Is World Hunger a Serious Threat to Mankind?
With drastic changes in the climate, COVID-19 has left the whole world in a state of hunger. Due to the various situations, nobody is caring to fight against hunger. Moreover, it is not easy to end world hunger. According to a recent survey, over 689 million people in the world live in poverty and they fail to afford their food. Hunger is a killer and the threat it poses to the lives of the people is more vulnerable. Also one of the major reasons is climatic change, due to which farmers are unable to grow enough crops and unfortunately we are all at risk from hunger.
Major Causes for World Hunger
a) Poverty
The main cause of hunger in the world is extreme poverty. Farmers are the largest group of people who face hunger. They are unable to grow enough crops to feed themselves. They lack the necessary food resources to cover their basic needs like food, water and shelter. Loss of job or less income also leads to extreme poverty. Hunger is often called the most severe manifestation of poverty.
b) Climatic Changes
Climatic changes can also create a great impact on world hunger. In most regions, people depend on climate and agriculture to feed themselves. In some cases, people are vulnerable to climatic change as it causes natural calamities like drought and flood that occur more frequently. When these disasters strike, the entire crops will be destroyed leading to severe hunger.
c) Land Degradation
Land clearance such as land degradation is the main cause of world hunger. It is mainly caused by human activities that pollute and degrade the quality of soils and land. This negatively affects the productivity of food and the provision of other ecosystems goods and services
d) Lack of Water System
Over 2 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water at home. In some villages people have to walk longer distances to fetch water. Due to the lack of a proper water system farmers find difficulty in growing the crops and people cannot survive healthy which leads to hunger.
Below are effective ways to end hunger
1.Sustainable Food
We can help agriculture by giving funds to people so they can afford for their living. We can also build rooftop/indoor farms in the cities that will help to solve the shortage of food. Researchers say that vertical farming will feed upto 10 billion people in the world.
2.Reduce Food Wastage
According to a recent report, one-third of the food produced is wasted. Reducing food wastage will be a drastic shift towards zero hunger. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reported that if we reduce food wastage we could feed over 2 billion people. People should be made aware of the danger posed by food wastage.
3.Food Storage Systems
There will be plenty of food if we know how to store them properly for a long time. If we store the food , it will make a big difference in ending the hunger gap. Food can be stored in building or rehabilitating stores and can be done at home also
4.Food Donation
Conducting a food donation drive and helping the needy can save many people suffering from hunger. There are many organisations who help to feed the hungry soul. You can also join hands with them and donate your foods and celebrate your special days by donating a meal. Many Government organisations and NGOs should conduct Food distribution camps across all places.
5.Promoting Agriculture
We must adopt the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) approach that helps farmers to increase productivity. It involves diversification of crop varieties, conservation and pest management control. It helps families to adapt to better crops, best growing practices, soil improvement techniques in response to climatic and environmental changes.
6.Education
One of the best weapons against poverty and hunger is Education, especially in underdeveloped countries. Education provides better opportunities for income and it will give access to food. In some places, the students are getting free food for coming to school and it is a life-saving opportunity for many children. Some awareness programs on ‘How to stop Global Hunger’ will help the public aware of the problems and causes towards it.
Conclusion
Today we all live in a developing country where all people rely on technology but hunger still exists. Despite the innovation in technologies, over 821 million people struggle to eat one meal a day.
Irakkam Foundation helps to feed the needy and strives to make India go Hungerless. Join hands with Irakkam Foundation and feed the Hungry Souls!
