy food can grow their own – sustainably.
We call the projects “Life Gardens” because they provide a foundation for flourishing. Gardens give people security, health, income, and a future.
Thrive and its partners are creating sustainable and lasting change by bringing nutrition and health to people around the world.
Active Community Garden Projects
People Eating
Healthy Food
Value of Food Per Month
Life Gardens changed the lives of Joyce, John, Mara, and Jacob. Read their stories.
“Growing Life Gardens not only lifts individuals out of poverty, it also renews our planet for future generations. Our gardens nourish the soil. Compared to other methods of farming we don’t use pesticides or chemical fertilizer yet we can produce more this way and conserve the environment at the same time.”
– Joyce Juma
“I am very happy that Thrive trained my son. I am a maize farmer myself. When my son came home from prison he told me all about what he had learned. I gave him some of my land and immediately he started digging in a way that I had never seen before. His plants did much better than any of mine. We are so grateful for the knowledge and skills that you have shared. We are a family of 19 and hunger is no longer a problem for us. May God bless all that you do to help people in prison and other communities.”
– John Wasike
“Our lives were the definition of poverty. Myself, my 5 parent-less grandkids and the 5 other orphaned children that I took in. Everything changed when I had the opportunity to attend a 5-day workshop in my community. Immediately I started my own gardens at my home. Every square inch of my property was turned into different areas to grow health. Soon enough we had food. Food that filled our bodies and helped us to feel good. After our first harvest, we had way too much food. I decided to see if anyone would purchase my extra crops. For the first time in my life, I had enough food to feed my family and enough money to purchase a mattress.”
– Mara Jekombe
“Every single month I use to suffer from malaria and allergies. I was very weak, I had muscle pain, chills, fever, loss of appetite, headaches and weight loss. After learning about natural medicine and growing health, my life changed. Within 2 days of using artemisia, my body was completely healed, I never experienced malaria or allergy again. Since 2012 I am a disease-free man.”
– Jacob Lotodo
The Return on Investment
Every $1 invested in Life Gardens can yield $15 in economic returns to a community.
It’s a solid investment. Life Gardens are perhaps the single most powerful tool for ending poverty.
With the right knowledge and simple tools, it costs very little to grow health. But the impact is enormous, rippling out to dramatically improve child development, mortality, economic security — creating brighter futures.
Transport yourself into one of our serene Life Gardens. Experience the life-giving nutrition and abundance that comes from a community garden.
