Introduction
When considering the overall wealth and the general lifestyle often associated with the American population, it seems incomprehensible to understand how so many people in the world and even within America go hungry every day. Nevertheless, this is truly the case. In fact, more than one out of every seven persons in the world (approximately 840 million people in all) are victims of starvation, and every year, approximately 40 million people lose their lives either directly because of starvation or because of the diseases which ensue in such horrible conditions (Facts). Having stated these astounding figures, it must next be emphasized that education is the first step in addressing the issue of world hunger, as it is essential to first realize the nature and significance of any problem before fixing it.
For this reason, this webpage covers the causes, current conditions, and consequences of world hunger, and also provides several helpful links, many which contain web pages of organizations that already exist and are trying to lessen the problems of starvation around the world. Despite the fact that remedial organizations exist, however, humanitarian support is required to keep them motivated, funded, and backed by our governments. Thus, global education of this dilemma must be encouraged to help fight the war against world hunger. There is enough food to go around this planet, and hunger should not be such a deadly dilemma.
Why is There a Problem?
Hunger results from a number of issues, predominantly those which are common to third-world countries. One extremely important issue which leads to hunger and is seen primarily within third-world countries is that of political and social conflict. In the chaos ensuing civil wars, political upheavals, and general social unrest due to corrupted governments, millions of refugees and displaced persons are forced into new lands without either adequate protection of their lives or basic necessities such as food and water (World). In such deficient conditions, severe malnutrition and diseases become rampant (especially among children) and providing aid becomes anything but an easy task. In addition to the time naturally required to respond to a problem and the questionable sufficiency of the response, there are also issues of illnesses, strict food rationing, consequent uprisings and even rebel attacks. Even so, this aid is of vital importance to the situation and is absolutely necessary in order to save even a fraction of lives, as many refugees are fully dependent on food aid for survival.
Obviously, hunger and poverty are also directly and causally related. Poverty, in fact, is the main origin of hunger, and hunger, conversely, leads to increased poverty (World). Like poverty, greed has an unavoidable role in the issue of world hunger, since it deals with the unfair distribution of resources. Consider, for example, that the three wealthiest people in the world have more wealth than the Gross Domestic Product of the 48 poorest nations a full quarter of all the countries in the world (Facts). Additionally, consider the grossly inappropriate distribution of wealth visible in the fact that the worlds wealthiest 1 percent makes a yearly amount equal to that made by the poorest 57 percent (International).
Aside from the matter of monetary wealth, however, there is the fact that enough food does exist to feed the entire world, and it simply isn't distributed to do so. As the Rehydration Project writes, "measured globally, there is enough to feed everyone . . . there is enough grain being produced today to provide everybody in the world with enough protein and about 3000 calories a day, which is what the average American consumes" (Hunger). The problem still remains, however, because mankind's greed prevents our resources from being fairly distributed. When realizing such injustices in the global circulation of general wealth, one can truly understand the significance of this simple but powerfully insightful quote by Mahatma Ghandi: "The world has enough for man's need, but not for man's greed."
What is Being Done to Help?
As previously mentioned, there are several organizations in existence which endeavor to rid the world of starvation. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), for example, has been in existence since 1963 and has since that time donated more than $27.8 billion US dollars to fight the war on world hunger (Fighting). Despite such a large amount of money, however, the WFP was only able to feed 110 million individuals in 2003 out of the estimated 800+ million individuals who are in need of food aid. Still, the WFP has high hopes - as stated in the official WFP mission statement, one of the primary goals for the World Food Programme is that it's use "must be oriented towards the objective of eradicating hunger and poverty. The ultimate objective of food aid should be the elimination of the need for food aid" (WFP).
In having stated this, it must also be established that the eradication of world hunger is a complex issue which calls for several necessary actions. In addition to the actual distribution of food, organizations such as the WFP must keep in mind methods of establishing self-reliance among communities, as well as the protection of individuals in danger, such as refugees, individuals in emergency situations, young children in need of more sustenance and other vulnerable individuals. In addition, the WFP is especially concerned with the care of women, since "women in particular are key to change," and "providing food to women puts it in the hands of those who use it for the benefit of the entire household, especially the children" (WFP). With these goals in mind, communities in need will be able to eventually support themselves and will not be permanently reliant on others' aid.
Though the WFP may have hopeful goals, however, their endeavors remain monstrous, often seeming unfeasible when regarding the amount of funding and support they receive. As of February 26 2003, the head of the World Food Programme was quoted saying that the world was "losing the battle" against world hunger, since "more than 800 million people were still chronically hungry . . . 24,000 people were dying daily of hunger or hunger-related health problems," and further support and funding was not being provided (world is).
In Conclusion
The war against world hunger is indeed a remarkable challenge, but viable nonetheless. Having realized the significance of the situation, we must then understand that help is simply not possible without the support (both monetary and otherwise) of individuals who have the ability to take action. In addition to donations, however, perhaps the most important step we can make to eliminate world hunger is to ensure that our government realizes that we are concerned with the plight of those who face starvation, disease, and even death. It is up to us to help the victims of starvation, for without our voices being heard, responses will not be made.
