What causes hunger?

Globally, the number of hungry people has dropped dramatically in the last two decades, but still approx 821 million people continue to fight hunger every day.

Many factors contribute to the famine in the United States and other countries. The reasons are complex and varied, and they are often intertwined.

Factors causing hunger:-

• Poverty: – Poverty is a major cause of hunger in the world. This is true of both rich and poor countries and whether people live in cities or in rural areas. It has been seen that hungry people live in extreme poverty, which is defined as the $ 1.90 a day or less. The world’s largest groups of smallholder farmers are in developing countries. They do not have land to grow enough food to feed themselves all year round, and they earn so little of what they sell that they cannot afford to buy food from other sources.

• Conflict: – Conflict often upsets people in their homes and fields, so food production slows down or stops altogether. Conflict also disrupts the economy, so markets also become more unstable. This leaves people already at risk of being exposed to malnutrition.

• Seasonal change: – For people living in rural areas and relying on subsistence and subsistence farming, climate change, and food and availability prices, affect hunger. This results in an annual cycle of famine, known as the “famine period,” which is devastating.

• Natural Disasters: – Similar to conflict, natural disasters can destroy homes, land, jobs and markets. Until communities are rebuilt, people affected by natural disasters are at greater risk of malnutrition. Climate change plays a role in exacerbating natural disasters.

• Lack of safe water: – Unsafe or scarce water creates and increases malnutrition. Without access to safe water, plants cannot thrive, and humans cannot survive or remain healthy.

• Inequality: – Nevertheless, inequalities between rich and poor are increasing, both globally and internationally. One percent of the world’s population owns about half of the world’s income. The ‘low billions’ of the poor and hungry almost have no chance of freeing themselves from their misery. The newly introduced Food Security Standard (FSS) should regulate food security and nutrition with the utmost justice in the world.

• Discriminatory trade globally: – The rich decide the rules of international policy. Improper trade agreements and subsidies create market access and business value gains from industrialized countries. Developing countries mainly export raw materials, with profits being diverted by rich countries. Proper agricultural trade encourages small people and the value chain of rural areas.

• Poor governance: – Governments in developing countries, in particular, do not adhere to their policies and the needs of the poorest. There are no strategies to promote agriculture in their country so that no one will go hungry. Corruption is one of the biggest obstacles to development, and land grabbing is a major problem.

• Resource sustainability: – If everyone on earth lived as rich countries, resources like water and land would soon be gone. The consequences are far-reaching: desertification, soil erosion, water scarcity, and severe climate change have become increasingly evident in countries already plagued by famine and poverty.

Conclusion: – If any of these factors are lost or malfunctioned, they are likely to create immediate problems that increase the risk of malnutrition.