Global Hunger—More Than Food Is Involved
“35 million are starving in dry Africa”
“Famine and red tape starving a continent”
“Drought, death and despair”
YOU have probably seen many headlines such as these in recent years. Along with them, there are usually pictures of starving children with dazed eyes and swollen bellies, squalid refugee camps packed with people who are no more than skin and bones, parched landscapes strewn with carcasses of fallen animals—all haunting sights that refuse to disappear from the mind’s eye.
The reports are equally chilling. A special issue of the magazine Courier, an official United Nations publication, grimly points out that many people were optimistic ten years ago and adds: “Today, however, it must be admitted that the plight of the world’s underprivileged is steadily worsening. Nearly 500 million human beings, stagnating in poverty, are under daily threat of famine.” The UN World Food Council estimates that “every year in developing countries, 15 million children die from malnutrition,” which translates into an infant death rate 30 times higher than that in developed countries. And, according to The World Bank, 200 million Africans—more than 60 percent of that continent’s population—eat less than a survival diet.
On the other hand, perhaps you have also read optimistic reports hailing breakthroughs in genetic engineering, with promises of new strains of high-yield and disease- or drought-resistant crops on the way. New and revolutionary farming techniques are being developed to increase productivity. Governments and agencies around the world are launching aid programs of one kind or another. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN estimates that if all the food the world produces was evenly distributed, every person on earth would receive the equivalent of 3,000 calories per day, more than what most people actually need. In fact, in some countries, governments are even paying farmers to reduce their output so as to hold down the stockpile of surplus food and to stabilize prices. All of this makes it appear as though hunger is about to be eliminated.
As we consider the facts, one thing becomes clear. The problem of feeding the world’s hungry is not what it appears to be. Scientists and farmers may have the technological know-how to produce more food. Governments and world agencies may have plausible proposals and programs to tackle one problem or another. Yet, there seem to be some hidden factors that block any real success, and the battle against hunger is losing ground. Why is this so? What are some of these hidden factors? And, really, can the world’s hungry be fed?
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Death by Starvation
“AN OTHERWISE healthy adult, given water but no food, will die in 50 to 70 days. Weakened by malnutrition, however, the victim almost always succumbs to other diseases. Death comes after a starving person’s body has essentially consumed itself. The body stores at most about a day’s supply of its prime energy source, glucose, and once this supply is exhausted it begins extracting energy by oxidation of fat, either as fatty acids or ketone bodies. Once body fat is gone, the body must break down the protein in muscle and other vital tissues, slowly destroying the heart, kidneys, spleen and other organs. The belly often becomes edematous, or swollen and distended, because of an abnormal accumulation of fluids. As the flesh wastes away, the skin becomes dry, bones become fragile and hair falls out. Blood pressure falls. In children, the brain stops developing. The immune system begins failing, usually leading to fatal infection. The intestines atrophy. Vision, hearing and speech fail. As the body tries to reduce its energy needs, body temperature falls and hypothermia is frequent. Finally, the body system is overwhelmed and death comes from extensive organ failure.”—Science Section, The New York Times, January 1, 1985.