Struggle to Survive: The Global Hunger Risk

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Hunger is a social phenomenon that accompanies antagonistic socio-economic formations. There are two forms of hunger - explicit (absolute hunger) and latent (relative hunger: malnutrition, lack or lack of vital components in the diet). In both forms, hunger leads to serious consequences: an increased incidence of infectious, mental and other diseases associated with metabolic disorders in the body, limited physical and mental development, and premature death.

When studying the problem of hunger in the modern world, it is revealed that today about half of the world's population does not have a sufficient supply of nutrients and energetically valuable products in order to lead a healthy, fulfilling life. By UN standards, it is defined as at least 2350 calories per day.

But the most interesting thing is that in 2006 the world produced 17% more calories per capita than 30 years ago, despite the fact that during this period of time the world's population increased by 70%. Francis Lapet, Joseph Collins and Peter Ressett, authors of World Hunger: 12 Myths, emphasize that the main problem is abundance, not scarcity. The planet produces enough food to provide each person with a diet of 3,500 calories a day, and this calculation does not include meat, vegetables, fruits, fish and other products. Nowadays, so many products are produced in the world that each person can get about 1.7 kg of food per day - about 800 g of products made from cereals (bread, porridge, pasta, etc.), about 0.5 kg of fruits and vegetables and about 400 grams of meat, eggs, milk, etc. The problem is that people are too poor to buy their own food. Many hungry countries have an adequate supply of agricultural products and even export them.

According to the UN, since the Second World War, per capita food production in the world has grown by 30%. Moreover, the main growth occurs in poor countries, which usually suffer from hunger - in them the growth was 38% per capita. Over the past three decades, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, humanity has begun to produce 31% more fruits, 63% more rice, 37% more vegetables and 118% more wheat.

Despite advances in food production, hunger still exists and the number of hungry is very high. So, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the following countries had more than 5 million hungry people (see Appendix): India, China, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Philippines, Brazil, Tanzania, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan, North Korea, Yemen, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Mexico and Zambia.

Hunger has caused a slowdown in the development of many countries of the world, as unhealthy and poorly educated generations grow up in them. Men cannot feed their families because of their lack of education, and women give birth to unhealthy children.

A study by UNICEF in Pakistan found that if the food supply for poor families improves, 4% more boys go to school and 19% more girls. It was also found that a farmer with at least a minimal education produces 8.7% more food than his completely illiterate counterpart. Another study from Uganda revealed another important trend - a young man or girl who graduated from high school is 50% less likely to contract AIDS. For those with higher education, the chance of contracting the "plague of the 20th century" is 20% less than that of their uneducated peers. However, the problem of hunger does not only concern people in poor countries. According to USDA estimates, there has also been an increase in the number of people forced to deny themselves and their loved ones food. This is surprising since this country has one of the highest GNI per capita. And at first glance, it seems that this country should not go hungry. But the facts speak for themselves. There are 36.3 million undernourished in the United States, of which 13 million are children.

Another developed country, Japan, on the other hand, differs from the United States. In this country, 1% of the population is undernourished. Australia has the best result. There are no people in need of food here at all or their number is insignificant.

According to the UN, as of December 2008, the number of hungry people worldwide exceeded 960 million, and the number of undernourished, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, today is about 800 million people who cannot get enough food to satisfy even the minimum energy needs. And most importantly, children suffer from this.

According to UNICEF estimates, in the world's poor countries, 37% of children are underweight (when in developed countries most people are overweight, only the United States they make up 64% of its population), which, in most cases, is a consequence of poor nutrition. Malnourished children perform worse in school, leading to a vicious circle of poverty: they are often unable to receive an education and thus cannot start earning more than their parents, resulting in another generation of poor and malnourished children.

Hunger is the cause of death. Every day about 24 thousand people die from hunger or diseases directly related to hunger. The World Health Organization considers hunger to be the main threat to human health: hunger is the cause of one third of childhood deaths and 10% of all diseases.

What are the causes of hunger? They tried to understand this, probably from the beginning of human civilization.

UN statistics show that most cases of hunger in the world are due to chronic poverty that has existed in a given area or region for a long time. According to the World Bank, there are more than 982 million people in the world living on $ 1 or less per day.

Also, natural disasters (for example, drought or floods), armed conflict, political, social or economic crises in 5-10% of cases are the cause of hunger. But the UN believes that, unlike chronic poverty, armed conflict cannot be attributed to the main causes of hunger. The recent economic crisis has hit all countries, and most importantly, their populations. Many people were left without work, which forced them to save on everything, including food, thereby increasing the number of undernourished.

The consequences of hunger are dire, and it is still an insurmountable problem that requires real solutions.

Analysts at Americas Second Harvest, who analyzed similar problems, concluded that the only way to combat hunger and malnutrition is not charity or social assistance, but providing all working-age people with decent wages, which would help prevent both hunger and poverty.

According to UN estimates, virtually all countries in the world have the potential to produce enough food to meet the needs of their populations. However, 54 states of the world (mainly located in Africa) are absolutely unable to feed their citizens. At the same time, the financial cost of programs that will solve the problem of hunger in the world is relatively small. According to the United Nations Development Program, this requires no more than $ 13 billion per year. For comparison, according to the estimates of the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research, in 2003 the states of the world spent $ 932 billion on military needs. And the residents of the USA and the European Union spend about $ 14 only on the purchase of pet food. 6 billion per year.

Also, scientists put forward extensive and intensive ways to solve the problem of hunger.

The extensive path is to expand arable, grazing and fishing grounds. However, since all the most fertile and conveniently located lands are practically already developed, this route is very expensive.

The intensive path consists, first of all, in increasing the biological productivity of existing lands. Biotechnology, the use of new, high-yielding varieties and new methods of soil cultivation are of decisive importance for him.

But these solutions have already been used by humanity and very successfully. After all, they solve only the food problem, and the world already has a sufficient amount of food to provide for the hungry, but only poverty hinders this.

Large-scale measures to combat hunger were taken in 1974 by the UN, where they decided to eliminate hunger on earth in 10 years. In 1979, World Food Day was established. In 1990, the UN General Assembly decided to halve the number of hungry people on Earth by 2015. However, the number of hungry people is increasing every year. In 2008 alone, 40 million people were added to the number of hungry, and it is rapidly approaching a billion, when in 1990 there were approximately 800 million hungry. This means that over 18 years, the number of hungry people increased by 160 million.

This explains why global problems such as hunger cannot be tackled “globally” or even “regionally”. It is necessary to start solving them with countries and regions. That is why scientists have put forward the slogan: "Think globally, act locally."

Based on the material I have studied, I put forward my own ways of solving this problem.

As you know, more than 6 billion people live in the world. If half of the population suffers from hunger to one degree or another, then the other half has enough food, and therefore money that could be donated to help the hungry. To do this, you need to create an international Fund "Help the Needy", where people could transfer a certain amount of money; in order to provide the hungry with food for at least several years. And in the future, the hungry will be able to feed themselves, since providing food will increase the education of the population (as discussed above). People will be able to start earning more and will not need the help of others.

Essentially, global problems like hunger also directly affect each of us as a small part of the entire single and multifaceted humanity. And when we eat, we need to think about those who at the moment cannot do it. And everyone needs to take part in solving this problem.

Such aid is visible in Saudi Arabia. In this country, the rich people help the poor people by paying them Zakat (Donation).

Such a method would solve the problem of hunger if rich people living in each country helped their compatriots in need with money or food. But it can also lead to the fact that people who accept help will simply become parasites. Who doesn't like living off someone else's expense?

It would be wiser to create social canteens and shops in which the poor could provide themselves with food. But, in my opinion, only families with minor children and older people, who in most cases suffer from a lack of food, should be admitted there. After all, every adult is able to work, thereby making money. This means that social assistance should be provided to those who are unable to work.

Since a lot of food is produced in the world today, a large amount of it is not bought and remains on the benches until the expiration date. And then it is destroyed for the sake of commerce, while this food could be sold to the poor at a discount, at least a day before the expiration date.

Conclusion

XXI century, as we know, is the era of high technologies. Humanity has already created robots, flies into space, but such a problem as hunger is still not solved.

According to the study of the problem of hunger, the number of hungry people worldwide exceeds 960 million. It concerns not only poor, developing countries, but is also visible in countries with developed economies, where, at first glance, such a problem should not exist.

It turned out that today there are so many food products produced that you can feed everyone in need. But the hungry are simply not able to acquire them. Poverty hinders this. And this is one of the most important causes of hunger. But the recent economic crisis has also been found to be responsible for a rise in the number of undernourished people around the world.

The most horrifying result of this study is the impact of hunger. There is nothing worse than the premature death of the population, and 24 thousand people die of hunger every day in the world. This means that every minute 16 people say goodbye to their lives because of hunger. But most importantly, children suffer from hunger. The younger generation needs protection and adequate nutrition for healthy development. Indeed, as the study showed, children with food are better at school, which allows them to improve their education and in the future this generation will be able to earn more than their predecessors.

Despite the fact that the UN took action to address the problem of hunger, this did not bring positive results. This means that it cannot be resolved “globally” or even “regionally”. The solution should start with the countries and regions. That is why scientists have put forward the slogan: "Think globally, act locally." And if only to act on this principle, someday this problem will be solved. But today it remains one of the most global, requiring immediate solutions.