Access to Food
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Background
Despite advances rendered by globalization, hunger and access to food / nutrition remains a problem in numerous countries and regions around the world. Persistence of hunger and malnutrition underscores the need for progress within regional, international and global organizations and governments that are responsible for ensuring security and peace.
Hunger
In quantitative terms, enough food exists to feed the world's population. However, roughly one in seven people go hungry, a ratio that has increased in the last decade. See section below on statistics for related data.[1]
By definition, hunger occurs when an individual's diet consists of substantially less than the standard recommended diet of 2,100 calories a day for a prolonged period. When the body does not receive sufficient nutrition through food, it instead draws on mental and physical resources, which in turn slow down. Hunger also lowers the immune system, an effect that poses substantial danger to children, who subsequently become more vulnerable to disease and infection. [2]
While hunger arguably arises in a range of different contexts, the World Food Programme identifies five principle causes of this deficiency: Nature, War, Poverty Traps, Agricultural Infrastructures, and Over-exploitation of Environments.
Statistics
- According to the statistics most recently released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there are approximately 925 million people in the world. 98 % of these people live in developing countries:
- 578 million in Asia and the Pacific
- 239 million in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 53 million in Latin America and the Caribbean
- 37 million in the Near East and North Africa
- Three quarters of people who are hungry live in rural areas.
- Women account for more than 60 % of the hungry, while they only consist of a little over 50 % of the world's population.[3]
2011 Famine in Somalia, Lower Shabelle and Southern Bakool
In July 2011, a famine was declared in two regions in the horn of Africa. The famines were caused by droughts and conflicts that were exacerbated by increased food prices. Over 2 million of the 3.7 million people in need of food cannot be accessed due to regional conflicts. The United Nations and several of its subsidary organizations, along with countries such as the United States, have donated money and aid to the region, however, aid-workers have continued to encounter violence in their efforts to deliver resources to those in need.[4]
Organizations and Frameworks Eradicating Hunger
Numerous governments and international organizations have established frameworks and / or goals that aim to combat hunger. The eradication of "poverty and hunger" is the first of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals. The World Food Programme and UNICEF, both created by the United Nations, and Action Against Hunger, are several of many well-established international organizations whose mission is also to end hunger.
See also
References
- United Nations World Food Programme
- http://www.wfp.org/hunger/what-is
- http://www.wfp.org/hunger/faqs
- http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats
- http://www.wfp.org/countries/somalia
External links
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