With the lack of resources, hunger becomes an issue that affects the development of a country. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, there are more than 1.02 billion undernourished individuals in the world, with the majority living in Asia and Africa.1 Although this may not seem like a large number compared to the 6.7 billion people in the world, the majority of the population that is in hunger is concentrated in certain countries that the loss of the undernourished would ultimately wipe out the countries from all of its inhabitants.
Many people always wonder “why world hunger is such a big concern?” or more importantly “how come world hunger is occurring in some countries but not in others?” While overpopulation is one of the factors that affects the availability of food to certain nations, the balance between the distribution of food from one country to the other also affects it. Industrialized nations with more wealth are able to consume more products either by farming or importing goods from other countries. Nations that are not developed, however, lacked the ability to do the same, thus creating a shortage in the amount of food that is available to the people in that country.
Although world hunger is an issue that cannot be easily solved, it is a concern that should continue to be taken into account. The agricultural market should consider the balance in the distribution of food throughout the world. Many industrialized countries receive an excess amount of food that results in a lot of it to go to waste, food that otherwise could be provided to countries in need of the resource.
1. FAO: Hunger - http://www.fao.org/hunger/en/
Hey Gary,
ReplyDeleteForemost, excellent points. A struggling country is no longer isolated by itself, but instead, may have the option of reaching out from a host of nations around the globe. In America alone, for instance, the per capita income for a U.S. citizen was $39,139 (or $107.25/day) in 2009. This total is large in the grand scheme of things, as one third of nations live on less than $2/day (statistics quoted in Professor Wisman’s lecture on 8/26/10 in ECON-100-001).
This post really ties into this (last) week’s theme of globalization. How much does a given nation want to participate in this interaction? Is it inevitable? In the book Globalization of Agriculture and Food: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Implications by Joachim von Braun and Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla, globalization can be seen as “an impersonal force (driven mostly from advances in technology and other factors, such as the expansion of population” or “as a policy by governments”. In either case, “globalization of agriculture and the food system in a broad sense” is crucial to the produce traded (quantity, quality, and type), scientific breakthroughs, foreign investments, trade regulations, “attending to [consumer’s tastes],” health/environmental themes, and “when social policies related to hunger and poverty reduction become global” (5).
However, on another note, your rhetorical question on “Why word hunger is such a big concern” (which is shared by many people), troubles me. It shows not only apathy but ignorance. It reminds me of the many “save the world” trends today: to “go green” (http://shop.cafepress.com/green) and to fight AIDS (http://www.joinred.com/splash.htm). For the hunger issue itself, through Facebook, I even found this website, which lets one “feed a child with just one click” (http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1). Yet, how much are these initiatives helping? Yes, they are a great start. The message needs to be widespread, and what better place to publicly share it than with the rising generation? However, words and dreams need to turn into actions and reality. Only after plans have been made can we seriously discuss an issue/threat.
~Rachael Wolff
Link: http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/globalpoorch01.pdf
Hey Rachael,
ReplyDeleteI finally got your comment to go through. I'm not sure why blogspot was considering your comments as spam. You sent me like 12 of the same posts and they each were tagged as spam. But now that it's fixed, thanks!
Garry