The Global Issue of World Hunger and Malnutrition

An ugly knot can be twisted into someone’s stomach when the words “world hunger” or “starvation” are brought up. I believe most of us have seen the photos of starving children and have a slight idea about malnutrition and hunger problems that occur in other countries such as Ethiopia, Africa, and Sedan. “Sponsor a child today, for just twenty-five cents a day...” We hear local commercials like this on the television in American almost daily. Children’s hunger is not just something we hear on the late night talk shows, it is real life! These are actual, starving children that need the basic necessity of life to maintain something as simple as hair growth: food!
What is starvation? It is a severe reduction in vitamin and nutrient intake that can lead to organ damage and eventually death. Starvation is the most extreme form of malnutrition. Malnutrition is a causative factor in more than one third of all deaths in children around the world. Child starvation is not necessarily the main cause of death; it actually is the health related risks from undernourishment that cause a death about every five seconds. Children who are deprived of food suffer from health problems such as underdevelopment, stunted growth, and lifelong learning disabilities. Statistics cause us to stop dead in our tracks when we realize the incredible amount of children who are suffering.
Although the United States has a slight hunger problem, other countries are the predominant focus with staggering numbers of starving and malnourished children. Approximately 200 million children from around the world, under the age of five, suffer from severe health problems that relate back to starvation. According to KYMN, every day almost 18,000 children die from hunger-related causes, meaning every five seconds, or 12 children per minute, die due to hunger. KYMN also stated that statistics show 923 million people worldwide were undernourished in 2007; this included 907 million who reside in developing countries. Now, in 2010, we can only estimate that the numbers have increased. So, what can we do to help this? Can we ever find a cure to put an end to world hunger? Shockingly enough, this question does not look like it is going to be solved anytime soon. With Europe and America combined, the equivalent amount of money spent annually on pet food would solve world hunger. This amounts to $13 billion dollars a year. Without realizing it, people spend more money on their pets than saving the starving children around the world (KYMN)! So yes, it is possible to solve this horrendous problem, but sadly enough, the likelihood of this truly happening is slim.
Government control of food distribution is just as much a problem as hunger conditions. Political conflicts, within the country and with other countries, are the primary causes of hunger. People starve to death when virtually no goods are available for their consumption. In some countries, governments control everything that comes in and out of the boarders, so when food is brought in for citizens, it is the government that controls where the food reaches. In North Korea, for example, millions of people are faced with starvation because of the government’s unwillingness to give up on failed economic policies. The same situation happened in Sedan; millions were threatened with starvation because of an ongoing military conflict that limited the country’s ability to produce goods and because the government restricted the flow of emergency relief. Along with political problems that countries like these face, the demand for food will also continue to rise.
“Tariffs and taxes on imported food are essentially killer taxes, helping to price food out of the stomachs of their peoples” (Telegraph). Increases in productivity are actually the key to increasing yields and lowering prices. Tariffs, placed on imported machinery to these countries where food is produced, mean that poor country productivity is being ruthlessly obstructed. In order for the world hunger problem to truly be solved, governments of developing countries need to cut taxes and tariffs, and to get out of the way (Telegraph).
Hunger problems within developing countries exist in different ways other than by just starvation and deprivation. Countries who battle the consequences of hunger are trying to grab the attention of others in order to reach help. Although the chances of solving this devastating problem of world hunger are slim, the probability of reaching that goal may one day be resolved.

http://kymnradio.net/2009/11/30/update-world-hunger-issues-al-freeland-feed-starving-children/
http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/global-health-200-million-starving-children/
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/4019011/Big_government_causes_starvation/