World Food Day

Today is World Food Day, an annual event focusing on world hunger issues. Here’s a quick intro to some world hunger issues.

How Many Are Hungry?

Over a year ago, 900 million were going hungry. Today, this number has risen by about 100 million due to the global financial crisis. To some the GFC means cutting back on luxuries. However, it’s estimated that to an additional 30,000 infants, it will mean death, largely from decreased donations to food aid and development programs. It’s only fitting that this year’s World Food Day topic is “achieving food security in times of crisis”.

This brings the hunger total to 1 billion people. I actually think this is a great success. It means with all the terrible crippling poverty, war, food waste etc, we’re still managing to give 5/6 of the world some bare food minimum. No small feat: I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the highest percentage of fed people since the start of mass farming.

Who Is Hungry?

Of course the numbers are appallingly high. To get a feel for what’s happening, here’s a map of how hunger is distributed:

The worst-hit is the DR Congo because of World War Three. But to counter a stereotype: although Africa has more countries affected by hunger, the continent with the largest number of hungry people is Asia, by far. India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh make the main chunk.

Why Are People Hungry?

It is a commonly known truism that the world produces more than enough to feed 6 billion, the problem being one of distribution and availability. But why? I used to think that most hunger happens in Africa because of dictatorships, wars etc. And in many African countries this is true (especially the Congo). But this isn’t the main reason. The idea that it’s because of (say) war is a bit self-serving. It shifts the blame to the dictators and warlords, and surely “we can’t do much about those”, right?

The reality is grimmer: most hunger happens because people simply cannot afford to buy food. Check out Benji Holzman’s story Mimi, of a woman he met in Burma. Her wages are just enough for the daily sack of rice needed to feed her family. Of course this economic horror has a lot to do with Burma’s military junta, but it’s not quite as simple as dictators blocking food.

Wrong Responses

I’m very squeamish about how much food is wasted in countries where it’s plentiful. It’s estimated that people in Australia waste a whopping 3M tonnes of food yearly. As a symbolic act it would do us well to treat food with more respect. And if we wasted less, we could donate more to local food banks. But I don’t think being less wasteful can help the majority of the world’s hungry directly. Alas, there are no magic food teleporters yet.

But suppose we could teleport food. Surprisingly, this can cause more harm than good. The USA gives more food than any other country. But its policy (or law?) is that it must be US-made food brought on US Navy ships. This floods the local market with food, driving prices down and sending local farmers into even greater poverty. And ironically it’s local farmers who’re most likely to go hungry. Their crop becomes worthless so they can’t sell it to buy other produce they need. So even giving food is no silver bullet.

Microfinance

Although there’s controversy with microfinance, I think it’s an important part in a solution. The countries with the most hungry people need economic development. They need more people to start small businesses and to make businesses produce more (especially in agriculture). Unfortunately most of these people fall way outside traditional lending criteria. And not only does the lack of resources prevent them from feeding themselves, it actually makes them pay more for food.

Can this be? Here’s a typical situation for someone living a developed country. You’re poor. So you can’t afford a fridge. So you can’t store foods in bulk. So you have to buy things every day. In the long run, the food is actually costing you double what it would a rich person. The amount you are overpaying can buy 10 fridges in 1 year. But because you can never scrape enough money in a given week to buy a fridge, you never buy it. And so forth. In Australia, ANZ bank ran a microfinance project to help ubran poor buy items like fridges.

What Can I Do?

Go to Kiva.org and donate $30. Kiva is an international online microfinance lender for small businesses. You can see hundreds of proposals, pick the borrowers you like and donate. The repayment rate is phenomenal (98.53% on $52M). The trick is in longevity. Once your $30 is repaid, instead of withdrawing you can then lend it to someone else. And so on in perpetuity. In a few years, this $30 can go thrice around the world, doing potentially a lot more good than a traditional one-off donation of $30.

The equivalent to a fridge to a farmer is a tractor. If you’re stuck farming by hand, a tractor loan will make your production skyrocket. You can repay the loan, feed others through a higher crop yield AND have a source of income. So, look to rural businesses. Look to primary industries, especially agriculture. Look to female borrowers.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to guilt people into trying to help. TV ads with starving children can easily make people more defensive than anything else. There’s a more optimistic way of looking at world hunger and giving though. If you look at real trends (see my post about the 1st vs 3rd world), this 1/6th who are hungry will continue to shrink GFC or no GFC. It will continue to shrink with or without us. This WILL happen. The only question is which side we’ll have been on.