World Hunger: Causes & Solutions
Food is one of the significant energy sources that all living beings need to maintain a healthy life; every calorie that is consumed matters. A balanced diet covers all the essential nutrients that every individual needs to build a healthy body and a robust immune system to fight off diseases and sicknesses. The world currently has about 4 billion metric tons of food, which is enough food for people to return for seconds. An estimated 7.5 billion people are roaming worldwide, and each person consumes about 1.4 kilograms of food daily. The world must produce at least 3.7 billion metric tons of food annually to feed everyone (Majendie, 2020). Despite all that, 1 in 9 people worldwide would still go hungry each day (Action Against Hunger, n.d.), and about 1.3 billion tons out of the 4 billion metric tons of food goes to waste each year (Majendie, 2020). Understanding the root of the cause is crucial before implementing an effective solution against world hunger.
About 690 million people globally are undernourished; from 2019 to 2020, the number of malnourished people grew by 161 million. In this context, hunger is the suffering associated with lack of food, food deprivation, or undernourishment. Additionally, malnutrition is when one is not receiving enough nutrients from protein, essential vitamins, or minerals. The world is divided into three main categories: wealthy people return to bed every night with a satisfied stomach. Middle-class families sleep with a full half-stomach, and poor households worry about what to put on the table the next day in the late-night hours. Most people living below the poverty line earn a daily income of 1.90 USD or less. Purchasing food would become a daily struggle without considering the proper nutrients that $1.90 can buy alone. Without a good meal can lead to poor outcomes in a work situation where individuals need to work long hours regardless of the amount of salary received. Low pay leads to poor food choices, which results in undernourishment, which in turn causes people to be unable to hold down a job, thus becoming a vicious, repetitive cycle. Poverty becomes prevalent in underdeveloped areas with the economy being unsustainable and the lack of public policies.
Another substantial contributing factor is climate change. Climate change can impact agriculture, food production, and people’s access to food in general. Unpredictable weather changes are overwhelming the world in the form of rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, extreme drought seasons, and other disastrous natural events. It would be difficult for farmers to grow crops during drought season due to a lack of insufficient irrigation. Vice versa, during the uncertain rainy seasons, crops drown in too much water. Both scenarios can cost farmers a season of harvest loss, resulting in little income. During different weather conditions or natural disasters, people would be faced with little or no access to fresh produce. For instance, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many regions of the world suffered from the suspension of international trade, in which the world experienced a spike in food and necessities prices. Consequently, it is similar to adding fuel to the fire by leaving the poorest families more vulnerable to hunger than ever before. A study on the mentioned topic showed that people living in urban areas under the poverty line spend up to 75% of their budget on food alone (CONCERN Worldwide US, 2022). The causes of world hunger are all interrelated, creating many obstacles to ending world hunger entirely.
More and more established non-profit organizations are taking action by helping and empowering communities to unite as one to defeat this global issue that humanity has been facing for decades. In response, the United Nations also adopted the seven sustainable development goals (SDG) in 2015, a universal agreement on taking actions to end or reduce global issues. One of its goals is to end world hunger from the roots of the cause. Organizations such as World Food Programme, UNICEF, Action Against Hunger, and CARE, are some of the leading organizations that are huge contributors to reducing the hungry population. Anyone can be involved in the process of ending world hunger. Simple actions such as reducing food waste by taking appropriate portion shares, conserving water, and educating others can mount up to significant impacts. Through education, more people will become more mindful of global issues such as world hunger which would then motivate minds to take actions to contribute to the resolution. Suppose a more significant number of the world’s population is aware of the cause and conducts simple steps to help prevent or significantly reduce world hunger. In that case, the world will achieve a healthier, happier, and more harmonious lifestyle.
References
Action Against Hunger. (n.d.). World Hunger: Key Facts and Statistics 2022. Action Against Hunger. Retrieved June 18, 2022, from https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics
CONCERN Worldwide US. (2022, May 23). How climate change increases hunger (and why we’re all at risk). Concern Worldwide US. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.concernusa.org/story/climate-change-and-hunger/
Majendie, A. (2020, December 14). No More Hunger: How to Feed Everyone on Earth With Just the Land We Have. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved June 18, 2022, from
