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World Hunger Education

Welcome to the World Hunger Education Site.

Facts and ideas will change, so check back for updates.

The 2008 Book of Discipline 632.4b(21) directs the Conference Board of Global Ministries “to support the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s World Hunger/ Poverty Ministry by encouraging annual conferences to appoint an annual conference hunger coordinator and form an annual conference hunger committee that relates to the annual conference board of global ministries.” Don and Caroline Kluver are the volunteer coordinators. You can contact them at cdklu@netscape.net – 712.732.7901 with your questions.

The July/August 2011 Response magazine tells us that hunger is not solely an issue for the jobless. Many poor work every single day. Thirty-six percent of families seeking assistance at food banks have at least one adult employed.

U.S. Census Bureau reports for 2007-2009 shows states in the South and West have the most poverty. Mississippi has the highest poverty rate at 21.3 percent; Arizona is next at 17.8 percent. The average per capita income in Buffalo County in South Dakota and the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation is $5,233.

US FOOD INSECURE FAMILIES - Last year some 15 percent of US households, 17.4 million families, or about 50 million people were too poor to buy adequate food. This is from a report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). More than a third of these households, with as many as one million children, were missing meals on a regular basis. The USDA administers the food stamp program and says it has more than tripled since 2006. Most people are reluctant to admit they have a problem putting food on the table, particularly when they have children. The number of Americans receiving food stamps under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) rose to 42.4 million. Another one million children received free or subsidized school lunches daily, while some 400,000 pregnant women and nursing mothers receive milk, butter, eggs and other food under the WIC program. All told, one quarter of US households have at least one person receiving food stamps or other food aid. However, 43 percent of food-insecure households were not participating in any of these three programs

When the school year ends, so do free meals for the millions of children who depend on them most. This summer, the Y is partnering with Walmart in an effort to feed more children through the Summer Food Service Program—the program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide free meals to children aged 18 and under while school is out of session. More than 300 Ys nationwide will provide seven million nutritious meals to 70,000 children now through the end of August. According to the USDA, 19.5 million low-income children receive free or reduced meals during the school year.

MORE HUNGER STATS

925 million people do not have enough to eat and 98 percent of them live in developing countries. (Source: FAO news release, 14 September 2010)
Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the world’s population and nearly two thirds of the world’s hungry people;

(Source: F AO news release, 2010)

Women make up a little over half of the world's population, but they account for over 60 percent of the world’s hungry.
(Source: Strengthening efforts to eradicate hunger..., ECOSOC, 2007)
65 percent of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
(Source: F AO news release, 2010)
Undernutrition contributes to five million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries.
(Source: Under five deaths by cause, UNICEF, 2006)
10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of the deaths;
(Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people. Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20 percent.
(Source: World Health Organization, WHO Global Database on Anemia)
Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage, affecting 1.9 billion people worldwide. Adding iodine to salt can easily prevent it.
(Source: World Nutrition Situation 5th report ,UN Standing Committee on Nutrition2005)

FREEDOM FROM HUNGER, a 4 star Charity Navigator, has successfully completed a $6 million project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The four-year grant enabled Freedom from Hunger and five microfinance banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America to add health protection options to their financial offerings, reaching more than 1.5 million of the world's rural poor in five countries: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, India and the Philippines.

"Microfinance is succeeding at putting money into the hands of poor people but too often ill health causes them to slip back down the ladder into poverty again," said Chris Dunford, President of Freedom from Hunger. "Our solution is to bring together the economic development and health sectors to develop practical and coordinated tools that have more power to create lasting change." The health programs included health savings, health loans, health insurance, health education, group discounts with health providers, mobile healthcare in rural villages, distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and more.

Freedom from Hunger conducted careful research and evaluation to determine the impacts of these innovative combinations of microfinance services and health programs. In Bolivia, for example, 24 percent of clients said that they had never seen a doctor before participating in the program, and in India, the life-saving use of oral rehydration solution increased by 47 percent to treat children with diarrhea (a leading cause of death in local children). In Benin, families in the program were 23 percent more likely to own an anti-malarial net.

Locally owned microfinance banks see increased returns when their clients are healthier and have more knowledge and options to protect their health. Microfinance banks are typically commercial entities with a social mission, so they must earn enough profit in order to continue serving their clientele. Daouda Sawadogo, leader of one of the participating microfinance providers, RCPB in Burkina Faso, pointed out, "These services go a long way to addressing the needs of our clients and helping them overcome poverty-and if they can be offered at low or no marginal cost, then that is a double win."

Few of these deaths are related to outright starvation, but rather to common illnesses (like diarrhea, malaria and measles) that move in on vulnerable children whose bodies have been weakened by hunger.
Among this group of poor people, many have problems obtaining adequate, nutritious food for themselves and their families. As a result, 1.02 billion people in the developing world are undernourished. They consume less than the minimum amount of calories essential for sound health and growth.
Economically, the effort of constantly securing food consumes valuable time and energy, allowing poor people less time for work and earning income.
Pregnant women, new mothers who breastfeed infants and children are among the most at risk of undernourishment.

Self-Help Solutions to a Worldwide Problem- Unlike famine or periodic hunger due to war or natural disasters, chronic hunger is a persistent and insidious condition that can affect generations of people in a geographic region. Those living with chronic hunger face a host of problems that go beyond lack of food or money.

To alleviate this condition, efforts must address root causes, be sustainable (that is, programs must pay for themselves), and they must be implemented by local people for the long term. Freedom from Hunger's Credit with Education program is just such a strategy. We are transferring the microfinance program technology we have developed to local people around the world, and they are using it to help end world hunger through their own families and communities.

The following information comes from the World Socialist Web Site, published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), www.wsws.org. It might give you some different thoughts.

Chronic hunger affects more than 800 million people in the world. According to the site it has little to do with food shortages. More people die from causes related to chronic hunger than to famine. There are five things that do contribute to most of the world's hunger: Poverty. Poor people do not have the resources -- whether land, tools or money--needed to grow or buy food on a consistent basis. Armed Conflict. War disrupts agricultural production, and governments often spend more on arms than on social programs. Environmental Overload. Over-consumption by wealthy nations and rapid population growth in poor nations strain natural resources and make it harder for poor people to feed themselves. Discrimination. Lack of access to education, credit and employment -- a recipe for hunger -- is often the result of racial, gender or ethnic discrimination. Lack of Clout. Chronic hunger claims more victims than famine each year -- by far. Effects of chronic hunger include High Infant Mortality Rates. Malnourished women are more likely to be sick, have smaller babies, and die earlier, leading to high levels of infant mortality where chronic hunger is a problem. Vulnerability to Common Illnesses. More than two million children die every year from dehydration caused by diarrhea. Increased Risk of Infection. A malnourished child has a weakened immune system. Infections cause lack of appetite and further compromise the child's ability to fight off recurrent and lingering infections. Acute Vulnerability in Times of Disaster. A community’s poorest families are already living on the edge of survival. Unexpected shocks, such as crop failure, floods, epidemics, locusts or typhoons result in devastation and almost certain death to some members of the family. Impediments to Development. Chronic hunger deprives children of the essential proteins, micronutrients and fatty acids they need to grow adequately. Globally, it is estimated that nearly 226 million children are stunted -- shorter than they should be. In addition, stunted children score significantly lower on intelligence tests than do normal children.

TOGO, AFRICA - Togo is a country west of Nigeria that has seen significant return on investment in agriculture. The European Union allocated 2.5 million of their dollars for agricultural rehabilitation in Togo to help over 20,000 of the most-affected Togolese farmers restart their production. Some 15,000 farmers have received seeds and fertilizer to grow staple crops such as maize, rice and sorghum, while 5,500 more got inputs for market gardening which produced crops worth nearly double the amount invested by the EU.

Togo's rural population suffered the most from floods and sharp increases in food prices that hit the country in 2007 and 2008.

Togo's primary seed farm, which has the potential to produce quality seed for the whole country, was rehabilitated and provided with equipment. Its staff, as well nearly 300 seed producers, received training in the production and certification of quality seeds. Furthermore, an information system covering each of Togo's five provinces as well as the capital was put in place, allowing buyers and sellers to better monitor the prices of agricultural products. This is a booster in helping Togo move towards long-term food security.

LINKS TO INFORMATION –

UMCOR – http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/hunger/partners/

General Board of Church and Society - www.umc-gbcs.org

SELF HELP INTERNATIONAL – www.selfhelpinternational.org

HEIFER INTERNATIONAL – www.heifer.org

WORLD HUNGER NOTES – www.worldhunger.org/

Bread for the World – www.bread.org

Society of St. Andrew – www.endhunger.org

Global Ministries Mission News – http://new.gbgm-umc.org/

CARE International – www.care.org/

Catalytic Communities – www.catcomm.org/

Children’s Hunger Relief Fund – www.chrf.org/