Hunger and poverty-What can you do?

Child hunger and poverty is close to my heart and I know for sure many people feel the same way. 

Such hunger is not due to a shortage of food. Globally there is enough to go round and if (a big if) we make the right decisions now, we can continue to feed the world despite population growth and climate change. There is sufficient capacity in the world to produce enough food to feed everyone adequately; nevertheless, in spite of progress made over the last two decades, 821 million people still suffer from chronic hunger. What a shame?

By no means I’m an expert in hunger and/or economy. Many people like myself, want to eradicate this epidemic. Living here in the US and abroad, I learn that politics, severe climate (especially flooding), conflicts, rigged food distribution, lack of rural infrastructure and unreliable local agencies have major effect on how and where food go. Beyond the ethical dimensions of this complex problem, the human, social and economic costs to society at large are enormous in terms of lost productivity, health, well-being, decreased learning ability and reduced fulfillment of human potential.

The causes of poverty include lack of resources, unequal income distribution in the world and within specific countries, conflict and hunger itself. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that about 815 million people of the 7.6 billion people in the world, or 10.7%, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2016. Almost all the hungry people live in lower-middle-income countries. There are 11 million people undernourished in developed countries. We saw 42% reduction in the prevalence of undernourished people between 1990–92 and 2012–14. Despite this progress, in 2016, the global prevalence of undernourishment has been rising. 

Children are the most visible victims of undernutrition. It is estimated that undernutrition—including stunting, wasting, deficiencies of vitamin A and zinc, and fetal growth restriction (when a baby does not grow to its normal weight before birth), is causing 3·1M child deaths annually or 45% of all child deaths in 2011 (UNICEF, World Health Organization & The World Bank, 2018). Undernutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria. The estimated proportions of deaths in which undernutrition is an underlying cause are roughly similar for diarrhea (61%), malaria (57%), pneumonia (52%), and measles (45%) (Black 2003, Bryce 2005). Undernutrition can also be caused by diseases, such as those that cause diarrhea, by reducing the body’s ability to convert food into usable nutrients. According to United Nation, the number of people suffering from hunger climbed to 8-year high in 2017 as extreme and erratic weather, conflicts and economic slowdowns limited food availability.

It is almost impossible not to get emotional when 1 child would die every minute from extreme hunger in conflict zones this year, and recently we heard again that starvation is being used as a weapon of war around the world. This is nothing new, mass starvation killed more than 3M people in Stalin-era Ukraine in the 1930s and more than 18M in China during Mao in the late 1950s and early 1960s. 

The right to food is an unconditional human right and legal entitlement for all people, not a discretionary option. According to UN, estimated 70M people in 45 countries currently require emergency food assistance, a 40% increase from 2015. Perhaps now more than ever, we need to “depoliticize” hunger issues in “ALL war zones”, and prosecute any military or government who are deliberately starving people, especially women and children. Bombing civilian targets which cause a famine is absolutely a war crime. Trying to starve a city is also a war crime. Generally bombing any area with no military targets, or cities which are not defended and do not produce military hardware, is a war crime. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to bring war criminals to justice today, as winners are basically never taken to trial.

As a collective society we need to rise above it all and eradicate hunger. Delivering this goal is not a technocratic exercise. Success will require us to challenge power and vested interests. Are governments – rich and poor – prepared to take on vested interests? those who profit from maintaining global conflicts or those elites who get ahead in an unequal world? Will civil society have the ability to combat these vested interests and hold governments to account?

We have to watch out for a certain hypocrisy where rich governments are happy to share responsibility but not to share the power and control of resources that poor countries will need. 

For example, in areas of the world where social relationships shape access to resources, the ability for women to be active contributors to society must be encouraged. Sending girls to school and feeding them and investing in infrastructure would help them to feed themselves. By focusing on resources that specifically address the needs of women, we strengthen their access to nutrition and assets at the same time. Researchers claim that 60% of hungry people are women, and in contrast women own less than 20% of privately-owned land. Women also tend to spend more money on food and education for their children than men do, and educated women are more likely to value education than their male counterpart. Educating women increases the chances that their children will be educated, and education is the number one tool to lift people out of poverty and hunger.

Majority of African farmers are less productive than a US farmer was 100 years ago. This is and still remains the number one setback facing majority of small-scale farmers in Africa, and as a result of this, majority of them miss out on current and improved methods of farming. One solution could be supporting and training small farmers as a potential solution to future food security. A combination of aid, education in low-tech methods such as better rice planting and irrigation, and the introduction of better seeds and fertilizer could spark a green revolution in Africa, such as the one that transformed South Asia in the 20th century.

Developing countries can cut hunger sharply, through cash transfers to poor people, raising the minimum wage and investing in smallholder farmers (especially women), who both produce food, and are some of the poorest and hungriest people. This has been done with some success in Brazil.

Locally speaking, every time I go to a restaurant and I witness how much edible and good food is being wasted and thrown into trash. What a waste? Order less food and if you are still hungry, have more. Take the remaining food with you and eat it later or share it with someone who might be hungry.

Each of us, in our own way, can lend a hand to help eradicating hunger:

• Support disaster relief, sustainable agriculture projects, clean water initiatives or have connections to provide aid such as clothing, food, and medical supplies. 
• Local churches, mosques, soup kitchens, shelters, and even government organizations will take donations of food to redistribute to the needy. Find one that matches up with who you’re looking to help.
• You don’t need to wait for a food shelter in order to distribute food items to people that you know are in need. Buy healthy food that doesn’t require anything to be prepared and take it to homeless people that you see in your daily activities. For example, buy a bunch of bananas and hand them out to the homeless people downtown.
• Many businesses will do donation matching. Talk to your HR or CEO about getting your business involved if they aren’t already. This will mean that any money or goods you do donate will be matched by your employer, effectively doubling the amount of good that you do.
• Figure out ahead of time where you can donate the inevitable leftover food. Work with your school or work cafeteria to make sure that unused food is donated to a food pantry. Many people don’t know this and as a result are hesitant to donate their extra food. 
• Educating people on proper nutrition, sanitation and hygiene so they stay healthy is crucial to addressing food insecurity. 
• Food banks, food pantries, and other non-profit organizations that fight hunger depend on grants and donations. Because food banks purchase food in bulk and at discounted rates, a donation of one dollar can purchase $20 worth of food.
• Instead of a regular dinner party, host a Hunger Banquet at your school or home. Have discussions about solutions to poverty and hunger issues with your friends. Help bring the issue of food insecurity into the mainstream.
• Start gardening and encourage others to help! Give a new friend some broccoli and they’ll have some food for the day. Teach this friend to garden and they’ll grow food for a lifetime. Providing some food for volunteers in exchange for their help with your garden is a super way to reduce food insecurity today and tomorrow.

Check out sites like the United Nations World Food Program to learn more about the hunger situation in the world. Also The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also do good work on educating about world hunger.