WHATICANDO

Wor
ldHunger
:Real
Ser
iousPr
obl
em

Manypeopl edisagr
eeonwhet herwor l
dhungerisamaj orissueornot .According
totheWor ldBank,morethanonequar teroft heworl
d’spopulati
onlivesinpoverty.That
i
sonebi ll
ionpeopleofthewor l
d’spopul at
ionthatareextr
emel ypoor .Almosthal fof
thewor l
d’spopulati
on,t
hreebil
l
ionpeopl e,l
iveonlessthanamealaday ,whil
ether est
arelivi
ngonmostwhatt heyhav e.Thisi sinnowayf ai
rnorhumane.Accor dingt o
UNICEF,onebi ll
ionchil
drenaroundt hewor l
dli
veinpov ert
y ,and22,000chi l
drendi e
eachdayduet oi t
.Ift
hisisnotapr oblem,whati s?Wor l
dhungeri samaj orproblem
aroundt heworld,andwillcont
inuet obeamaj orproblem untilsomethingisdonet o
preventit.

Pov ertyisoneoftheleadingcausesofworldhunger .Whilenotev er

ypoorper son
i
s hungr y,almostallhungrypeopl e ar
e poor.Pov ertyis an increasi
ng pr obl
em,
especi al
lyglobal
ly
.Thi
sisduet otherisei
nfoodpr i
ces,accordingt
ot heUni t
edNat i
ons
reports.Manypeopl el
ivewithhungerbecauset heydonothav eenoughmoneyt obuy
thef oodt heyneed,ortobuyf ar
mingsuppliestogr ow theirownf ood( TheHunger
Project).Them notbei
ngabl etopurchaseorgrowt heirownf oodmakesi tmor eli
kel
y
thatt heywi l
lbehungry,addingtothenumberofpeopl ewhoar ehungr yar oundthe
world.Pov ert
yhasbeenagr owingprobl
em ,whi chcauseswor l
dhungert obea
growingpr oblem.

Asiahast hemostpeopl esufferi

ngfrom hunger.Itmakesupt wothirdsofthet otal
numberofpeopl esuf f
eri
ngf r
om hungeri ntheworld.Phi li
ppi
nesandVi etnam ar etwo
ofthemostpopul atedcount ri
esinthewor l
d.Thisgreatlycontribut
est othem beingt wo
exampl esofhungr ycount r
iesinthewor l
d.Dur i
ngthey ear sof1958-1962anest imated
15t o30mi l
li
onpeopl edi edduet ostarvati
on( PSA,1990) .Thi
si snomi norissue.Mor e
than15mi l
l
ionpeopl ediedi njustfouryears.Thatisabout10, 300peopl edy i
ngaday ,
allcausedbyt hesamei ssue.Somuchcoul dbedonet opr eventthisfrom bei ngthe
case.Asoft oday526mi l
lionpeopleinAsi aar eunder nouri
shed( Unicef).Whi lethi
s
numberhasgonedownsi nce1990,i tisnowher enearasl ow asi tshouldbe.The
problem isverylargeandneedst obeassessed.Themor epeopl ethatdi e,theless
doctorsandl awy er
swehav einthewor ld.Themor et hatchildrenarehungr y,theless
wor ktheydo.Hungerl eadst odeathandcausesweaknessi nthey outh.

Leadi
ngexamplearechi
ldr
enwhoar ehungr
yar
eproventodowor seinschoolt
han
chi
ldrenwhoar enot.Manychildr
eninschoolsmaynotshow t hattheyarehungr y
becauseiti
sasilentpr
oblem.Mostteacher
sandschooladmi
nist
ratorsmaythinkthat
student sdonotknow t hemat eri
al,ortheydonotappl yt hemselves.I nr eali
ty,the
student scannotf ocusont heirwor kbecauseal ltheycanf ocusoni st henoi set hei
r
stomachsar emaki ng,andt hepoundi ngheadachet heyhav efrom noteat i
ngany t
hing
sincet hedaybef ore,atschool .About5. 5mi l
li
onchi l
drenar eunder fed.Thati s5. 5
mi l
li
onchi ldrenaroundt hewor l
dwhomostl i
kelyonl ygetf edwhent heyar eatschool .
Thismeanst hatwhenchi l
dr engohomedur ingweekends, breaks,andot herday swhi ch
couldpopussuchassnowday s,theydonotgetf ed,andwhent heygetbackt oschool
thef oodt hattheygetmaynotev enf i
l
lthem up–l eav i
ngt hem t ogot her estoft heday,
untilthenextdayatschool ,hungr y.Theylivemealt omeal .Not hi
ngt heyhav egoest o
wast e.Someki dsev ensav et heirmeal sfrom schoolt otakehomet obesur et heyhav e
somet hingtoeatf ordinner, orfort hei
rli
ttl
esi bl
ingswhodonotgot oschooly et.Many
chil
dr enar esetupt ol i
veliket hisbecauseofwhati sgoingonwi t
htheirparent s.There
aremanydi f
ferentreasonsf orthem beingi nthispr edi
cament .

Manypar entsmaybeundocument ed,orincarcer

ated.Thesef amil
iesandchil
dren
wouldmostl i
kel
ybemi nori
ti
es.Mi norit
iesaccountf ormaj orit
yoft hepeoplewhoar e
malnour i
shedaroundt hewor l
d.Thisi sduet omanydi fferentr easons.Somebei ng
unempl oyment,l
owwages, highincarcerati
onr at
es,andlackofheal t
hy,af
for
dablefood
(Cooper).Minori
ti
esar enotablet ogetmoneywi t
houtaj ob, whichcausest hem tonot
beabl etoaf f
ordfoodt oputont het able.Itisthebutterflyeffect .I
thasbecomean
endlesscy cl
e.Thepar entsgeti ntosituationsthatleadt hechi ldrenintogetti
nginto
someoft hesamesi tuati
ons.Ifthepar enti snotmakingenoughmoneyt oprovi
defor
thechil
dren,thechil
drentrytheirbesttof endofthemselves.

Manygov ernment sar oundt hewor ldhavet riednumer oust imes,withnumer ous
differ
entt actics,tomakei tsot hatnoonegoeshungr y.Theyhav eputmul ti
plef ormsof
aidi npl acet oassi stthepeopl eoft heircountri
es,somebei ngfoodpant ri
es,food
donat ions,andev enbi r
thcont roleducation.Thef oodpant ri
esanddonat i
onsar ethere
tohel ppeopl egett henut r
iti
ousf oodtheyneedatl it
tl
eornocost .Thisisami norfi
xt o
amaj orpr obl em.Thef ooddonat i
onsandpant rieswi l
lneverbeenough.Theymayf eed
af ewf ami l
ies,andl owerthenumberofpeopl ewhoar ehungrybyaf ewthousand,but
thatwi llnev ermakeadenti nt hemi ll
i
onsofpeopl earoundt hewor ldwhoar est i
l
l
starvingt odeat hbecauset heydonothav eaccesst ot hef oodt heyneed.Some
count riesof ferbi rthcont r
oleducat i
onaswel l.Thisi stopr eventthepopul ationfrom
growi ng, whi chov er
allstopst hegrowt hofpeopl ewhosuf f
erfrom hunger.Whi lei
tisa
goodef fortandi dea,peopl emaynothav ethemoneyandr esourcestopur chaset he
birthcont rolt heyneed.Bi rthcont r
olcanbeexpensi vef orpeopl etopur chase.The
alreadydonothav eenoughmoneyf orfood,sot heydef i
nit
elydonothav eenough
moneyf orbi rthcont rol
.Thi smeanst hatpeoplewi llconti
nuet ohav echil
dren,andt he
popul
ati
onwil
lst
il
lgr
owaswellast
henumberofpeopl
esuf
fer
ingf
rom hunger
.Leav
ing
theworl
dwit
haseemingl
yendl
essprobl
em.

Allinal
lwor l
dhungeri sav eryreal
,andv eryseri
ouspr oblem.Pov ert
yi soneoft he
mai ncausesofi t
.Mor et hanonebi ll
i
onpeopl esufferf r
om hunger .Wor l
dhunger
affect
sev ery
oneslightl
ydiff er
ent,butoverallt
hesame, chi
ldr
enwhosuf ferfrom hunger
tendtodowor seinschool ,andpayat t
enti
onl ess.Adultswhosuf f
erfrom hungert end
tohav etowor ryaboutt heirchi l
drengetti
ngt henecessar yfoodt heyneedt osurvive.
Minorit
iesusuallysufferthemostf rom hunger,butiti ssti
llamaj orpr oblem among
everyone.Therehav ebeent hingsputinpl acetor ev
erseorst allworldhungerbutnot
manyoft hem actuall
ywor ked.Theonest hatdidwor kdi dnothel pv erymuch.Mor e
thi
ngsneedt obedonet opr eventthegrowt hofwor l
dhunger .Ifnothi
ngi sdone,wor l
d
hungerwi l
lconti
nuetobeoneoft helar
gestproblemst hewor ldf acestoday .