World hunger could be the biggest single risk to global health. Over 800 million people are faced with the crisis of hunger. Most of these people are in Asia, Africa and Southern America.
The United Nations have defined hunger as a period whereby the populace is under attack of food insecurity leading them to starve for an entire day or more due to insufficient funds and inability to access food. Food security is associated with the availability of food resources as well as access to food.
With recent light thrown on world hunger as a menace, efforts (with undeniable impact) are being made to terminate food insecurity. Numerous non-governmental organizations are focused intently and specifically on fighting hunger in a myriad of ways. Probably, the most popular is the World Food Programme – an agency of the UN that delivers food assistance to places of emergency, implements school feeding programs and enables communities to focus on nutritional and healthy feeding. This organization employs staff from vulnerable regions, thereby reducing poverty in the nations they serve.
Organizations like One Acre Fund, Caritas International, Seed Programs International, AIARD (Association for International Agricultural and Rural Fund) and CNFA (Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture) focus on supporting farmers and giving them access to training and tools to improve productivity. WhyHunger and Caritas International address root causes of hunger such as racism, sexism and poverty, with an aim to ensure accessibility to food. Food For The Poor and Penny Appeal USA target regions most affected by hunger. Edesia Nutrition and Feed the Children address malnutrition among vulnerable groups.
Ironically though, food produce across the planet is discovered to be more than enough to feed the whole planet yet a massive number of people sleep with empty stomachs. World hunger is attributed majorly to poverty. Evidently, the poorest countries top the list of those that suffer from hunger. Systemic problems like poor public policy and low investment in agriculture play a part in food shortage in most countries. Recognizing this, a lot of countries are creating and implementing policies that advance agricultural practice and increase food production. Nigerian Agriculture Cooperative and Rural Development Bank, Development Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry are wholly owned by the Nigerian government, and were designed with short, medium and long-term facilities to support the agricultural sector. These efforts made by the government are to transform agriculture and boost the economy.
However, according to this article by Kenya Prime, there is still limited progress to eliminating hunger and malnutrition by 2050. The efforts highlighted above show the recognition of World Hunger by organizations and governments alike as a problem that requires urgent attention, but the policies and actions to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and to reduce poverty and economic distress need to be intensified and perpetuated. World hunger has to be addressed from the angle of each of its causes.
References:
- https://www.wfp.org/publications/2019-hunger-map
- https://kenyaprime.com/world-hunger-fact-2020-all-you-need-to-know/
- https://www.concernusa.org/story/top-causes-world-hunger/
- https://www.irglobal.com/article/impact-of -selected-agricultural-policies-and-intervention-programs-in-nigeria-1960-till-date
This article was written by Priscilla Adai