Water and food are fuel required by the body. Our muscles need this to function and a couple of days with no food or water, the body now converts all the stored fats in the body for energy use. If this condition is prolonged, the result is slow response, diminished activity and slow reaction that's commonly seen in starving people. The body has run out of energy and cannot work at all.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that nearly 870 million people of the 7.1 billion people in the world, or one in eight, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012. Almost all the hungry people, 852 million, live in developing countries, representing 15 percent of the population of developing countries. There are 16 million people undernourished in developed countries.*
Source: FAO 2012

Sometimes some think that people who are hungry in this countries are just lazy and they have got what they deserve but that's not the case. It's usually due to inability of this individuals to help themselves especially those caught in conflicts, harsh climates, political or economic hardships involved.

What is Hunger?

This is a very tricky word to define but in respect to this context, we will take a look at hunger in our communities, country and other places of the world.

Hunger is a painful sensation or a tiring condition which one feels from the want of food. In relation to countries, it is the scarcity and unavailability of food,either for a short time or consistently.

If a village source of food is devastated by flood and as a result, there is no food for a couple of months, the people will be hungry. Also if a group of hikers got stranded on a mountain for days with no food, they will have the effects of hunger. So hunger is more than just missing lunch or dinner for a single day.
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Hunger is the situation, characterized by food insecurity and it ultimately leads to malnourishment. There is emphasis on food insecurity because these people suffering from hunger are always in continuous wondering where and when their next meal will appear. Malnourishment is also important because hunger makes humans to eat anything just to full their tummy, with no regard to what they are getting from that meal. This ultimately means they will lack the essential nutrients the body need to function normally.

Malnutrition - What it means?

Not all the food we eat us a balanced diet, it's very essential for us to eat meals that have a necessary nutrient for a balanced development. Balanced food must contain energy in with the body needs to do work,proteins for muscle development and growth, vitamins and minerals for helping the body to heal and fight off infections.
So malnutrition is when the body is deficient in some or all of the nutrients for it to function properly.
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In fact it's of two types

• Protein Energy Malnutrition(PEM) - it's most crucial and as the name suggest it's the lack of glucose and proteins in a diet. It's very dangerous and it's present in areas of hunger in the world. It's very lethal as all our body parts need energy to function and this energy comes from carbohydrates and starch.
• Micronutrients deficiency - this is due to deficiency of vitamins and minerals and it's also called hidden hunger. Unlike PEM, the body can survive long with it

Malnutrition at an early age leads to reduced physical and mental development during childhood. Stunting, for example, affects more than 147 million pre-schoolers in developing countries, according to SCN's World Nutrition Situation 5th report. Iodine deficiency, the same report shows, is the world's greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage. Source: WFP

Places of Hunger in the world

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Hunger is present on almost every corner of the world but we take note of places with persistent hunger on a national level.
About 90% of undernourished people children included live in underdeveloped countries. The major bulk being in rural areas of Africa and Asia and these dwellers are mostly farmers and local crafters who depend on farm produces to live. These people have no other source of income and it makes them vulnerable in events such as floods, fires, extreme climate, and diseases.
In the above mentioned places, it's women and children that are mostly affected and malnourished mothers give birth to underweight babies. The children are stunted and grow up to pass the conditions to their offsprings if the food condition isn't improved. Poor nutrition have a role in at least almost half of the 11 million child death every year.

Did you know that:
More than 35% of children in developing countries live on less than one dollar a day.
Every 3.6 seconds one person dies of hunger, and it's usually in children of less than 5 years.

Causes of Hunger

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If you live in a developed country,where the economy, political Avenue and the weather is all great, it's hard to imagine and appreciate how people in other places with hunger live. An estimate by experts shows that people produce enough food to feed every single person on earth. So how is Hunger possible?

• Extreme weather and climate change such as floods, drought, heat, storms and other extreme weather conditions can cause lots of destruction and damage to farms and wipe them and some of these communities never recover fully and begin to face plenty years of hardship.

Drought is now the single most common cause of food shortages in the world. In 2011, recurrent drought caused crop failures and heavy livestock losses in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya.
— World Food Programme

• Conflicts, Wars and tensions among political and tribal factions can make people leave their homes and jobs out of fear, just like the recent scenario in Nigeria caused by the Boko haram sect which terrorized the north and made many flee for their lives. Also in some conflicts, the fighters may seize the source of food and water to a community in order to get people to comply with their terms. Sometimes young and productive men who are supposed to do some economic activities are engaged in war and that leads to a drop in the food production of the community.

Since 2004, conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan has uprooted more than a million people, precipitating a major food crisis - in an area that had generally enjoyed good rains and crops.
— World Food Programme

• Poverty is also a cause of hunger as most poor families often lack the money to procure equipment and infrastructure to produce food. They are now forced to produce what little their strength can and have a little to live on. The children usually end up on the farms instead of school and as the children become adults, they become knowledge handicapped and lack innovative ways of producing more to secure a better future so the poverty cycle continues.

Effects of Hunger in the community

Poverty and hunger goes hand in hand and they effects are mostly in these aspects

• Health - it makes the body weak and very susceptible to infections and diseases as the body doesn't have the strength to grow the muscles and combat infections at the same time. It's deadly in children and most of them die in hunger areas due to this reason. Pregnant mother who are malnourished also give birth to underweight babies, who most times die or if they survive have a very stunted growth.
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One out of six children - roughly 100 million - in developing countries is underweight. Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five - 3.1 million children each year.* WFP

• Education - In absence of inadequate food, the brain is unable to develop properly leading to mental retardation. It makes learning difficult and make children not to concentrate on anything properly. Hunger also keeps children away from school especially those that have to trek for miles to reach the school and still do farm work to make a living with their families.

66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. WFP

• Migration - most young adults who migrate from the rural area to towns and cities usually end up in slums and underground communities, as they cannot afford and cope with the high cost of living standards in the cities. Their lack of education makes them unsuitable for any standard paying jobs in the city so most of them end up doing nefarious activities such as drugs, prostitution, robbery and other crimes for a living.
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• Economy - Hunger stricken countries tend to do poorly with economy and it's due to where the productive adults don't have the right frame and conditions to work. They are constantly sick and the work input and interest are low. The people who live from hand to mouth have a little to invest in the wider economy. Additionally the government are forced to spend more on food aid and care instead of investing more in infrastructure, healthcare and schools

What's being done now and how to prevent hunger

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Many charities, organizations, government and many wealthy and generous individuals have been doing a lot to alleviate hunger and as a result the general issue of hunger is coming down. Although there are some few places that's still worse. The few programs employed by them includes school meals, food for assets and training, and buying in bulk to encourage more production.
Hunger is an issue which is not easy to tackle and as such we have ideas on what causes hunger and this gives us how to work backwards from there. A few tips to consider include

• Education - where people are being imparted the Ill effects of hunger and encourage people to work harder and wisely for a secured future.
• Leadership - influential people, celebrities and world leaders need to do more in reaching out to the needy communities. If there is a conflict, they heave to end it by encouraging peaceful dialogue between warring factions. Also they have to be fast in reaching out during natural disasters.
• Individual - many humanitarian and aid agencies are usually knocking on our doors for funds to help and aid the hungry, and most of them do a very fantastic job. So we should endeavor to help them if we are able to. We shouldn't let the opportunity to help to pass by because the little we do, can do a lot by alleviating hunger for many children.

So what are your thoughts on the issue of Hunger in the world?

Is there any other way that it can be reduced or eliminated?

Lets hear your thoughts!!!!

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