Hunger-SW-2017 Update.Indd
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White FOCUS ON ETHIOPIA HUNGER Is it possible to eliminate world hunger? WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE HUNGRY? Have you ever said, There is enough food produced in the world to feed? every- “I’m starving?” one. In fact, the world produces enough to give every single All of us have felt hungry at times but person approximately 2,720 kilocalories a day. Yet, 795 there are many degrees of hunger. Read million people in the world suffer from hunger every day. the definitions below to learn more. Hunger A condition in which people do not get WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF HUNGER? enough food to provide the nutrients for fully productive, active, and healthy lives. The causes of hunger are diverse and Poor farming practices, such People living in households where there complex. as overgrazing, overcropping, and is hunger are often forced to go without deforestation, lead to reduced War and conflict significantly food because they cannot afford to buy crop yields and soil erosion. it or cannot provide enough for everyone reduce access to food by in the household. damaging infrastructure, disrupting Poverty is both a cause and Malnutrition economic activity, and/or forcing people to an effect of hunger. If farmers An extreme form of hunger resulting flee from their homes. As a result, conflict- are unable to buy seeds, tools, from inadequate consumption or affected communities often have no access to fertilizers, or equipment, they drastically excessive consumption of one or more farmland and/or income. Most of the world’s reduce their ability to feed their families. nutrients that can impair mental and “hunger hot spots” are also “conflict hot spots.” Year after year, this has a cumulative physical health. effect, locking families and communities Weather and climate change Undernutrition into a cycle of poverty. A condition resulting from an inadequate severely impact world hunger. consumption of calories, protein, and Natural disasters such as Population growth is increasing nutrients to meet the basic physical drought, flooding, and tropical storms have demand for food in some of requirements for an active and healthy life. made agriculture more difficult for poor the world’s poorest countries. Food Insecurity families who rely solely on small plots of At current rates, the world’s population The limited or uncertain availability or land for food. Drought is now the single is expected to reach 9.7 billion people by ability to acquire safe, nutritious food. most common cause of food shortages in 2050, who will consume at the rate of People living in households that are the world. The world’s farmland is also under 12 billion people if they follow the current food-insecure do not always know how threat from erosion and desertification. consumption pattern of industrialized to provide for their next meal and are countries. The United Nations estimates often forced to cut back on meals to Lack of agricultural that food production must rise by stretch resources. infrastructure including roads, 50 percent to meet growing demand. storage facilities, and irrigation severely limits production and availability of Which one of the causes listed above food. Improving infrastructure is one of the do you think has the greatest impact DID YOU KNOW? key solutions to ending hunger. on hunger? Why? ■■ Hunger is the world’s #1 health risk. It kills more than HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS ■■ Poor nutrition causes nearly half of In the last few years, the price of food demonstrated the significance and scope deaths in children under five, about 3.1 million children each year. around the world skyrocketed. For the of this global crisis. Yet it also revealed the world’s three billion people living on less than complexity of the potential solutions. ■■ If female farmers had the same $2.50 a day, increased food prices can be a access to resources as males, the How do increased food prices affect you? number of hungry in the world could matter of life or death. In 36 countries, high be reduced by up to 150 million. food prices triggered a crisis, forcing families to spend up to 80 percent of their income A person who has food on food. This increase has been caused by has many problems. many factors, including lower agricultural A person who has no food production, climate change, and the shift has only one problem. to planting bio-fuel crops. Protests around —Chinese proverb the world, from Senegal to India and Haiti, CHECK IT OUT Watch a video on the “Feed the Future” Campaign: http://www.feedthefuture.gov/video/feed-future-turning-tide-global-hunger Learn more about world hunger: www.wfp.org/hunger HUNGER AROUND THE WORLD Is there hunger in your community? Access to food is a basic human right. Yet goal was to halve the number? of people HUNGER IN THE U.S. every day, 795 million people are hungry. who suffer from hunger by 2015. Although the U.S. is one of the Increasing access to food is a global ■■ The Sustainable Development Summit of richest countries in the world, each priority. World leaders committed to halving 2015 led to the Sustainable Development year almost 47 million Americans, hunger at numerous summits including: Goals (SDGs), which includes ending one in seven people, experience hunger by 2030. food insecurity. The U.S. government ■■ The World Food Summits in 1996, 2002, has established numerous programs and 2009. How do you think a country with limited to increase food security, such as ■■ The Millennium Summit of 2000, which resources can increase access to food? food stamps, school breakfasts and led to the creation of the Millennium Do you think we can achieve zero lunches, and supplemental food for Development Goals (MDGs), the fi rst hunger by 2030? women, infants, and children. Every year, these programs reach over 28 million people. What would Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate happen if the government did not for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, provide this assistance? including food, clothing, housing and medical care . Source: Feeding America, 2012 —Article 25, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights HUNGER AROUND THE WORLD Source: Global Hunger Index, 2017 WOMEN AND HUNGER Women represent more than 60 percent of the world’s hungry. Pregnant women and new mothers and their children are most at risk of undernourishment. Ensuring that women have access to adequate food is important because women most often take responsibility for the nutrition of their families. Ensuring that women also have access to education is critical, because educated women tend to marry later, have fewer children, and become more aware of nutritional issues. CHECK IT OUT Read a report on global hunger: www.ifpri.org/publication/2016-global-hunger-index-getting-zero-hunger Read about Sustainable Development Goal 2 on ending hunger: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/ WHY IS THERE HUNGER IN ETHIOPIA? HISTORY ? Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in a brief Italian occupation from 1936 to the world. It was the place where scientists 1941. Despite its celebrated past, decades found “Lucy,” one of the oldest known, of political instability, dictatorship, and complete, fossilized human skeletons. environmental degradation have left Ethiopia Fossils found in Ethiopia have been dated one of the poorest countries in the world. to over four million years old. A series of In 1998, a border dispute with Eritrea led monarchies ruled Ethiopia until 1995, when ETHIOPIA to a serious conflict. Although a peace the first democratic elections took place. agreement ended the conflict in 2000, One of Africa’s most famous leaders was an ongoing border dispute with Somalia Emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled Ethiopia threatens to destabilize the region further. from 1930 to 1974. Additionally, cycles of droughts and floods Ethiopia was the only country in Africa continue to hinder Ethiopia’s development that Europe did not colonize, except for and growth. Ethiopia Country Information DID YOU KNOW? ■■ LOCATION: East Africa Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. CAPITAL: Addis Ababa ■■ POPULATION: 102.4 million It is the second most populous country in Africa. SIZE: Nearly twice the size of Texas ■■ It is home to more than 80 LANGUAGE: Amharic languages with over 200 RELIGIONS: Christian 62 percent, dialects. Muslim 34 percent ■■ The Ethiopian calendar has LIFE EXPECTANCY: 62 years 13 months. CHILD MORTALITY RATE: 68 deaths / ■■ 1,000 live births Since 1960, Ethiopian runners have set many world ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER: 57 percent records and have received LITERACY RATE: 49 percent over 50 Olympic medals, SCHOOL LIFE EXPECTANCY: 8 years including 22 gold medals. POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LINE: 30 percent POPULATION UNDERNOURISHED: 32 percent CHILDREN UNDER 5 WHO ARE For peace, for justice, for the freedom of peoples. UNDERWEIGHT: 25 percent In equality and in love we stand united. —National Anthem of Ethiopia KEY EXPORTS: Coffee, beeswax, sugarcane Sources: CIA World Factbook, 2016 Hunger has plagued the country for many years and for many reasons. Agriculture has suffered due to prolonged a devastating impact. Each year, droughts and a lack of irrigation systems. between six and 13 million people are A growing population also requires at risk of extreme hunger. Furthermore, an increasing supply of food. Since the worsening economic situation has 85 percent of the population earns their left Ethiopians with little money for food income from agriculture, droughts have and development. CHECK IT OUT Research information about Ethiopia: www.ethiopianembassy.org Read about Concern’s work in Ethiopia: www.concernusa.org/country/ethiopia/ HOW CAN WE BEST SOLVE THIS CRISIS IN ETHIOPIA? CAN ETHIOPIA BREAK THE CYCLE OF HUNGER?? Since 1965, Ethiopia has faced drought Over 25 years later, the threat of extreme over 15 times.