World Hunger at Our Door Steps: Causes and Solutions to resolve the Global Hunger Crisis

Hunger is an instinctive feeling that should be no stranger to us all; of the 7 billion people on this planet, most people have probably personally experienced it at least once or twice in their lifetime, no matter which part of the earth we reside. Nevertheless, it may still come as a surprise for many to learn that as recently as 2017, there were a staggering 811 million people who did not have enough to eat on a regular basis(“World” 18). Globally, one in nine people have suffered from persistent hunger, making this a worldwide crisis.  Furthermore, according to Action Against Hunger, the statistic has been continuously rising over the last three years, with the number of undernourished people rising by roughly 160 million from 2019 to 2020, implying that the problem will continue to grow if no action is taken.

 

Causes of the Global Hunger Crisis

Hunger leads to malnourishment, and stunted growth in children, and consists of serious impacts on individuals’ energy as well as productivity, greatly preventing the fulfillment of individuals’ full potential in life. The Global Hunger Crisis is caused by three major factors: food inequity, environmental hazards brought on by climate change, and conflict.

Food Inequity
When people think of the causes of hunger, poverty is the most immediate factor that comes to mind. The international poverty line is defined as “living on less than 1.9 dollars a day”(“What” 2) . Though this may not appear to be a large sum of money to many, currently, 37.25 million people live below it only in the US. However, the root of the global hunger crisis is complex, and the truth is that money is not the only problem. Intertwining factors such as unequal distribution of food that are byproducts of poverty and income inequality are the true culprits behind this crisis. Today, the world has enough food to feed everyone, but statistics from UNEP imply that 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted annually, accounting for nearly one-third of all food produced globally each year, which is enough food to feed 3 billion hungry people. However, they are not being distributed to areas where it is needed the most. This is especially so in the under-developed and rural parts of the world, where distributing food to the hungry becomes more difficult due to lack of transportation, infrastructure, and increased crime rates.

Environmental hazards caused by climate change
Climate change, in addition to poverty, is a major contributor to the global hunger epidemic. Climate change adds to world hunger by increasing the frequency of natural disasters such as floods and droughts, which severely deplete food supplies over long periods of time. In fact, the frequency of natural disasters has risen in the last 25 years. According to the World Bank, climate change could push up to 100 million people into extreme poverty and hunger by 2030. People most in danger of hunger live in rural areas, where agriculture is their primary source of income. These are also the same people who are most vulnerable to risk when changes in the environment bring natural disasters, causing them to lose these sources of income and not be able to buy enough food to avoid going hungry.

Conflict

“When war hits, hunger strikes harder” (“How” 1). War and persecution are by far the leading causes of hunger; data from National Geographic indicates that 60% of all starved people lived in areas of conflict, and in 2020 alone, 80 million people have been uprooted from their homes by conflict. When violence erupts in a local area, the resulting infrastructure destruction sends shockwaves throughout the region, creating food scarcity as imports are ceased, while inflation makes food difficult to afford, pushing millions of innocent lives only into starvation, according to CNN. Of these, the most affected are women and children, as they are the most vulnerable groups during times of violence and instability, where those living in conflict zones are more than twice as likely to suffer from malnutrition as those living in peaceful environments(“Gender” 3). Conflict also causes greater unrest and the development of extremist organizations, which extend conflict, producing a negative cycle that generates more conflict and hunger.

 

Solutions to the Causes of Hunger

One of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is to eliminate hunger by 2030; in order to achieve this goal, viable solutions to food crises caused by inequity in food distribution, environmental risks caused by climate change, and conflict must be in action.

Farming Improvements to Solve the Hunger Crisis
Increasing income without doing the same for food directly leads to disaster, as this would only increase food prices, leaving those on lower incomes even more unable to afford food costs. To truly solve the issue of food inequity, the production and distribution of food need to be improved. Since most people who are hungry live in rural areas where agriculture is their primary source of income, the best approach would be to assist them in improving their farming methods. This has already been tested and proven in 17 African countries, evidence from the UN demonstrates that they have helped local farmers in ways such as combing traditional sustainable agricultural techniques and modern farming methods, which have greatly improved crops for 730,000 households in the past 20 years.

The success of these efforts can be demonstrated in the USAID initiative in Kenya, where smallholder farmers in areas of drought have hit and raised their crop production. In addition, many of the crop growers in this program, through skills gained from their training, have increased their access to markets and made such high yields that they are now selling surplus crops to the UN World Food Program to help feed and educate other communities in the same situation. Due to a lack of education, many individuals in rural areas are unable to receive the right information to aid in the proper and successful production of crops. As a result, teaching effective knowledge and skills to these people can improve agricultural yields, increase income, ensure that they have enough food to eat, and spread knowledge and ideas to help other communities, creating a positive impact that spreads from local to even national communities.

Solving Food Crises through Sound Governance that Anticipates Environmental Threats

“Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. And climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable,” says UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Climate change is an imminent crisis that cannot be fully avoided as it’s not controlled by humans. However, its effects on hunger can be minimized. This is evidenced in how the World Food Programme and The Hunger Project have set up workshops and help centers in rural communities in India and Peru to teach local citizens how to prepare in advance for natural disasters and provide them with solutions to ensure that even if disaster strikes, enough food could be supplied to these regions for temporary relief until long-term solutions are developed. Ms. Zhao, a woman who lived through the Great Famine in rural northeastern China in the 1960s, said that when drought hit the region, causing massive crop death and severe food shortages, spoke with the author of this article about the importance of increased government awareness and solutions. Because the local government had not adequately prepared for the drought at the time, residents in her area were forced to rely on anything they could find to feed themselves, such as grass and tree barks, causing many to become severely emaciated and die. However, today, with technological advancements such as weather forecasts and better administration strategies, natural catastrophes such as droughts may now be predicted ahead of time, and food storage and disaster relief centers provide crucial support to regions most vulnerable to climate disasters. These strategic solutions exemplify that improving management methods, leadership, and raising awareness of solutions are all critical components of resolving hunger that arises from environmental conflicts, so that when places face similar problems in the future, they will be better equipped to know what to do, resulting in the reduction the consequences of malnutrition.

Resolving Hunger through Promoting Peace

To combat hunger caused by conflict, actions taken toward promoting peace must be implemented. One potential solution is presented in the U.N. World Food Programme, which has been in operation for more than 50 years. For example, in the Food Assistance for Assets program, young people in communities with food insecurities can participate in projects that involve rebuilding key infrastructure like roads and restoring agricultural resources through planting trees and crops in exchange for food rations or cash transfers. Such programs aim to strengthen social cohesion and reduce competition and conflicts over natural resources like food and water, as well as provide economic opportunities for young people in areas that have been torn due to war so they do not use violence and crime to fight for food. These ways can avoid famine, save lives in emergencies, break the destructive cycle of violence and food insecurity, and give hope to people disillusioned by the war.

 

In the effort to address the global hunger crisis, many challenges stand in its way. Today, conflict is on the rise, and so are extreme weather conditions and food inequity. These problems manifest from local to regional and global levels, and their prevalence is increasing with time. As a result, if we are unable to put an end to these issues, the UN Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030 will not be met. However, opportunities aided by technology and greater access to information today provide solutions found in agriculture, governance, and peacekeeping. These factors can effectively reduce hunger with greater efficiency than in the past. Overall, the hunger crisis is a major global issue on which the world should put greater emphasis, beginning with more mindfulness of food wastage in our daily lives and progressing to developing local, national, regional, and international strategic measures to tackle the problem.

 

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