Thom launches food crisis campaign

12:35am Thursday 16th October 2008

Pop star Sandi Thom has launched a campaign aimed at easing the food crisis in developing countries after meeting impoverished families in Africa.

The Scots star gave her backing to the Oxfam World Food Crisis Appeal, which is trying to raise £15 million in a bid to help people in the face of soaring food costs.

The donations will pay for international development and humanitarian work on food and agriculture.

It will also be used in the charity's campaign for changes to trade and agricultural policies, which it claims are hitting poor farmers.

Thom, from Macduff in Banffshire, has just returned from a visit to Malawi, in southern Africa, with the charity to see the devastation caused by the food crisis.

The singer, who shot to fame with the song I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker, met families receiving aid from Oxfam.

She said: "My visit to Malawi opened my eyes to the extent of the poverty and the harsh reality of how some people live and how rising food prices are affecting them.

"You have to ask yourself what you would do if you were in the situation many Malawians face - if you had a family to feed but the prices were doubling or tripling. The people I met in Malawi, and many millions like them around the world, need people here to show generosity when they need it most.

"I urge and plead the public to make a donation."

Oxfam Scotland's Malcolm Fleming, who visited Malawi with Thom, also called on the public to donate. He said: "The world food crisis is hitting the poorest hardest. Women and children are especially vulnerable. Many of the people we met in Malawi were already down to one meal a day and it is expected things will get worse in the months ahead, with food prices possibly rising further still."

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