Category: World Hunger

World hunger is one of the best topics to write about. You can discuss its causes, how to solve it, and how we can create a world without hunger. Whether you need to write an entire world hunger essay or just a conclusion or a hook, this sample will inspire you.

World Hunger Essay Introduction

Hunger is a term that has been defined differently by different people due to its physiological as well as its socio economic aspects. In most cases, the term hunger has been defined in relation to food insecurity. However, according to Holben (n. d. pp. 1), hunger is usually defined as a condition that is painful or uneasy emanating from lack of food.

In the same studies, hunger has yet been defined as persistent and involuntary inability to access food. Therefore, world hunger refers to a condition characterized by want and scarce food in the whole world. Technically, hunger refers to malnutrition a condition that is marked by lack of some, or all the nutrients that are necessary to maintain health of an individual.

There are two types of malnutrition which include micronutrient deficiency and protein energy malnutrition. It is important to note that world hunger generally refers to protein energy malnutrition which is caused by inadequacy of proteins and energy giving food. According to World Hunger education Service (2010 Para. 4), the recent statistics by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) records that there is a total of about nine hundred and twenty five million people in the whole world who are described as hungry.

It is a serious condition since statistics indicate that the number has been on the increase since the mid twentieth center. With that background in mind, this paper shall focus on the problem of world hunger, history, statistics, impacts as well as solutions to the problem.

History of World Hunger

The problem of hunger has been persistent since early centuries given that people residing in Europe continent used to suffer from serious shortages of food. The problem intensified in the twentieth century due to increase of wars, plagues and other natural disasters like floods, famines and earth quakes. Consequently, a lot of people succumbed to malnutrition and death.

However, during the mid twentieth century and after the Second World War, food production increased by 69% and therefore, there was enough food to feed the population by (National Research Council (U.S.) Committee on Public Engineering Policy, 1975 pp. vii).

The situation of food adequacy which continued from the year 1954-1972 was as a result of various factors which were inclusive but not limited to better methods of farming, land reclamation, use of fertilizers, use of irrigation, as well as use of machines and other forms of skilled labor.

In 1970s, people thought that they could keep the problem of hunger under control by conserving environment, controlling population growth and technological development. Nevertheless, even with such optimism, studies of National Research Council (U.S.).

Committee on Public Engineering Policy (1975 pp. vii), record that by 1974, the condition had already grown out of hand because there was not only a high population growth rate, but energy was also extremely expensive. To make the matter worse, the same study records that a quarter of the total population in the world were already experiencing hunger.

Therefore, due to hunger, agencies which were dealing with the problem started to request for the intervention of the humanitarian relief as well as trying to solve the problem thorough the use of the green revolution. The problem of hunger contributed greatly to the technological development since by all costs, people had to survive. However, although agriculture continued to expand, the population continued to increase and that is why the problem of hunger has persisted throughout the twentieth century to the twenty first century.

Statistics of the World Hunger

As highlighted in the introductory part, nine million people in the world are malnourished but further studies indicate that the exact number is not known. It is important to note that though the problem of hunger is virtually everywhere in the world, most of the hunger stricken people are found in the developing countries.

Despite the fact that the number has been on the increase since 1995, a decrease was observed in last year. The figures below clearly explain the statistical trend of world hunger from 1968 to 2009 (World Hunger Education Service, 2010 Para. 4).

Figure 1. The Number of Hunger Stricken People from 1969-2010

Source (World Hunger Education Service, 2010)

Figure 2: Distribution of Hungry People in the Whole World by Regions

Source: (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010 pp. 2)

The above figure clearly illustrates that the problem of hunger is most common in the developing countries and less common in the developed countries. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2010 pp. 2), 19 million are found in developed countries, thirty seven million in North East and North Africa, fifty three in Latin and Caribbean America, two hundred and thirty nine million in Sub Saharan Africa and five hundred and seventy eight in Asia and Pacific Region.

However, it is important to mention that the Food and Agriculture Organization arrives at the above figures by considering the total income of people and the income distribution. Therefore, the figures given are just estimates and that is the main reason why it has become increasingly difficult to get the actual number of hungry people in the whole world.

Causes of the World Hunger

There are many causes of world hunger but poverty is the main and the same is caused by lack of enough resources as well as unequal distribution of recourses among the populations especially in the developing countries.

According to World Hunger Education Service (2010 Para 10. ), World Bank estimates that there are a bout one million, three hundred and forty five million people who are poor in the whole world since their daily expenditure is 1.25 dollars or even less. Similarly, Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about one billion people in the whole world are under nourished.

As expected, the problem of poverty affects mostly the developing countries although there have been a lot of campaigns which have been launched with an aim of poverty reduction. Consequently in some parts Asia and China, the campaigns have been successful because the number has reduced by 19% (World Hunger Education Service, 2010 para. 12). Conversely, in some parts like the sub-Saharan Africa, the number of poor people has gone up.

Since the study has indicated that poverty is the main cause of hunger, it is important to look at the underlying cause of poverty. According to World Hunger Education Service (2010), the current economic as well as political systems in the world contribute greatly to the problem of hunger and poverty.

The main reason is due to the fact that more often than not, resources are controlled by the economic and political institutions which are controlled by the minority. Therefore, policies which emanate from poor economic systems are contributory factor to poverty and hunger.

Conflict and war is an important cause of not only poverty but also hunger. The main reason is due to the fact that conflicts lead to displacement of people and destruction of property and other resources that can be helpful in alleviating hunger. Towards the end of 2005, the number of refugees was lower compared to the current number influenced by violence and conflicts which have been taking place in Iraq as well as in Somali.

The same study clearly indicates that towards the end of the year 2008, UNHCR had recorded more than ten million refugees. A year after, internally displaced persons in the whole world had reached a total of twenty six million (World Hunger Education Service 2010 par 13). However, although it is difficult to provide the total number of internally displaced people due to conflicts, the truth is, refugees mostly suffer from poverty which exposes them to extreme hunger.

Over the last century, climate has been changing in most parts of the world, a condition which has been caused by global warming. It is a real phenomena and the effects of the same are observed in most parts of the world which are inclusive but not limited to draughts, floods, changing weather and climatic patterns as well as hurricanes (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Economic and Social Dept, 2005).

Such effects of globalization contribute greatly to hunger because they destroy the already cultivated food leading to food shortages.

Changing weather and climate patterns require a change to certain crops which is not only expensive but it also takes long to be implemented. In addition, some plants and animals have become extinct and the same contributes greatly to food shortages and hunger in general. Nonetheless, the most serious consequences of global warming are floods draughts and famines since they lead to poverty which ends up increasing peoples susceptibility to hunger. ( Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010)

High food prices in both domestic and international markets are also a contributory factor to world hunger. Although the level of poverty is increasing because the level of income has reduced, the price of various food commodities has also gone up and therefore, it has become increasingly difficult for people to afford adequate food for their needs.

According to the studies of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2008 pp. 24), between the year 2002 to 2007, prices of cereals such as wheat maize as well as rice increased by about fifty percent in the world market.

Nonetheless, although the world market food prices were increasing, the rate was different with domestic prices, a condition caused by the depreciating value of the US dollar while compared to other currencies in the world. However, in the year 2007 and 2008, domestic food prices in most countries also ended up increasing.

High prices in the domestic market are caused by high prices for agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. As highlighted earlier, the need for use of advanced agricultural inputs results from the effects of global warming which is also a chief cause of world hunger and food insecurity.

Impacts of World Hunger

There are many impacts of world hunger because food is a basic need for everyone in the society. Although impacts of hunger affect people across all the age brackets, young children are usually the worst victims. In science, the condition caused by hunger and starvation is known as under nutrition. It increases the disease burden such that in one year; under nourished children suffer from illnesses for at least five months as the condition lowers their immunity.

In most cases, undernourishment is the underlying cause of various diseases that affect children like malaria, measles, diarrhea and pneumonia. Studies of World Hunger Education Service (2010 par. 10) indicate that malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than half of all the cases of malaria diarrhea and pneumonia in young children. In measles, the same studies indicate that forty five percent of all the cases result from malnutrition.

As the problem of hunger, malnutrition is unequally distributed in the world because about thirty two percent of the stunted children live in the developing countries. Seventy percent of the total number of the malnourished children is found in Asia while Africa hosts 26% and the remaining four percent are from Caribbean and Latin America (World Hunger Education Service, 2010 par 11).

The study points out that the problem starts even before birth because in most cases, pregnant mothers are also usually undernourished. Due to this problem, in every six infants, one is usually undernourished. Apart from death, under nourishment resulting from hunger also causes blindness, difficulties in learning, stunted growth, retardation and poor health, to name just a few.

Apart from disease, poverty is also a resultant factor of hunger. In reference to the definition of hunger as an uncomfortable condition resulting from lack of food, hungry people are usually incapacitated. Since food is an important source of energy, people suffering from hunger are usually not in a position to take part in useful economic activities and a result, they are usually poor.

In addition, hunger is one of the reasons that cause people to migrate from one place to another there by causing economic constraints to the host countries. Conflicts also emanate from the same as people compete for scarce resources. A lot of humanitarian agencies use most of their funds in proving food to the people suffering from hunger either in refugee camps or in other places.

As a result, governments spend a lot of money in providing humanitarian support while the same amount of money could have been used in development projects. Impacts of hunger are mostly felt in the developing countries, Asia and Sub Saharan Africa because in most cases, the problem of hunger in such regions is usually an international problem because regional governments cannot be able to deal with it single handedly ( World Vision, 2010).

Responses to World Hunger

Hunger being a serious problem requires no emphasis and therefore, there are some responses which are meant to mitigate the problem. Various policies have therefore been established in all related areas. For example, there are various policies that that have been established to regulate high food prices. Such measures are inclusive but not limited to tax on imports, restricting export to maintain adequate food in the country, measures to control prices of food as well as to enhance food affordability, and stabilizing prices.

Improving and increasing agricultural produce is an important measure that has been taking place especially in the developing countries meant to increase supply and eventually curb the problem of hunger. At this point, is important to note that the number of response which have be taken to reduce or eliminate the problem of hunger vary from one region to another.

In addition, every region implements the policies that can be useful in that particular region. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2010 pp.32 ), a survey conducted in the year 2007 and 2008 indicated that about 50% of all the countries reduced the tax of imports on cereals and more than fifty percent adopted measures like consumer subsidies with an aim of lowering domestic food prices.

Twenty five percent of the countries imposed restrictions on exports to minimize the outflow of food and the remaining 16% had done nothing to solve the problem of high domestic food prices. It is quite unfortunate that the regions that are mostly affected by hunger like Sub Saharan Africa; Caribbean as well Latin America has established the lowest number of policies.

Although such policies are of great help locally, they have negative impacts in the international markets. For example, due to restriction on exports, the supply of food at the international markets is usually low and as a result, the prices end up increasing. Apart from that, subsidies on imports increase government expenditure thereby straining the budget.

Therefore, it is clear that some measures of price do not control neither they end up mitigating the problem since they affect other people like farmers and traders. The main cause of the problem is due to the fact that most governments are unable to protect their economy from external influences.

Recommended solutions

While looking for the solutions to the problem, it is important to note that the demand of food will continue to increase due to various factors like urban growth and development as well as the high level of income. In that case, there is a great need for increasing food production.

In addition, the intervention should aim at not only solving the current problem but also solving any shortage that may emerge in future. Therefore, all regions and especially the sub-Saharan Africa ought to focus on increasing agricultural production. Moreover, it is necessary to come up with appropriate policies to ensure that the increase in food production will solve the problem of food insecurity (National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Public Engineering Policy, 1975).

One of the problems that have been causing hunger especially in developing countries is inaccessibility to adequate food. As a result, the concerned stakeholders should look for ways and means of increasing food accessibility. For instance; it would be more helpful if the production of small scale farmers could increase because the problem cannot only help in lowering food prices in the global market but also in alleviating poverty and hunger in the rural areas.

Although incentives and agricultural inputs are important in increasing agricultural production in the rural areas, some other measures can still be used in the same areas. For instance, in a region like Africa, more areas can be irrigated and by so doing, agricultural production can increase as well ( Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010).

World Hunger Essay Conclusion

World hunger is a real and a serious problem not only due to its grave impacts but also due to the complexity of the whole issue. A lot of people in the whole world are exposed to hunger. A critical analysis of the problem illustrates that it not only results from low food production but it is also affected by other factors such as inaccessibility of food, high food prices and some policies established by the government.

For example, the research has indicated that some polices that control the prices of food in local markets end up increasing food prices in the global market. In the view of the fact that hunger is the underlying cause of poverty, disease and eventually death, it is important for the concerned stake holders to address the issue accordingly.

As the studies of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, (2008, p. 2) indicate, the over nine million hunger stricken people can be saved only if the stake holders that are inclusive of the government, United Nations, civil societies, donors and humanitarian agencies, general public and the private sector can join hands in combating the problem.

In order to come up with lasting solutions, their efforts should be aimed at improving the agricultural sector and establishing safety nets to protect the vulnerable population. Finally, in every challenge, there is an opportunity and in that case, the high prices of food can be used as an opportunity by small scale producers to increase their produce and get more returns and thereby reduce problems like poverty which contribute to hunger. Therefore, even though the problem is complicated, viable solutions still exist.

References

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2010). Global hunger declining, but still unacceptably high. Web.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2008). The State of Food Insecurity in the World. Web.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Economic and Social Dept. (2005). The state of food insecurity in the world, 2005: eradicating world hunger  key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. New York: Food & Agriculture Org.

Holben, D. H. (n. d.). The Concept and Definition of Hunger and Its Relationship to Food Insecurity. Web.

National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Public Engineering Policy. ( 1975). World hunger: approaches to engineering actions : report of a seminar. Washington: National Academies.

World Hunger Education Service. (2010). World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics 2010. Web.

World Vision. (2010). The Global Food Crisis. Web.

Young, L. (1997). World hunger. London: Routledge.

World hunger is a critical problem that the world faces today and it is closely linked to many biological stressors that caused this issue at such a global scale. With the global population growing and urbanizing at such an exponential rate, a solution to end world hunger is becoming more challenging for scientists. Statistically, we would need to produce almost 100% more of the major food crops we do today, to have enough food by the year 2050 (​Is There Enough Food for the Future?)​. Unfortunately, biological issues such as rising global temperatures, an increase in anthropogenic atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and fast depletion of land, are creating even greater challenges to improve and sustain more crops to grow and potentially end world hunger.

Evolutionarily, natural selection would be quite effective in transforming these crops to adapt to these major environmental changes, however, by a rate incredibly too slow to overcome the fast, irreversible changes we are creating in our atmosphere. Crop improvement is a great initiative to end world hunger- so great that today, scientists are attempting to create a potential solution to ending world hunger by linking it to the plant protein Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, or simply, Rubisco. My effort in reducing world hunger and improving crop growth conditions would be to make Rubisco more efficient, as it will not only improve crop production but also fix a greater amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Since its discovery, Rubisco has been an emerging topic on creating an environmentally better future. Rubisco is a massive enzyme that sits in the chloroplasts of pl​ants and it is among the critical steps in the Carbon Cycle that is respo to fix atmospheric CO2​. Fortunately, it’s also the most abundant protein on the planet (Ellis, 1979); by mass, its as much as 30-40% of a plant leaf ​(Losh, Young & Morel, 2013)​. ​There’s so much of it on the planet, the reason being, that plants constantly make food and photosynthesize.

However, the problem with Rubisco that many scientists struggle with is that it is a very slow and nonspecific enzyme ​(Lin, Occhialini, Andralojc, Parry & Hanson, 2014)​.​ It is nonspecific because instead of fixing and taking CO2 as a substrate to make a sugar, it sometimes takes Oxygen as a substrate and doesn’t make sugar, undergoing a very energetically wasteful process known as photorespiration​(Peterhansel et al., 2010)​. The rate at which Rubisco converts its substrates into products is very slow, rendering the protein rather insufficient.

Scientists are working towards making Rubisco more efficient so it targets only fixing CO2 and thus more photosynthesizing plants, ultimately increasing the amount of food grown in the same area of land. In this process, the energy-saving Rubisco would also “eat” more CO2 caused by human activity, effectively lessening its amount in the atmosphere. Through a series of bioengineering technology, my effort to reducing world hunger would be to produce more efficient Rubisco in a larger quantity around the world, particularly in developing hunger filled countries.

With one million dollars and partnerships with the scientific community (Talent, technology, etc.), creating a genetically modified form of Rubisco is very feasible. In order to genetically modify a protein to be more efficient​, I would begin by comparing the Rubisco properties in different photosynthetic plants. One article​Yang et al., 2017)​ suggests that “microalgae are emerging as potential biomass feedstock for sustainable production of biofuels and value-added bioproducts. CO2 bio-mitigation through these organisms is considered as an eco-friendly and promising alternative to the existing carbon sequestration methods.” However, microalgae have a low capacity to photosynthesize. Therefore, I would opt to choose from a selection of plants adapted to CAM (​Crassulacean acid metabolism)​ and C4 pathways, pathways that allow plants to minimize photorespiration ​(Mallmann et al., 2014)​.

Once I gather such plants, I will use a series of biotechnological techniques to bioengineer the chloroplast from the plant and then genetically modify it to create a version with an even more reduced ability to photorespire. This energy-expensive experiment will require a great understanding of the chloroplast gene regulatory pathways, the amino acids responsible for the complex catalytic pathways, and vast knowledge in plants that use the C4 pathways, ​since “only 3% of the world’s terrestrial plant species use the C4 photosynthetic pathway” (Way, Katul, Manzoni & Vico, 2014)​.

Once that is completed, I will study the growth of my plants and invest the remaining money to create large crop fields in a country that suffers from hunger. Eventually, my plants will grow more food crops within the same area of land. Soon enough, I can expand my plants all around different countries that need more food. ​This would aid in food hunger along with helping farmers improve their livestock. Over time, I do believe this modified protein will adapt and create more efficient rubisco itself. Although this solution may be a good approach to world hunger, it may not be all that beneficial to all plants because a reduction in photorespiration, causes a reduction in the assimilation of nitrates from soils. Therefore, I would only use a small number of plants per area of land that I have.

In conclusion, we should do our best to prevent world hunger by avoiding all the man-made problems we’ve created. Genetically engineering plants to enhance photosynthesis, and crop improvement may take many years in the process, however, its effects may really help in ending world hunger.

Reference

1. Is There Enough Food for the Future? – Environment Reports. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.environmentreports.com/enough-food-for-the-future/ Ellis, R. (1979). The most abundant protein in the world. ​Trends In Biochemical Sciences​, ​4​(11), 241-264. Retrieved from ​https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/trends-in-biochemical-sciences/vol/4/issue/11
2. Losh, J., Young, J., & Morel, F. (2013). Rubisco is a small fraction of total protein in marine phytoplankton. ​New Phytologist​, ​198​(1), 52-58. doi: 10.1111/nph.12143
3. Lin, M., Occhialini, A., Andralojc, P., Parry, M., & Hanson, M. (2014). A faster Rubisco with potential to increase photosynthesis in crops. ​Nature​, ​513​(7519), 547-550. doi: 10.1038/nature13776
4. Mallmann, J., Heckmann, D., Bräutigam, A., Lercher, M. J., Weber, A. P., Westhoff, P., & Gowik, U. (2014). The role of photorespiration during the evolution of C4 photosynthesis in the genus Flaveria. ​eLife​, ​3​, e02478. doi:10.7554/eLife.02478
5. Peterhansel, C., Horst, I., Niessen, M., Blume, C., Kebeish, R., Kürkcüoglu, S., & Kreuzaler, F. (2010).
6. Photorespiration. ​The Arabidopsis Book​, ​8​. doi: 10.1199/tab.0130
7. Way, D., Katul, G., Manzoni, S., & Vico, G. (2014). Increasing water use efficiency along the C3 to C4 evolutionary pathway: a stomatal optimization perspective. ​Journal Of Experimental Botany​, ​65​(13), 3683-3693. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eru205
8. Yang, B., Liu, J., Ma, X., Guo, B., Liu, B., & Wu, T. et al. (2017). Genetic engineering of the Calvin cycle toward enhanced photosynthetic CO2 fixation in microalgae. ​Biotechnology For Biofuels​, ​10​(229). doi: 10.1186/s13068-017-0916-8
9. http://www.environmentreports.com/enough-food-for-the-future/
10. https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/trends-in-biochemical-sciences/vol/4/issue/11

Reaction Paper #2- Factors that occurred to create world hunger and solutions that can change all aspects of human life.

World hunger is a prominent issue today that many people around the world try to find solutions for. World hunger is caused mainly by poverty, job instability, war/natural disasters, and climate change (‘What Causes Hunger’, 2019). The country Yemen is faced by all these factors leading them to have around 30 million people hungry because of the lack of resources around them and around 233,000 people dead because of malnutrition and starvation (Reinl, 2019).

When countries like this are struggling to find enough food to eat and sustain themselves, the United States government has ways to help by using food aid. Many people debate on whether food aid is a good thing or a bad thing, but they’re definitely are advantages and disadvantages to it. Some advantages are that food aid allows the government to direct the extra food produced to those countries who need it instead of making food waste (Singer, 1998). It also allows the government to lend money to these countries so they can buy food and then, later on, have to pay us back with lower interest rates (Singer, 1998). Not only that, but it also allows for future alliances in case we need help in the future since we have helped that country once before when they were going through hard times (Singer, 1998). The disadvantages to food aid are also very projecting. Some arguments made about food aid include that it is a donor-driven system meaning that there are other motives in mind other than the sole purpose of helping others out. (Shah, 2007). Another argument is that it’s a government’s political motive to get what the country wants by offering favors (Shah, 2007).

However, there are different ways to help the situation of world hunger. For example, food aids while debatable are useful when a country like Yemen is going under extreme poverty and war situations. There are multiple types of food aid where governments give food for a lower cost, food is given in emergency situations, and food is given to better the situations of others (Shah, 2007). This is good because Yemen could get food fast to try and alleviate their problem but is also bad because they would have a debt that would further put them into poverty, or the US government may not even decide to help them because of their own political reasons.

Another way you could help fight this world hunger is by teaching these people in impoverished areas how to grow their own food so that they can continue to plant and eat even after the help is gone (‘What we’re doing to help end global hunger’, 2018). Even though this method is very time-consuming and lots of money must be invested to send people to teach and provide resources, in the long run it would be more advantageous to those in poor countries since they have the knowledge.

The last way you could give your support and help would be to organize food donation drives in your own community to send to these places. Even though it wouldn’t be a long-term solution, you would still be helping many people without food for that moment (‘7 Solutions for World Hunger’, 2014). This method is also something that doesn’t take a lot of effort and everyone who wants to can partake in it.

Out of all these possible solutions, however, I would choose the second one where people would go out and teach others how to plant and grow their own crops. I think that this method is most efficient because it not only gives them lifelong skills that they could use and pass down to their future generations, but it also gives them a way to rebuild their community whether it be because of a natural disaster or war. By implementing these various strategies, hopefully, we will decrease the amount of starving people around the world.

References

1. 7 Solutions for World Hunger. (2014, June 11). Retrieved from https://www.borgenmagazine.com/7-solutions-world-hunger/.
2. Ose, J. (2019, October 15). The world’s 10 hungriest countries. Retrieved from https://www.concernusa.org/story/worlds-ten-hungriest-countries/.
3. Reinl, J. (2019, April 26). Yemen death toll to surpass 230,000 by end of 2019: UN report. Retrieved from https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-death-toll-surpass-230000-end-2019-un-report.
4. Shah, A. (2007, December 3). Food Aid. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/748/food-aid.
5. What Causes Hunger. (2019, August 30). Retrieved from https://www.bread.org/what-causes-hunger.
6. What we’re doing to help end global hunger. (2018, October 11). Retrieved from https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/what-were-doing-help-end-global-hunger.

World hunger and poverty is such a major and ongoing issue, that you don’t see many people doing anything about it anymore. We have so many people living in poverty inside and out of the U.S., but no one is acting on it to decrease this problem. We have the resources and food to do it, but for some reason we won’t. I believe world hunger and poverty can be eliminated by acting on certain deeds that can help the livelihood of the poor and underprivileged.

“About 98 percent of undernourished people live in developing countries (Ferrari, 2019). For example, Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa would be the worst countries struggling with hunger today. If we were to cut down on food waste we would have enough food and money to help feed the homeless and hungry in America and other starving countries. In order for us to try and cut down on world hunger, the U.S., (because they have more money and resources) could put together an organization that uses our unused food to send to other countries. If you look at South Korea they have cut down on their food waste by 93%. In 1995 South Korea used to only recycle 2% of there food waste,but now they recycle 95% of their food waste (Broom, 2019). In South Korea they have scales in their trash cans that measure how much food they are throwing away, and charge them depending on the weight. If we were to do this it could cut back a lot on our food waste which could save money to fund for food to feed others.

It is said that part of our problem for not producing enough food is due in part to women farmers. The reason this is said is because they face more challenges than men, which causes them to grow less food. “According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), women farmers typically have less land, fewer animals, less seeds, and lower education levels.” It is said that if women farmers were given the same level of terms as men, the number of hungry people would go down by 17 percent (Broom,2019). If the women farmers were given the same equal opportunity as men I know they would be able to grow a lot more food, which can go into the organization for funding food for others. Who knew that there would be so much sexism in farming.

Countries that are dealing with poverty and hunger have a death rate of about 303,000 mothers and 2.5 million newborn babies, from not having skilled doctors and nurses to help deliver them. Children are so underweight in developing countries that there’s about 20 million infants born underweight each year! Those numbers are staggering. Being in poverty is causing all these children to become sick and undernourished that will eventually lead to death. Theses are horrifying facts, and I believe it’s something we can hopefully stop. In the U.S. we eat so much and have such big portions that we are considered an obese country. Cutting down on our portions and serving sizes could definitely produce a great portion of food to give to the people in poverty here in the U.S. and other countries. Statistics say that 5.9 percent of children under the age of 5 in the U.S. were overweight for their age in 2018 and 13.2 percent of adults were overweight in 2012 (UNICEF,2019). While kids in developing countries are underweight and dying from not enough food, where as we have too much of it. This is mostly driven from our big portions and fast food being pushed on society. America likes everything large and extra large; it’s go big or go home! So they supersize everything we eat. We have portions on all of the food labels that we eat but no one ever follows them. In fact some people actually eat double maybe triple the portion size. They also put steroids and hormones in the food which makes it more addicting and fattening, causing people to eat more. This is what causes people to become overweight and obese which leads to health problems and shorter lives. If we keep this up we’ll end up like the people on Wall-E. But if we were to cut down the prices on some of the healthy foods people would cook more and eat out less. Driving the fast food sales to go down and close, which will save money for extra food.

Can poverty be reduced? I think it can. Right now “more than 780 million people live below the international poverty line on $1.90 a day, and more than 11% of the world’s population is living in extreme poverty (UN Ending Poverty, 2019).” This issue is caused by people not having enough jobs to work at or access to livelihood, not having access to clean water or food, even poor education is a factor of why these countries are in such poverty. I feel a lot of it can be helped by the government, but there are only concerned with getting rich themselves. In this article, Le Journal International Archives, it is said that foreign aid is hurting more than it is helping Sub-Saharan Africa. As said in the “big push” “theory the negative consequences of aid which seem to have left developing countries in a worse place than before (Lyons,2014).” The reason for this is that the money Africa is receiving they are not using it to help the poor, they are using it to help the rich get richer. So why keep sending them money, they do it to make themselves look better and like they actually care about the other countries. Since aid isn’t really helping it should be reconstructed and new policies should be put in place to show progress. The way I see it if we can change the way these government pyramids are set up we can stop the cycle of only helping the rich get richer and start helping the poor get out of poverty.

There are known facts that countries that were previously in poverty made it out and are doing very well for themselves now. There are ten countries that used to live in poverty, but now are now much more rich. Number one being Luxembourg, Europe. Back in the early 19th century 80 percent of the population were employed in agriculture. Many families could barely afford to live, so when things got really bad about a third portion of the Luxembourg population moved to other places like the U.S. to survive. But something changed in Luxembourg. Mines and factories sprung up, and the country’s lucrative steel industry was born. By the end of the 19th century, Luxembourg had become one of Europe’s leading steel producers (lovemoney, 2018) due to the discovery of iron ore in the south. A couple of other ones would be South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Ireland just to name a few. If you look at Singapore they were a country with no natural resources, and high unemployment. Half of the people being illiterate, and a good portion of the population living in the slums, living conditions were deplorable and work unsteady. Life was hard.That was when their first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew turned everything around.He was prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He made english the common language upping the workforce, he single handedly cut down taxes, and corruption, and banned trade unions in an attempt to attract foreign investors. By doing this, foreign money began to come in. With the new money coming into Singapore, the government spent it on improving its infrastructure,such as housing and more. by the 1970s, the standard of living improved tremendously.Lee is recognised as the nation’s founding father,with the country described as transitioning from the “third world country to first world country in a single generation”under his leadership. Now look at Saudi Arabia, plenty of people pay exorbitant prices for an exclusive vacation experience in an all inclusive luxury hotels, including world famous Dubai. This clearly is not what it was before. They used to be one of the poorest countries in the world, not even having just the basic necessities like roads, electricity, or even affording the basic need for an education. This goes to show that we can end world hunger and poverty.

Conclusion

To conclude, from the facts that I have found, world hunger and poverty can be decreased maybe even can be rid of forever. We just need to work together to make this planet a better place now and for future generations.

Hunger in the UK

When discussing hunger as a global challenge, we usually relate the topic to continents such as Africa, Asia and even some parts of south America. Since the focus is heavily directed to those continents, society tends to forget that the more developed countries also struggle with hunger. In this text I will put more light on the forgotten countries, or to be more direct, the UK. My text will be based on one simple question. Why does a country such as the UK, a developed and economically stable country struggle with hunger? I chose this topic because I wanted to shed some light on the country we tend to forget when talking about global issues. I will split the text into paragraphs in which I will discuss reasons to why the UK struggles with hunger. Before my conclusion I will list some measures that can be put into action to improve the situation. Finally, each paragraph will answer my question vaguely, leading up to my conclusion in which I will sum up my answers into one final answer.

Statistics

Firstly i would like to give an insight into the numbers we are dealing with when talking about hunger insecurity in the UK. The trussel trust is an orginazation based in the UK with the aim of ending hunger and poverty. The picture on the right is a statistacal analaysis of three-day emergancy food packages distrubuted by The Trussel Trust.(The Trussel Trust, 2018) The increase from 2015-2016 to 2016-2017 is an absurd 13%. 1 in 6 adults skip a meal beause they cannot aford it, furthermore 1 in 12 adults have gone a whole day without food. These numbers may not seem worrying when comparing them to the statistics seen in Africa, but they are still concerning.

Poverty

To start things of, the first reason and most likely the most important reason to hunger insecurity in the UK, and this may not come as a shock to anybody, is poverty. Research done by the SMC ( Social Metric Commission) shows that in the year 2016/17 14.2 million people in the UK lived in poverty. (Joseph O’Learys, Social Metric Commision, 2018). A third of this number being children. Since money is the key to aproximatley everything on earth, it goes without saying that if you do not have money, you will most likely live in hunger. That being said we can say that poverty is a primary driver for hunger. With low incomes and rising living cost, money may be difficult for some people in the UK. Although money is a huge factor in poverty, we must not forget climate issues alongside robberies, taxes and the benefit system. These are all reasons which may lead to poverty, and furthermore hunger.

Food waste

Food waste is a problem which keeps growing and that people have to decrease. Let me give you an example. If a family buys ten apples, but only eats eight of the apples they have bought, that would result in a 20% waste. Imagine if an entire country wastes 20% of their food every year. The amount of food wasted in the UK is tremendous. Instead of throwing food away when they have not even expired, the better option may be to give it away. Although experation dates may scare some people, the date only tells the consumer when the food or drink is not as fresh. As a matter of fact, foods and drinks stays edible longer than what is written on the packaging. WRAP is an orginazation with the vision of using resources sustainably.

Data posted from WRAP in 2018 shows us that the amount of wasted food in the UK mesueared in tons is 10.2 million. Also, the amount of household food wasted was 7.1 million tons. When you hear the fact that 5 million tons of the wasted foods were edible you might begin to wonder. (Ian Palmer, WRAP, 2018) Imagine if all that wasted and edible food was distrubuted to homeless people, shelters and families in need. The UK must decrease their food waste resulting in more food for the people in need.

Food prices

Food prices being high in the UK is a major reason for hunger insecurity. It goes without saying that food prices and poverty relate. If you are poor you may not afford food, since the food prices in the UK is high many people below the poverty line struggle to eat well. Data from shows us that the budget for monthly recommended amount of money for food per person is 172.57 £. (Numbeo, 2019) Taking this amount into consideration, many people can not afford it which results in higher food insecurity rates. With that being said, it can safely be concluded that high food prices result in hunger insecurity.

Cafeteria food in school

Children get one hot meal each day at school, take this away and food insecurity increases. A few months ago I came across a tv show which talked about problems in the UK. (Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty, Channel 4, 2017) One of the episodes was about food insecurity. They said that in the holidays when children do not attend school, they also miss out on the free hot meal. This meal is an economically helpful meal for families with low income. Instead of spending money on three meals each day, parents only had to spend money on to meals. Although that sounds brilliant, on holidays the children who are in need of this meal, will not get it, because the cafeteria is not open. Jimmy and Jamie fought to prevent the cafetriasa from closing on holidays. The UK can afford this, it is benefitiall for not only the children but the families in need and it helps decrease the food insecurity. Closing cafeterias will increase food insecurity amongs children.

Measures

Whenever there is a problem, there is also a solution. Inspite of the many problems with food insecurity there are measures which can decrease the rate at which the UK suffers from. Some of these are as follows:

• Keep cafeterias open in the holidays
• Decrease the waste of food
• Factories can sell food that are not store quality for cheaper
• Food prices can be lowered
• More support from the government
• Safeguarding child nutrition every day of the year (Oxfam, Views and voices, 2017)
• Effective finacial assitance in times of crisis (Oxfam, Views and voices, 2017)

Conclusion

Food insecurity is a growing problem in the UK. There are many reasons for food insecurity, the major reason being poverty. Alongside poverty comes other reasons such as food prices, food waste and government support, or cafeterias being open In the holidays. These are reasons which can be improved upon by simple but yet effective measures, if taken seriousley by the government in the UK. Some of these are measures like food prices being lowered or decreasing the waste of food. If hunger in the UK does not decrease in the near future, the numbers may grow exponentioally higher.

Works cited:

1. Ian Palmer, WRAP, (2018) WRAP restates UK food figures to support united global action, accessed at June 2, 2019 at: http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/wrap-restates-uk-food-waste-figures-support-united-global-action
2. Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty, Channel 4, (2017) Series 4, episode 3, accessed June 1, 2019 at: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamie-and-jimmys-friday-night-feast/on-demand/63962-003
3. Numbeo, (2019) Food prices in united kingdom, accessed June 1, 2019 at: https://www.numbeo.com/food-prices/country_result.jsp?country=United+Kingdom
4. Oxfam, Views and voices, (2017) Nine steps to end food poverty in the UK. Accessed June 2, 2019 at: https://views-voices.oxfam.org.uk/2017/12/nine-steps-to-end-food-poverty-in-the-uk/
5. Joseph O’Leary, Social Metric Commision, (2018) Poverty in the UK: a guide to the facts and figures, accessed June 1, 2019 at: https://fullfact.org/economy/poverty-uk-guide-facts-and-figures/
6. The Trussel Trust, (2018), The Trussel Trust; “Benefit levels must keep pace with rising cost of essentials” As record increase in foodbank figures is revealed, accessed at June 1, 2019 at: https://www.trusselltrust.org/2018/04/24/benefit-levels-must-keep-pace-rising-cost-essentials-record-increase-foodbank-figures-revealed/

Perhaps one of the most consistent and unprecedented challenges facing the world presently is hunger. Hunger refers to a situation of inadequate food supply in a specific part or region. But when we use the term world hunger, we are referring to a situation where there are numerous cases of acute global food shortage. Several factors have or contribute to the acceleration of world hunger. They include natural causes such as floods, droughts and even earthquakes. Man-made causes such as continued deforestation and lack of proper planning on part of some governments. Poverty and increased climate change also contribute to the rising world hunger.

It is the moral obligation and responsibility of every government to ensure that its population is fed thus preserving room for the future generation. Many economic and political systems are headed by the minority who control the nation’s resources. They are thus in a position to live well while the majority of the population suffer silently. Unstable political systems provide room for internal conflicts creating instead internally displaced people whilst disrupting farming in those particular states. According to a report by the UNHCR in 2008, over 1 billion people suffer from chronic hunger. Money contributed towards hunger elimination usually lands in the wrong hands thus becoming misappropriated.

It is, therefore, true enough to state that corrupt and oppressive political systems around the world have contributed a great deal towards the escalation of world hunger. In Africa for instance, leaders use the raging hunger as a platform to political greatness a thing which I think can only be significantly reduced only if severe sanctions are imposed as was the case with Zimbabwe. Why? Because every aspect of humanity points to the fact that a hungry man is an angry man and therefore there is the likelihood that the people might try to consolidate power thus prompting the leadership to retaliate which in turn might generate civil war and anarchy. This means that there will be refugees who will have to be fed with an even greater urgency thus topping up the world hunger figure. Farming activities that ensure the countries agricultural stability might also have to be interrupted in some cases even for years, leaving large tracts of land lying idle and uncultivated. Zimbabwe in Africa is an example of an economy hard hit by severe inflation as a result of bad governance to the extent that border crossings into South Africa is a daily routine and lawlessness due to desperation contributes to increased crime rate and reduced morality amongst the country’s urban population. A report in 2002 by the Food and Agricultural Organization revealed that the world’s agriculture produces enough to feed everyone. This, however, is jeopardized by the fact that most third world countries lack proper storage facilities and even so farmers in these same nations are particularly mistreated by the ruling regimes as most of them go unpaid for the produce they had already submitted.

While I agree that other major factors are contributing to world hunger, it is also important to realize the root cause which to me is bad governance fueled by greed and impartiality on part of the leaders. My behaviour is therefore consistent with Bad ethics which in turn gives birth to bad behaviour and it is this bad behaviour amongst governments that should be discouraged, setting the agenda for unflawed political systems that can, in turn, ensure that the decision on how to share the national cake is not rested on one or a few individuals.

Although World Hunger may seem to be completely solved for the majority of people in developed countries, it is not entirely true. Diverse issues concerning this global problem can be considered urgent or damaging for some nations or even continents. For example, despite the presence of several developing and industrial countries in Africa, most of the continent’s inhabitants lead an agricultural lifestyle and live under conditions of constant hunger. Therefore, an appropriate solution requires to be found in order to provide broad-based prosperity and admissible living conditions.

World hunger can be caused by diverse reasons, which lead to the establishment of different concepts about the issue. The most common reasons for famine are poverty, food shortages, war, armed conflicts, global warming, the economy, poor public policy and food nutrition, gender inequality, food waste, as well as forced migration. Hence, the global understanding of world hunger can be viewed in correlation with other ubiquitous issues, and the reason for various solutions is the distinctions between its diverse concepts and directions.

For example, poverty tends to be one of the most significant factors that contribute to global hunger. In terms of famine, inadmissible living conditions lead to the inability to purchase healthy food. Additionally, the majority of poor families often sell their household goods, devices, and clothes to provide their relatives and children with the minimum amount of food and water. Living under the line of poverty results in a decrease in health levels, higher death rates, and expanding world hunger, especially in poor domestic areas. The Democratic Republic of Congo can be presented as an example of these factors’ influence. The second enormous problem causing global hunger is the ubiquitous food shortage that is mostly applicable to African countries as well. Generally, in this case, famine emerges under the affection of global warming, inappropriate weather for cultivating activities, the overall poverty across certain regions, and the population’s low educational level. In addition, global hunger shows a tendency to fluctuation depending on the year’s seasons; for example, when in certain tribes, the food from the previous harvest is ceased.

War or armed conflicts are often the primary reason for broad-based hunger. For example, in such countries as Sudan, Syria, or Iraq, the confrontations among diverse belligerent groups led to poverty, the decay of natural and human resources, and a shortage of land suitable for cultivating activities. Under such conditions, the populations of specific countries suffer from famine and struggle to get access to nutritious food. Hence, it can be stated that several reasons and issues for world hunger can be grouped based on their distinctions and similarities, such as economic, martial, social, or environmental factors.

A number of scholars and scientists express their concerns about global hunger and often consider it the most significant social problem comparable with the climate crisis. For example, Peter Singer and Garrett Hardin depict the importance of famine and suggest diverse solutions for the cease of the problem in their publications and scientific research. Both researchers argue about helping the less lucky and wealthy ones or leaving them without support and donation. The issue is rather controversial. Hence, scientists express diverse opinions regarding the world hunger and poverty problem. Singer’s main idea is that if people can provide starving, dying, and struggling people with help or financial support, they should definitely do it (Boesch, 2021). However, Hardin argues his viewpoint and supports the idea of “no sharing,” which means no donation from the wealthy ones (Hardin, 1974). Those viewpoints cannot be defined as correct or incorrect, ethical or unethical, because both have their risks and benefits. Therefore, they require to be examined and estimated to find the right compromise for solving this existing catastrophe.

On the one hand, people living in wealthier and more economically developed countries cannot be forced to donate to save other people from dying. Additionally, it cannot be considered an ethically inappropriate decision as such citizens do not bear any responsibility for the lives of poorer nations. However, when individuals see some donation or volunteering proposals and do not perform any actions, they generally feel guilty despite their non-participation. Singer explains that if there is any chance of helping someone to survive, then this opportunity has to be taken, and the person needs to be saved. Due to the complexity of people’s lives, this cannot be taken as the only right decision. For example, many people in the United States live under the line of poverty and often cannot afford to buy even vital products. However, American citizens prefer to donate to children in Africa instead of helping those who live only several miles away. In addition, Singer’s idea is rather extreme as it requires every citizen living under appropriate or satisfying living conditions to donate their money instead of buying more goods and services for themselves.

In comparison to Singer’s opinion, Hardin takes just the opposite position on the issue. However, the no-sharing concept can be considered extreme as well. For example, celebrities having millions or even billions of dollars could take part in diverse volunteering activities to encourage others willing to help to do so. Business corporations could apply a particular part of their profit to the establishment of specialized funds for helping people in need.

Such a viewpoint cannot be considered totally correct as well due to the broad-based integration and international relations between different political leaders and countries. Hardin thinks that people should not share their incomes or wealth with the poorer representatives of the community and focus on the increase of their own well-being (Hardin, 1974). No evidence is needed to state that the refusal to donate and invest in poverty and world hunger will lead to an enormous difference in economic and socio-cultural levels among various countries and continents. This situation will not be beneficial for both sides as such causes as lowering international trade volumes, growing number of immigrants and refugees, as well as overall economic stagnation will be seen. Therefore, the concept of no sharing might be inappropriate based on its radicalism and damaging outcomes.

Blind donations cannot help other nations succeed or fight the problem. More than money, such countries need support in developing and implementing advanced technology and learning to deal with climate change and diverse natural disasters. Additionally, modifications in the political, economic, and social spheres would be beneficial; hence, developed countries and their citizen would play a greater role by teaching volunteers than by donating. Hence, the right solution for the issue can be found by overlapping both Hardin’s and Singer’s suggestions. The donations should continue; however, those actions should be voluntary; therefore, only those who want to help should do it. Such funds are relevant in combination with the increase of knowledge, development of production, and economy. Donations and sponsorships without an actual rise in productivity are irrelevant and unprofitable.

References

Boesch, B. (2021). Ethics and absolute poverty: Peter Singer and effective altruism. 1000-Word Philosophy. Web.

Hardin, G. (1974). Lifeboat ethics: The case against helping the poor. The Garret Hardin Society. Web.

Introduction

Hunger is the craving for food that causes uneasy sensations. A person who lacks food for a prolonged period becomes exhausted and malnourished in the end (De Onis, Frongillo, and Blossner 1128). Reports indicate that 13.1% of the population in the world is hungry. In 2010, an approximated 7.6 million children died due to hunger. African countries such as Somalia, Niger, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya face food scarcities form one time to another.

The earth has the capability to produce enough food for the entire population, but the soils are not fully utilized. People in the developing nations have little potentiality to employ modernized agricultural practices and thus, they rely on lowly productive traditional methods. At the end of the day, people in developing countries are unwillingly struck by hunger.

Peter Singer position in the solution to world hunger

Peter Singer is one of the most influential philosophers who encourage people to have a sense of compassion for the staving Africans. Singer has a strong belief that we collectively have significant duties to alleviate world hunger. It is ethical to have sympathy to those suffering from hunger, and according to Singer, we ought to strive to enhance the happiness of the human race by eradicating poverty.

This paper analyses the topic on world hunger, why the topic is important in the study of ethics, and Peter Singer’s position on what we ought to do to alleviate world hunger.

Why the topic is important to our study of ethics

The hunger calamity that hits African countries from time to time has no direct distress to the people of the United States. However, the moral principles of the American people drive them to donate some of their income to help the starving nations. Peter Singer installs the moral obligation of valuing human life.

According to Singer, all lives are homogenously equivalent. Every individual’s life is highly valued, and the value cannot be stripped away whatsoever the case (Singer 366). Peter Singer’s perception of life plays a critical role in upgrading our moral ethics. Therefore, regardless of the difficult life situations, or the demanding need for extra cash, compassionate people will find it ethical to donate some of their income to the less privileged individuals.

Generally, the topic on world hunger touches our inner soul, and though sacrifice and donations are not compulsory, we feel obligated to sacrifice for the sake of those starving individuals. Though we may not know the starving individuals at a personal level, compassionate love forms, and we do all the doable to save their lives. Peter Singer’s solution to world hunger that states that we all have significant duties to alleviate world hunger is a very important topic in our study of ethics.

Peter Singer’s perception of what we ought to do to alleviate world hunger

Peter Singer is so stringent on the issue of world hunger. Singer cannot withstand the fact that Americans are living luxurious lives whereas some people in Africa are dying of hunger. According to Singer, it is ethical for every person to work towards ensuring there is mutual happiness of the human kingdom.

To alleviate world hunger, people ought to donate all monies spent on the luxurious lifestyles to charities that reach the starving individuals. According to Singer, whenever people spend unnecessarily, they enhance the death of innocent children (Singer 370). Recent reports indicate that Peter spares at least one-fifth of his earning for the sake of the less privileged.

The money is given to famine relief agencies located across the globe to reach the starving individuals. Peter Singer could not bear up with the fact that he lives comfortably while some innocent children crave for food somewhere in the world. Singer holds that the Americans have the obligation to help the world’s poor and hungered individuals. In fact, Singer feels that his 20% donation is not enough, and that he needs to increase his donations.

Arguments and reasons that Peter Singer gives in support of his position

People have often criticized Peter Singer’s position in alleviating world hunger. They cannot find it logical to sacrifice all their luxuries and donate the monies to alleviate world hunger.

Singer’s unwavering ethics causes divisive controversies wherever he goes. However, to drive the point home, Singer uses various illustrations from books and films. The most insinuating illustration involves Bob, a man who has invested a lot in a valuable Bugatti car. Bob loves his car to the extent that he opts to sacrifice the life of an innocent child to save his car from being crashed by a runaway train.

This sad incident portrays selfishness for luxury at the expense of a life. Peter Singer describes Bob as a fellow who does not know the value of life. Many audiences would feel that Bob’s deeds were gravely wrong. He could just let his Bugatti be smashed and save the life of the child. From the illustration, Singer likens the American’s who feel pinched in sacrificing their luxurious spending to save starving individuals. According to Peter Singer, people should judge their actions and determine if they are ethically worthy (Singer 373).

People should ensure that the consequences of their actions are unbiased. There is the utilitarian stance of Singer that states that a person can sacrifice one life to save many. Though not practical, Singer points out that we can sacrifice the $9,000 spent annually on a child in the American families to save 45 African children. However, letting a child die in the name of sacrificing for a stranger is not only scandalous, but also ethically unacceptable.

Conclusion

From the discussions, it is noteworthy that Peter Singer insists on people to become selfless to alleviate world hunger. Singer stands strong to support his perception that people have to surrender their superfluous income to alleviate poverty. While Peter Singer’s utilitarianism is too much for people to handle, I would propose that people should donate the much they can.

The famine relief agencies should then invest in projects that render long-lasting solutions to world hunger. Sustainability projects to alleviate poverty will work towards alleviating world hunger (Shaohua and Ravallion 3341). As stated before, the soils of the earth have the potentiality to produce enough food for every individual. However, the sad part of it is that those people in the developing nations do not have the capacity to invest in modernized and improvised agricultural practices.

It is also noteworthy that a great percentage of the people in the developing nations do not have the financial potentiality to afford a balanced diet. Therefore, upgrading agriculture though investing in environmentally sustainable agricultural innovations, and investing in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the hunger stricken countries is the only way to alleviate hunger in the end.

Works Cited

De Onis, Mercedes, Edward Frongillo, and Monika Blossner. “Is Malnutrition Declining? An Analysis of Changes in Levels of Child Malnutrition since 1980.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 98.5 (2000): 1222–1233. Print.

Shaohua, Chen, and Martin Ravallion. “How Have the World’s Poorest Fared since the Early 1980s?” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 15.7 (2004): 3341. Print.

Singer, Peter. “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.” In Best American Essays. Fourth Fourth College Edition Ed. Robert Atwan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (2004): 366-373. Print.

Hunger is mainly related to poverty because when people are poor they will not be able to buy food. In many third world countries, there are no sufficient funds that can be used on agriculture even on the basic level thus agriculture is underdeveloped. Population growth also contributes to world hunger. Third world countries undergo exponential growth and with problems of food they are not able to feed them all. Countries that are powerful and with a lot of food do not contribute a lot in helping the poor countries solve this problem. In such countries, there is a constant waste of food that is thrown in the dust bin.

Hunger results from global and societal inequality amid industrialized nations and developing nations. The existing trade procedures, international assistance, and inadequate development programs have led to rich countries misusing the poor counties rather than assist them. There is plenty of food that is available in the world that can be able to feed everyone. In the international market, all nations are meant to have an equal and just exchange of products and services among one another, but this is not what happens. Food is not supposed to be sold abroad from poor nations to the rich nations, but rather it should be vice versa since food is required in poor nations. In most developing nations exports have hit while so many people continue to die of hunger.

Debts are another main cause of hunger in most developing countries. The developing nations are required to borrow funds from organizations like World Bank (WB) and from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and thus they are obligated to follow the structural modification guidelines. These guidelines create irrational and untenable restrictions on the living conditions of the people from these developing nations. The WB and the IMF are generally managed by rich nations like the Group of Eight (G8) who see that competition in the free market will help poor countries advance when things change. These rich nations offer only short-term marketable benefits that they will gain from. In this way, the poor nations have to export most of their food to pay these debts. In other cases, most industries that used to offer assistance to these poor nations also center on exports to other countries for them to disburse the government, who in this case have to pay the IMF and WB. This large exporting of food from poor countries has resulted in hunger issues.

The effects of hunger include increased infant and mortality rates. Malnourished mothers are prone to sicknesses leading to problems with the children they give birth to. They may be smaller and in most cases, they die early causing high infant death rates. In areas where children and infants die often, the birth rate increases thus leading to an inhuman sequence of undernourishment and death. The people who are affected by hunger are susceptible to ordinary diseases. Research shows that over two million children succumb to dehydration resulting from diarrhea. A half-starved child may not be able to endure when affected by brutal diarrhea.

People suffering from hunger are also at higher risks of many infections. Malnourished children are mostly having weak immune systems thus prone to infections. Children who do not have enough to eat have stunted growth. These children are not as intelligent as regular children. This is because they are deprived of essential nutrients and minerals that are necessary for better growth. Others also are underweight because they do not receive enough food with the right minerals to help them grow. Hunger causes a decline in economic growth for such a country that is affected. This is because when people are hungry they have no strength to work. This decreases their economic contribution to the nation thus poor growth.

World hunger is one of the best topics to write about. You can discuss its causes, how to solve it, and how we can create a world without hunger. Whether you need to write an entire world hunger essay or just a conclusion or a hook, this sample will inspire you.

World Hunger Essay Introduction

Hunger is a term that has been defined differently by different people due to its physiological as well as its socio economic aspects. In most cases, the term hunger has been defined in relation to food insecurity. However, according to Holben (n. d. pp. 1), hunger is usually defined as a condition that is painful or uneasy emanating from lack of food.

In the same studies, hunger has yet been defined as persistent and involuntary inability to access food. Therefore, world hunger refers to a condition characterized by want and scarce food in the whole world. Technically, hunger refers to malnutrition a condition that is marked by lack of some, or all the nutrients that are necessary to maintain health of an individual.

There are two types of malnutrition which include micronutrient deficiency and protein energy malnutrition. It is important to note that world hunger generally refers to protein energy malnutrition which is caused by inadequacy of proteins and energy giving food. According to World Hunger education Service (2010 Para. 4), the recent statistics by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) records that there is a total of about nine hundred and twenty five million people in the whole world who are described as hungry.

It is a serious condition since statistics indicate that the number has been on the increase since the mid twentieth center. With that background in mind, this paper shall focus on the problem of world hunger, history, statistics, impacts as well as solutions to the problem.

History of World Hunger

The problem of hunger has been persistent since early centuries given that people residing in Europe continent used to suffer from serious shortages of food. The problem intensified in the twentieth century due to increase of wars, plagues and other natural disasters like floods, famines and earth quakes. Consequently, a lot of people succumbed to malnutrition and death.

However, during the mid twentieth century and after the Second World War, food production increased by 69% and therefore, there was enough food to feed the population by (National Research Council (U.S.) Committee on Public Engineering Policy, 1975 pp. vii).

The situation of food adequacy which continued from the year 1954-1972 was as a result of various factors which were inclusive but not limited to better methods of farming, land reclamation, use of fertilizers, use of irrigation, as well as use of machines and other forms of skilled labor.

In 1970s, people thought that they could keep the problem of hunger under control by conserving environment, controlling population growth and technological development. Nevertheless, even with such optimism, studies of National Research Council (U.S.).

Committee on Public Engineering Policy (1975 pp. vii), record that by 1974, the condition had already grown out of hand because there was not only a high population growth rate, but energy was also extremely expensive. To make the matter worse, the same study records that a quarter of the total population in the world were already experiencing hunger.

Therefore, due to hunger, agencies which were dealing with the problem started to request for the intervention of the humanitarian relief as well as trying to solve the problem thorough the use of the green revolution. The problem of hunger contributed greatly to the technological development since by all costs, people had to survive. However, although agriculture continued to expand, the population continued to increase and that is why the problem of hunger has persisted throughout the twentieth century to the twenty first century.

Statistics of the World Hunger

As highlighted in the introductory part, nine million people in the world are malnourished but further studies indicate that the exact number is not known. It is important to note that though the problem of hunger is virtually everywhere in the world, most of the hunger stricken people are found in the developing countries.

Despite the fact that the number has been on the increase since 1995, a decrease was observed in last year. The figures below clearly explain the statistical trend of world hunger from 1968 to 2009 (World Hunger Education Service, 2010 Para. 4).

Figure 1. The Number of Hunger Stricken People from 1969-2010

Source (World Hunger Education Service, 2010)

Figure 2: Distribution of Hungry People in the Whole World by Regions

Source: (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010 pp. 2)

The above figure clearly illustrates that the problem of hunger is most common in the developing countries and less common in the developed countries. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2010 pp. 2), 19 million are found in developed countries, thirty seven million in North East and North Africa, fifty three in Latin and Caribbean America, two hundred and thirty nine million in Sub Saharan Africa and five hundred and seventy eight in Asia and Pacific Region.

However, it is important to mention that the Food and Agriculture Organization arrives at the above figures by considering the total income of people and the income distribution. Therefore, the figures given are just estimates and that is the main reason why it has become increasingly difficult to get the actual number of hungry people in the whole world.

Causes of the World Hunger

There are many causes of world hunger but poverty is the main and the same is caused by lack of enough resources as well as unequal distribution of recourses among the populations especially in the developing countries.

According to World Hunger Education Service (2010 Para 10. ), World Bank estimates that there are a bout one million, three hundred and forty five million people who are poor in the whole world since their daily expenditure is 1.25 dollars or even less. Similarly, Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about one billion people in the whole world are under nourished.

As expected, the problem of poverty affects mostly the developing countries although there have been a lot of campaigns which have been launched with an aim of poverty reduction. Consequently in some parts Asia and China, the campaigns have been successful because the number has reduced by 19% (World Hunger Education Service, 2010 para. 12). Conversely, in some parts like the sub-Saharan Africa, the number of poor people has gone up.

Since the study has indicated that poverty is the main cause of hunger, it is important to look at the underlying cause of poverty. According to World Hunger Education Service (2010), the current economic as well as political systems in the world contribute greatly to the problem of hunger and poverty.

The main reason is due to the fact that more often than not, resources are controlled by the economic and political institutions which are controlled by the minority. Therefore, policies which emanate from poor economic systems are contributory factor to poverty and hunger.

Conflict and war is an important cause of not only poverty but also hunger. The main reason is due to the fact that conflicts lead to displacement of people and destruction of property and other resources that can be helpful in alleviating hunger. Towards the end of 2005, the number of refugees was lower compared to the current number influenced by violence and conflicts which have been taking place in Iraq as well as in Somali.

The same study clearly indicates that towards the end of the year 2008, UNHCR had recorded more than ten million refugees. A year after, internally displaced persons in the whole world had reached a total of twenty six million (World Hunger Education Service 2010 par 13). However, although it is difficult to provide the total number of internally displaced people due to conflicts, the truth is, refugees mostly suffer from poverty which exposes them to extreme hunger.

Over the last century, climate has been changing in most parts of the world, a condition which has been caused by global warming. It is a real phenomena and the effects of the same are observed in most parts of the world which are inclusive but not limited to draughts, floods, changing weather and climatic patterns as well as hurricanes (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Economic and Social Dept, 2005).

Such effects of globalization contribute greatly to hunger because they destroy the already cultivated food leading to food shortages.

Changing weather and climate patterns require a change to certain crops which is not only expensive but it also takes long to be implemented. In addition, some plants and animals have become extinct and the same contributes greatly to food shortages and hunger in general. Nonetheless, the most serious consequences of global warming are floods draughts and famines since they lead to poverty which ends up increasing people’s susceptibility to hunger. ( Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010)

High food prices in both domestic and international markets are also a contributory factor to world hunger. Although the level of poverty is increasing because the level of income has reduced, the price of various food commodities has also gone up and therefore, it has become increasingly difficult for people to afford adequate food for their needs.

According to the studies of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2008 pp. 24), between the year 2002 to 2007, prices of cereals such as wheat maize as well as rice increased by about fifty percent in the world market.

Nonetheless, although the world market food prices were increasing, the rate was different with domestic prices, a condition caused by the depreciating value of the US dollar while compared to other currencies in the world. However, in the year 2007 and 2008, domestic food prices in most countries also ended up increasing.

High prices in the domestic market are caused by high prices for agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. As highlighted earlier, the need for use of advanced agricultural inputs results from the effects of global warming which is also a chief cause of world hunger and food insecurity.

Impacts of World Hunger

There are many impacts of world hunger because food is a basic need for everyone in the society. Although impacts of hunger affect people across all the age brackets, young children are usually the worst victims. In science, the condition caused by hunger and starvation is known as under nutrition. It increases the disease burden such that in one year; under nourished children suffer from illnesses for at least five months as the condition lowers their immunity.

In most cases, undernourishment is the underlying cause of various diseases that affect children like malaria, measles, diarrhea and pneumonia. Studies of World Hunger Education Service (2010 par. 10) indicate that malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than half of all the cases of malaria diarrhea and pneumonia in young children. In measles, the same studies indicate that forty five percent of all the cases result from malnutrition.

As the problem of hunger, malnutrition is unequally distributed in the world because about thirty two percent of the stunted children live in the developing countries. Seventy percent of the total number of the malnourished children is found in Asia while Africa hosts 26% and the remaining four percent are from Caribbean and Latin America (World Hunger Education Service, 2010 par 11).

The study points out that the problem starts even before birth because in most cases, pregnant mothers are also usually undernourished. Due to this problem, in every six infants, one is usually undernourished. Apart from death, under nourishment resulting from hunger also causes blindness, difficulties in learning, stunted growth, retardation and poor health, to name just a few.

Apart from disease, poverty is also a resultant factor of hunger. In reference to the definition of hunger as an uncomfortable condition resulting from lack of food, hungry people are usually incapacitated. Since food is an important source of energy, people suffering from hunger are usually not in a position to take part in useful economic activities and a result, they are usually poor.

In addition, hunger is one of the reasons that cause people to migrate from one place to another there by causing economic constraints to the host countries. Conflicts also emanate from the same as people compete for scarce resources. A lot of humanitarian agencies use most of their funds in proving food to the people suffering from hunger either in refugee camps or in other places.

As a result, governments spend a lot of money in providing humanitarian support while the same amount of money could have been used in development projects. Impacts of hunger are mostly felt in the developing countries, Asia and Sub Saharan Africa because in most cases, the problem of hunger in such regions is usually an international problem because regional governments cannot be able to deal with it single handedly ( World Vision, 2010).

Responses to World Hunger

Hunger being a serious problem requires no emphasis and therefore, there are some responses which are meant to mitigate the problem. Various policies have therefore been established in all related areas. For example, there are various policies that that have been established to regulate high food prices. Such measures are inclusive but not limited to tax on imports, restricting export to maintain adequate food in the country, measures to control prices of food as well as to enhance food affordability, and stabilizing prices.

Improving and increasing agricultural produce is an important measure that has been taking place especially in the developing countries meant to increase supply and eventually curb the problem of hunger. At this point, is important to note that the number of response which have be taken to reduce or eliminate the problem of hunger vary from one region to another.

In addition, every region implements the policies that can be useful in that particular region. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2010 pp.32 ), a survey conducted in the year 2007 and 2008 indicated that about 50% of all the countries reduced the tax of imports on cereals and more than fifty percent adopted measures like consumer subsidies with an aim of lowering domestic food prices.

Twenty five percent of the countries imposed restrictions on exports to minimize the outflow of food and the remaining 16% had done nothing to solve the problem of high domestic food prices. It is quite unfortunate that the regions that are mostly affected by hunger like Sub Saharan Africa; Caribbean as well Latin America has established the lowest number of policies.

Although such policies are of great help locally, they have negative impacts in the international markets. For example, due to restriction on exports, the supply of food at the international markets is usually low and as a result, the prices end up increasing. Apart from that, subsidies on imports increase government expenditure thereby straining the budget.

Therefore, it is clear that some measures of price do not control neither they end up mitigating the problem since they affect other people like farmers and traders. The main cause of the problem is due to the fact that most governments are unable to protect their economy from external influences.

Recommended solutions

While looking for the solutions to the problem, it is important to note that the demand of food will continue to increase due to various factors like urban growth and development as well as the high level of income. In that case, there is a great need for increasing food production.

In addition, the intervention should aim at not only solving the current problem but also solving any shortage that may emerge in future. Therefore, all regions and especially the sub-Saharan Africa ought to focus on increasing agricultural production. Moreover, it is necessary to come up with appropriate policies to ensure that the increase in food production will solve the problem of food insecurity (National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Public Engineering Policy, 1975).

One of the problems that have been causing hunger especially in developing countries is inaccessibility to adequate food. As a result, the concerned stakeholders should look for ways and means of increasing food accessibility. For instance; it would be more helpful if the production of small scale farmers could increase because the problem cannot only help in lowering food prices in the global market but also in alleviating poverty and hunger in the rural areas.

Although incentives and agricultural inputs are important in increasing agricultural production in the rural areas, some other measures can still be used in the same areas. For instance, in a region like Africa, more areas can be irrigated and by so doing, agricultural production can increase as well ( Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010).

World Hunger Essay Conclusion

World hunger is a real and a serious problem not only due to its grave impacts but also due to the complexity of the whole issue. A lot of people in the whole world are exposed to hunger. A critical analysis of the problem illustrates that it not only results from low food production but it is also affected by other factors such as inaccessibility of food, high food prices and some policies established by the government.

For example, the research has indicated that some polices that control the prices of food in local markets end up increasing food prices in the global market. In the view of the fact that hunger is the underlying cause of poverty, disease and eventually death, it is important for the concerned stake holders to address the issue accordingly.

As the studies of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, (2008, p. 2) indicate, the over nine million hunger stricken people can be saved only if the stake holders that are inclusive of the government, United Nations, civil societies, donors and humanitarian agencies, general public and the private sector can join hands in combating the problem.

In order to come up with lasting solutions, their efforts should be aimed at improving the agricultural sector and establishing safety nets to protect the vulnerable population. Finally, in every challenge, there is an opportunity and in that case, the high prices of food can be used as an opportunity by small scale producers to increase their produce and get more returns and thereby reduce problems like poverty which contribute to hunger. Therefore, even though the problem is complicated, viable solutions still exist.

References

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2010). Global hunger declining, but still unacceptably high. Web.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2008). The State of Food Insecurity in the World. Web.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Economic and Social Dept. (2005). The state of food insecurity in the world, 2005: eradicating world hunger – key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. New York: Food & Agriculture Org.

Holben, D. H. (n. d.). The Concept and Definition of Hunger and Its Relationship to Food Insecurity. Web.

National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Public Engineering Policy. ( 1975). World hunger: approaches to engineering actions : report of a seminar. Washington: National Academies.

World Hunger Education Service. (2010). World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics 2010. Web.

World Vision. (2010). The Global Food Crisis. Web.

Young, L. (1997). World hunger. London: Routledge.