It is another day at college. You just got finished with your morning classes, traveling back to your apartment to make lunch. On your way home, you are thinking to yourself what you would like to have for lunch because your stomach will not stop grumbling. You arrive home and you cannot find anything to eat, but you are so hungry. You stop to think to yourself, you are not starving. The hunger that you are feeling is not even close to the pain that individuals experience on a daily basis. The realization makes you appreciate how fortunate you are to be able to afford food. Some people want to fly airplanes or want to travel the world; I want to help end world hunger. I believe world hunger can be solved.
World hunger is a serious problem in today’s society, not only in the United States, but also different countries around the world. There are many different definitions of hunger. Hunger is defined as, “the uneasy or painful sensation caused by the want of food” (Understanding). The definition of world hunger is the “want or scarcity of food in a country” (Understanding). After understanding these different definitions of hunger, there are many problems that are associated with hunger.
There are six main problems that are associated to hunger. Those six issues are poverty, conflict, natural disaster, climate change, lack of access, and a lack of education. The main problem in countries is poverty. Many individuals who live in the global poverty line of $1.92 cannot afford nutritious food. While not being able to afford nutritious food it can leave individuals mentally and physically ill and not able to work to make money, so that than leaves them in poverty. Conflict is another big issue when it comes to hunger. When governments cannot agree on issues, leading to war with other countries it can hurt many individuals. When conflict arises it can disrupt economies and markets causing food situations to become scarce. (Problems)
We all have to deal with natural disasters. When an earthquake hits a community or hurricane it can become devastating. The natural disasters can take out farms and infrastructures, leaving those individuals’ homeless, jobless, and hungry. With these natural disasters comes flooding or drought with climate change. These weather conditions make it hard for crops to be grown, especially those smaller farmers who do not have the technology resources available to them. (Problems)
Another problem that can cause hunger is the lack of access to any food. There are individuals who are physically limited and have economic issues. This can make it difficult for individuals to find the nutritious food they need. The issues are mainly in remote areas of the world with roads and markets that are insufficient for proper distribution. I feel all of these problems can come from a lack of education. Without literacy skills, clear understand of nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene, the poorest individuals in the world are trapped in poverty and hunger. (Problems)
Since we discussed the problems that are associated to hunger, let’s discuss areas that are suffering from hunger in the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) the majority of world’s hungry people live in developing nations (Food). After a steady decline of hunger, hunger is now back on the rise affecting, 815 million people who do not get enough food to eat in a day. That is 11 percent of the world’s population. Majority of those hungered individuals are from Asia, Africa, and Latin America & the Caribbean. In Asia 520 million individuals, 243 million in Africa, and in Latin America and the Caribbean have 42 million individuals who are suffering from hunger (Food). To compare that to the population in those countries its 11.7 percent in Asia, in Africa 53.9 percent, and 6.6 percent in Latin America & the Caribbean of individuals who are going to be suffering from hunger in the developing years.
I researched a case study over climate change and how it is associated with hunger. Over the next few years’ hunger is going to continue increasing because climate change is going to rise, causing the likeliness of global food potential and production to reduce (Hunger and Climate Change). This is really associated with marginalized economies. As I discussed above that climate change is a problem with hunger; flooding, droughts, and natural disasters are becoming more frequent. This is causing unpredictable growing seasons for farmers, so they are becoming vulnerable to the climate change we are experiencing.
According to the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CGIAR) more than 3 percent of Africa’s land will be useless by 2050. On that land they will lose the production of maize. In South Asia the rice production is going to decline by 14 percent, 10 percent in East Asia and the Pacific, and 15 percent in the sub-Saharan of Africa. This is a lot of food products we are going to lose over the next 30 years. This loss of production is going to cause an increase of prices on food between 32-37 percent. (CGIAR, Hunger and Climate Change)
Geography is also associated in with climate change. Small island states have been experiencing hassle with agricultural production, dry seasons, or high rainfall for many years now. In Latin America, the reduction of yield for their most important crops, such as fruits, coffee, and cocoa, is expected to drop by 4.6 percent. The decrease of food availability for individuals in Latin America is expected to drop by 300 calories a day, causing 1.4 million more individuals to go hungry by 2050. By 2050 there is an expected count of over 1.6 billion people to go hungry, as the wheat yield is presumed to drop by 50 percent. In Africa the food availability for individuals is suppose to drop 21 percent. These percentages we are seeing is horrible because they are only causing the amount of individuals who experience hunger to raise more. (Hunger and Climate Change)
There are many solutions when it comes to solving world hunger. Often many times people go hungry, because the nutritious food they need is unaffordable. Individuals who live in wealthier countries spend a small part of their income buying food, where as in poorer countries individuals spend a significant amount of their income buying ingredients for meals (Counting the Beans). An example of this is that an individual who lives in New York may expect to spend 0.6 percent of their income on ingredients, where as an individual may spend 155 percent of their income on ingredients in South Sudan (Counting the Beans). For a country that has been in two different wars with each other, over 382,000 citizens have died, and they have had famine & disease outbreaks, this country is one who cannot afford nutritious food. A person going hungry does not only start with individuals not being able to afford food with their income.
A solution is bettering agriculture production in developing countries. In the discussion above that Asia, Africa, and Latin America & the Caribbean are losing agriculture land for food production. There is enough food in the world that is produced to feed everyone (World Hunger). In these developing countries, the farmers who are farming are not able to produce enough food or quality food, from a lack of technology. These farmers are also ones who cannot afford the new technology to yield more production. To help these farmers produce more for their countries, there needs to be better organizations that farmers can get involved with that will provide them with better machinery and technology to produce more food for their communities. The technology can also help with better soil quality and planting quality for seeds to grow. Not only do farmers need the technology in developing countries, but they also need connected to secure markets. Getting connected to markets that these producers are able to sell their products in will help with money being brought back into their families (Unite). In Kenya, smaller farmers are receiving help through the USAID, by selling their crops to the UN World Food Program, so they do not have to compete against large farmers (Relief Web).
Many individuals who are hungered do not understand the importance of health and nutrition. It is important that they are educated with the proper nutrition and sanitation & hygiene qualities. When people adapt to the right behaviors of cleaning their bodies and preparing food it can really make a difference in their health. The country Zimbabwe has implemented latrines (toilet or outhouse) and hand washing stations, as well as, developing trainings on how to properly use soap and water (Relief Web). Sometimes it is better to start small and work your way up the chain to help individuals with hunger.
In developing countries many times they do not know how to manage the natural resources they are gifted with, which then causes disasters to the land. If you have poor management on your land, such as allowing livestock to overgraze it, it can degrade that farmland, making it hard to earn an income. In Ethiopia, farmers are being equipped with tools to help their communities to build vitality, so they can better the land for droughts or other crises (Relief Web).
Overall, I feel the most important solution is meeting the needs for the individuals who are really struggling from hunger. It is important to provide assistance to communities who are in crisis. Many of these people who experience hunger are living in countries that are struggling to come back to their feet from a natural disaster. It is important we get nutritious food to those individuals as soon as possible. After an
Ebola outbreak hit Sierra Leone, from generous donors they were able to get back to their feet with cash donations and food donations (Relief Web).
In conclusion hunger is a huge problem that needs to be solved quickly, but effectively. It is going to be a long process to end world hunger, but I believe it can be done. The worldwide community has all the material needed to prevent and fight hunger, yet there are individuals starving everyday even when there is enough food produced in the world. We need to find a solution to end wars, find better agricultural practices, and find a way to distribute food equally to developing countries. Do not stand-alone, start contributing today.
