Poverty is EVERYWHERE ..!!!

 

Hunger and World poverty

Posted May 10th, 2011 | Poverty is Everywhere

Food has never before existed in such abundance, so why are 1.2 billion people in the world going hungry?

There is enough food available to feed the entire global population of 6.7 billion people. And yet, one in nearly seven people is going hungry. One in three children is underweight. Why does hunger exist? There are many reasons and factors that play into why famine occurs.

Nature 

Natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms and long periods of drought are increasing in the world and these disasters are man-made.

One other major problem in day society is global warming. The earth is becoming warmer and sea level rise. Where there was fertile grasslands, there is now desert. It is impossible for all people to get out as much carbon dioxide as the richest people do.

Drought is now the single most common cause of food shortages in the world. A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region. Although droughts can persist for several years, even a short, intense drought can cause significant damage and harm the local economy. Lengthy periods of drought have long been a key trigger for mass migration and played a key role in a number of ongoing humanitarian crises. Here is a list of the most ongoing drought disasters in the world.

War From Asia to Africa to Latin America, fighting displaces millions of people from their homes, leading to some of the world’s worst hunger emergencies. Since 2003, 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.

In war, food sometimes becomes a weapon. Soldiers will starve opponents into submission by seizing or destroying food and livestock and systematically wrecking local markets. Fields and water wells are often mined or contaminated, forcing farmers to abandon their land.

Poverty In developing countries, farmers often cannot afford seed to plant the crops that would provide for their families. Craftsmen lack the means to pay for the tools to ply their trade. Others have no land, water or education to lay the foundations for a secure future.

The poverty-stricken do not have enough money to buy or produce enough food for themselves and their families. In turn, they tend to be weaker and cannot produce enough to buy more food. In short, the poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.

Agricultural infrastructure In the long-term, improved agricultural output offers the quickest fix for poverty and hunger.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2004 Food Insecurity Report, all the countries that are on track to reach the first Millennium Development Goal have something in common — significantly better than average agricultural growth.

Yet too many developing countries lack key agricultural infrastructure, such as enough roads, warehouses and irrigation. The results are high transport costs, lack of storage facilities and unreliable water supplies. All conspire to limit agricultural yields and access to food.

But, although the majority of developing countries depend on agriculture, their governments economic planning often emphasizes urban development.

Over-exploitation of environment

Poor farming practices, deforestation, over cropping and overgrazing are exhausting the Earth’s fertility and spreading the roots of hunger. Increasingly, the world’s fertile farmland is under threat from erosion, salivation and desertification.

Distribution About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes and more than 800 million people are chronically undernourished, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often.

Even though there is plenty of food in the world for everyone, the problem is that hungry people are trapped in severe poverty. They lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves.

Being constantly malnourished, they become weaker and often sick. This makes them increasingly less able to work, which then makes them even poorer and hungrier. This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families. Their education will help them to escape from hunger and global poverty.

It is not necessarily required everyone to have the exactly the same. There is talk of justice. Every human being has the right to live safe with access to food, safe water and basic human needs.

A good example of injustice is the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. On one side of town you can find the slum areas, where the lives of people who barely can afford food and water, while on the other side of town you will find the houses of the wealthiest citizens, with well watered lawns.

I believe that people shouldn’t have to starve and struggle for survival. All should be able to live the life they want, without having to ask for much. I think people are willing to help but they need someone to organize them and take charge. We must begin to think more of others and do the best we can to help. Only one dollar a day for one year can make a big difference for a person in the third world.

Health AIDS is of course a major cause of hunger and poverty in Africa, but it is not the only one. AIDS and hunger are still a show context. AIDS made people gradually loose the ability to produce and buy the food they need, and many parents die before they can transfer the necessary information about food and health to the children. Hunger affects the immune system and weakens the body to the starving man. When they then in addition to AIDS, they have a small chance to survive. Medicines are not necessarily more expensive in developing countries, but because many Africans do not have money, they heal not afford the necessary medicines.

I believe that lack of knowledge is the greatest cause of hunger in Africa. Before any structure of Africa can start, Africans must first gain knowledge. It helps not only to erase the debt and bed Africans restart. There is no reason to send high-tech equipment to developing countries as long as no one knows how to use them. They must first get the knowledge to do this. Knowledge is the key. They must learn to produce finished products for export; instead of selling raw materials at half price, but that they will manage to do this we must be willing to help them. The leaders of the country must take immediate action and priority education of their countries population. Without education people will not be able to develop nor take care of themselves. There will not be jobs available and constant hunger and poverty will continue.

Here is a pic borrowed from google, showing the hunger around the world (click on the picture to get an larger image)

Written by

Hatef Mokhtar

Oslo,Norway