Facts of the Matter -- hunger

Jason Grotto
The Rotarian -- September 2009

British scholar Thomas Malthus predicted in 1798 that population growth would inevitably outpace food production. More than 200 years later, scientists predict that global food production will outpace population growth by 2030.
Nearly one in seven people around the world – about 963 million – do not have enough food to maintain healthy, active lives. Health officials found that roughly 25,000 people die every day from hunger and related causes. More than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women. Every six seconds, a child dies from hunger. Source: World Food Programme
Seven countries – India, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Ethiopia – represent 65 percent of the world’s hungry population, who live on fewer than the 2,100 calories often recommended for a healthy life. Researchers say there’s enough wheat, rice, and other food in the world to feed everyone 3,500 calories a day.
Floods, tropical storms, and long periods of drought are the most common causes of food shortages and are on the rise worldwide. The proportion of food crises attributed to human causes such as war has more than doubled since 1992. In 2007 and 2008, skyrocketing food and oil prices caused riots in more than 30 countries monitored by the World Food Programme.
Malnutrition contributes to more than half the 9.7 million deaths of children under five years old in developing countries. Children who lack micronutrients – iron, vitamin A, iodine, and zinc – have the most serious forms of malnutrition. Hungry and undernourished children have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety, and depression than children with adequate access to food. Source: Emergency Nutrition Network
Between 1970 and 1997, the number of hungry people worldwide dropped from 959 million to 791 million. Much of the decline occurred in China and India, where more resources were devoted to hunger and improved agricultural output. But between 2007 and 2008, the number of undernourished people in the world increased by 115 million to 963 million.
A 1970 United Nations resolution asked most industrialized countries to commit 0.7 percent of their national incomes by 1975 to tackling poverty. To date, only Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden have regularly met this goal.
For the past several years, the RI president has appointed Rotarians to the Health and Hunger Resource Group, which supports and encourages Rotary clubs and districts as they help combat hunger. In March 2007, District 7710 (North Carolina, USA) achieved its goal of funding, packaging, and shipping one million meals to impoverished children around the globe. See Stop Hunger Now

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