Hunger: It's About Sustainability
THIS WORLD HUNGER DAY, WE HIGHLIGHT SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO HUNGER AND POVERTY.
World Hunger Day is an initiative by The Hunger Project.
Hunger is not just about food. Hunger and poverty are inextricably linked to a nexus of issues including: decent work opportunities, health, education, social justice, the rights of women and girls, the environment and climate change. The Hunger Project uses an innovative, holistic approach that tackles all these issues, and empowers people living in hunger to become the agents of their own development and lift their communities above the poverty line for good – this is the sustainable end of poverty.
Abstract
Since 2011, World Hunger Day has celebrated solutions for hunger and poverty. Yet hunger is on the rise, and 821 million people are undernourished, facing chronic food deprivation. This contributes to malnutrition — and poor mothers and children in low- and middle-income countries are hardest hit.
Malnutrition undercuts healthy development, often irreversibly in children, leaving an estimated 149 million children worldwide affected by stunted growth.
But solutions exist. In fact, many evidence-based solutions, which could improve nutrition policies, are inexpensive. And the economic benefits of improving nutrition policies would be immense — malnutrition costs the global economy up to $3.5 trillion every year, a result of productivity losses and health-care costs.
This years theme for World Hunger Day is Sustainability.
More than 821 million people in the world do not have enough food.
Politics can affect the introduction of better nutrition policies in three ways:
1. Competing issues can push nutrition off the agenda
2. Governments have little incentive to prioritize poor mothers and children
3. Poor mothers and children may lack a clear incentive to mobilize for change
What can be done?
All too often, effective solutions fail to reach the poor because of misaligned political incentives. The global nutrition community, however, has traditionally focused on generating scientific evidence to combat malnutrition. To be sure, this is important research, and it should continue. But evidence does not automatically make its way into policy.
What you can do: Wherever you are, Do Something Great to end hunger on May 28th
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