The Condition

Hunger is defined as physical craving for food. Figuratively, it is used to mean need for something other than food.

The term hungry pertains to having an appetite or a state where one is ready to eat a meal. If a person does not consume food for a period of time, the hunger pangs become more severe and it becomes very painful. Extended period of hunger will force a person to eat anything such as grass and soil to feed their hunger. Doing this is actually counterproductive or produces a negative effect since energy is required to digest the substance. Eating substances without nutrients could lead to malnutrition such as Kwashiorkor and marasmus. Rabbit starvation is a predicament where one’s diet caused acute malnutrition even if the victim eats quantities of food daily. The prolonged malnourishment may lead to death.

Sometimes hunger is a medical condition where an organism uses its protein tissue such as muscles to produce energy. This occurs after all sugars and fats are consumed.

Fasting just like hunger is a state where people do not eat for a period of time. But unlike hunger fasting is voluntary. A hunger strike is often used to protest peacefully.

Hunger and its Social Implications

It is a basic human need to eat at least three times a day. But we are all aware of the fact that some people are not able to do so. Some can manage to eat twice or once daily. But the less fortunate ones could not eat a decent meal at all. Everyday is a huge struggle for them to put food on the table. Millions of people are affected with this widespread phenomenon worldwide. World hunger is simply too prevalent to ignore. Most of the victims of hunger unfortunately are the ones who need food the most. These marginal members of the society affected by hunger involve children, aged person, sick and the poor.

Their hungry state made them all the more pitiable. And it isn’t enough anymore to turn a blind eye to the growing reality that more and more people are hungry everyday. Extreme hunger drives people to do extreme measures such as living a life of crime. Desperation for food drives some people to vanquish all thoughts of morality to be able to address their immediate need for food. Hunger, after all, is no longer an individual concern but a social problem, a stigma that requires solution.

Due to this growing concern within the affected society several persons, organizations, and nations spearheaded campaigns to end poverty.

Causes of Hunger

There is no food shortage in the world. Yet the prevalence of hunger prompts us to look deeply. What could be the probable causes why malnutrition and hunger affects one of every seven people worldwide?

The United Nations World Food Programme took a closer look at the issue and arrived at the following causes:

• A number of people don’t have the financial means to secure food
• Several people live too far from the food market or are found in areas that are inaccessible
• Some poor people do not have a place to plant or have the tools needed to grow crops for their consumption
• Some people who have the means to grow food are afflicted by other external factors such as insects, drought, floods and war that prevent the growth of crops
• Some people do consume food everyday but still suffer from malnutrition because of lack of knowledge on the necessity of balanced diet such as cereals, vegetables, meats, dairy products and other items.

After coming up with the causes, United Nations World Food Programme and other aid organizations worldwide come up or implement measures to counter world hunger. These include the following:

Solutions

• Countering famine by providing food to those who need it in emergencies
• Alleviating poverty by helping poor people find jobs or train them for money-making ventures;
• Information drive to educate people on well-balanced diet;
• Helping make farming more productive to be able to supply enough food the world’s growing population

Individual Action Against Poverty

• Volunteer time and efforts to help the hungry in your community this may include cooking at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter or donating canned foods to a local group
• Information drive by creating websites devoted to hunger issues to be able to raise awareness about hunger in community
• Writing and calling local and national politicians to help make legislative acts to counter hunger
• Establish or sign up for a group that helps the hungry.

Politics of Hunger

Hunger continues to be a problem that plagues societies everywhere. In a study conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations revealed that, “850 million people worldwide were undernourished in 1999 to 2005, the most recent years for which figures are available”. And the number grows by the day. The orange awareness ribbon signifies the need to raise awareness on hunger.

Despite technological advancement and scientific breakthroughs, hunger continues to persist. Politics is one angle that people believe to have contributed to the problem.

Organizations such as Food First confront the issue on food sovereignty. They believe that every country on earth except some city-states is capable of producing crops that could feed its own people. But the prevalence of hunger problem is undeniable and persistent despite the obvious capacity of every country to eliminate hunger.

It was found out that the “free trade” economic order brought about by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank prevent countries to address hunger problems effectively. The World Bank, on the other hand, exerts that it is part the solution not the problem because the best way for countries to eliminate poverty and hunger is to establish export-led economies that will enable them to earn money to buy food on the world market.

Amartya Sen garnered the 1998 Nobel Prize due to his work in showing that hunger is caused not by lack of food; rather, it occurs due to the inefficiency of food distribution networks or from policies government in the developing world imposed.

Hunger in the World

Food and Agriculture Organization has come up with the following date of undernourished people (million) in 2000-2002:

Country Number of Undernourished (million)

• India 250.4
• China 142.1
• Bangladesh 42.5
• Democratic Republic of Congo 35.5
• Ethiopia 31.3
• Pakistan 29.3
• Philippines 17.2
• Tanzania 15.6
• Brazil 15.6
• Vietnam 14.7
• Indonesia 12.6
• Thailand 12.2
• Nigeria 11.0
• Kenya 10.3
• Sudan 8.5
• Mozambique 8.5
• North Korea 8.1
• Yemen 6.5
• Madagascar 6.0
• Colombia 5.7
• Zimbabwe 5.6
• Mexico 5.2
• Zambia 5.2
• Angola 5.1

World Food Programme

The World Food Programme (WFP) is branch of the United Nations, headquartered in Rome, Italy which functions to distribute food to long-term refugees and displaced persons. It also served to support development projects and as emergency food assistance in situations of natural and man-made disasters.

Development projects comprise less than 20% of WFP programmes since their efforts are now geared towards emergency and long-term refugee situations. The WFP exists primarily on donations.

In 2000, around 3.5 million tons of food aid was distributed to 80 countries by the WFP which costs US$1.7 billion. 93% of this food donation came from the following 12 donors:

1. USA $ 796 Million.
2. JAPAN $ 260 M
3. EU $ 118 M
4. NETHERLANDS $ 63M
5. UK $ 60M
6. AUSTRALIA $ 54M
7. CANADA $ 52M
8. GERMANY $ 47M
9. DENMARK $ 42M
10. NORWAY $ 33M
11. SWEDEM $ 31M
12. FRANCE $ 26M
13. OTHERS $125M

Conclusion

World Hunger is a problem that needs to be addressed. It does not only affect the hungry individual, it affects the society as well. It is time to take action and help eliminate the problem that afflicts millions of people worldwide. Extending a helping hand may not only feed the hungry or prevent crime but more so, in the ultimate act of humanity, save lives.