Science 20
Billion facing chronic hunger
Jack Parker Science Editor Last year, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) estimated that 1.02 billion people are undernourished and many are in a state of constant hunger. This is a body of people that represents roughly 15% of the world’s population. The comparatively small 0.02 billion fragment of this estimate is almost 7 times higher that the population of Wales. Despite common assumption, this devastating issue isn’t caused by a lack of food. The world produces more than enough food for everybody to receive recommended nutrition and energy. In fact the chronically hungry are often involved in hard labour for agricultural purposes, growing and harvesting food on a daily basis. They are the rural poor, working on small areas of land, relying upon crops and animals which fail to produce enough food for their local village. Others are even worse off and are unable to produce even a little food, such as orphans, the elderly, or refugees. Many more live in the slums of cities around the world, struggling against the market to afford sustenance. In short, malnutrition is caused not by a lack of food but by a lack of money to buy it. Hunger is caused by poverty.
Profoundly, 15 million malnourished people live amongst you and me in developed nations, although this statistic is dwarfed by both the 265 million of Sub-Saharan Africa and the 642 million of Asia and the South Pacific. The current economic downturn that began in rich banking nations is affecting the whole world. Our struggles with austerity measures and unemployment seem superfluous compared to the increasing difficulty of acquiring food elsewhere. Food prices have been rising in recent years for a variety of reasons, increasing the financial burden upon the already desperately poor. Developing nations such as China are increasing demanding dairy and meat products. Bio-fuels are being produced in place of edible food and climate change is already affecting crop yields, decreasing supply. Meanwhile higher oil prices increase the cost of farming and transportation. In Russia this summer unprecedented drought and wildfires devastated crops. The country is one of the largest producers of wheat, barley and rye but harvests are down this year by up to a third. As a result, bread prices have risen by as much as 20% within Russia and similar price rises are likely to hit the Middle East. A ban has been placed on all grain
Above: More than enough food
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The solution to world hunger lies in fairer economics
exports, but domestic supply could still not be enough. Meanwhile floods in Pakistan affected over 20 million people, in what is considered one of the greatest humanitarian crises of recent decades. People there lack not only food but also clean water and shelter. The infamous search for a solution to world hunger is hindered by a variety of political and economic issues. The assumed answer of simply shipping vast quantities of food aid from rich nations to poor ones not only requires huge transportation costs but it also hinders local farmers who are forced to compete with free or cheap food from abroad. Another commonly spouted solution is GM crops, which could improve crop yields in Africa and beyond. However GM seeds and herbicides are usually beyond the budget of those whose main problem is a lack of money in the first place. Meanwhile many scientists and environmentalists argue that GM crops have not been in the world market long enough for us to assess the possible health risk for humans. Saturday October 16 is World Food Day 2010 and a growing campaign has set the aim to eradicate world hunger through the United Nations. Its petition is rapidly nearing a million signatories. It asks for small scale farmers to be given more opportuni-
ties, for a reduction in rural to urban migration and more access for small farmers to national and international markets. The latter solution is regularly proposed, often alongside the highlighting of agricultural subsidies in the US and EU unfairly benefiting domestic farmers. Although technology can improve crop yields and maximise food production, a lack of food is not the cause of world hunger. In fact the price of technology can often worsen the richpoor divide. The solution to world hunger hence lies in fairer economics. Improving local education and maximising acces to resources and institutions is urgently required for the eradication of poverty worldwide. But in the richer nations of the world, fairer economics is low on the agenda. Whilst people’s minds are concentrated on their own financial difficulties under the new austerity measures and whilst countries such as Russia so easily ban grain exports for domestic benefit, it seems inevitable that a billion people will sleep hungry for many more nights to come. For more information on the World Food Day campaign and to sign the petition please visit www.1billionhungry. org