1. Amanda Fromhagen
AP literature
Tillery
16 November 2011
The Cries of a Nation
Chronic hunger is the number one cause of death on a global scale; it affects every
country on the planet. Every year, over 925 million people suffer from what is defined as the
weakened condition brought on by the prolonged lack of food. With multiple and recurring
causes, hunger is a sickness and a condition that spreads across every aspect of the victim’s life.
As our population increases, the number of people without the proper nutrients to survive also
increases. However, statistics and definitions are meaningless without reality. What is hunger?
What causes it? What does it look like in the world? How can it be overcome? These
fundamental questions are the realities that must be addressed before the world can deal with
such abominable circumstances.
Each year, millions of dollars are donated and pumped into organizations with the goal of
bringing hunger and malnutrition to an end. But the term “hunger” is not limited to commercials
broadcasting children who simply go to bed hungryin some distant country. Lack of food can
present itself in various ways; ranging from starvation to micronutrient malnutrition. Starvation,
the most extreme condition, is not something often dealt with in America. The human body will
begin to feed on fat and body tissue in the complete absence of food. Skin becomes thin, dry, and
pale; hair will become brittle and generally falls out (fao.org).It is a slow and painful death for

2. those who are unable to escape. However emergency aid is provided by many world
organizations to prevent large scale starvation usually brought upon by famine.
It is the non-emergency cases of hunger, such as chronic hunger and undernourishment,
which affect most of the hungry populations. This hunger does not normally cause death directly,
but blocks the ability to truly live. Without enough to eat, the brain does not have enough energy
to function properly; learning new things comes slowly, work cannot be done efficiently, the
ability to fight off disease and infection is diminished. Malnourishment is also passed down
through an underfed mother giving birth to an underweight baby. A child dies every five
seconds, with one third of childhood deaths being hunger related (worldhunger.org). As hunger
becomes a lifestyle, the solution becomes almost as elusive as the causes.
It is impossible to say exactly why so many people are going without the proper nutrients
for a healthy life. Statistically, there is enough food in the world to feed everyone yet 221 million
people in India are said to be suffering from chronic hunger.Even in more developed countries
such as America, people go hungry. So what causes hunger?Poverty is the number one cause of
hunger in the world.Poverty and hunger create a cycle that can be difficult to overcome. People
cannot make enough money to buy adequate food; as a result, they do not eat enough to do well
in school or in a more profitable work environment. However internal and external conflict,
natural disaster, poor geographical climate and political corruption share an equal blame. “98%
of the people suffering from chronic hunger live in the developing world. The “developing
world” is also home world’s most extreme poverty…” (thp.org). Africa, the continent which
houses 9 out of the 10 poorest nations in the world, is also known for civil war, drought, poverty,
and virtually nonexistent governments. Not surprisingly, Africa also accounts for the majority of
the HIV/AIDS population and almost half of the chronically hungry (WHO.org).

3. The United States is not the only country in economic turmoil. Food prices all over the
world are beginning to rise once again, causing an increase in the global poverty levels for the
first time in 20 years (hungernotes.com). As these prices rise, unstable government systems are
unable to increase wages; “Over 1.3 million people in developing countries live on $1.25 a day
or less.” (thp.org) Small wages could be looked over if the agricultural development in such
countries was not also so tragically small.
Poverty levels are dramatically higher in countries with stable political conditions, high
corruption, and low farm productivity. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo is the
poorest country in the world, with the average Gross Domestic Product around $300 (cia.gov).
Close to 80% of the population is in extreme poverty and undernourished. The government of
Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) has virtually no control over the country, which has been
plagued by constant civil war and militia raids for several decades. Although DCR has abundant
enough resources to feed the entire country along with surrounding nations, the lack of
government prevents the people from cultivating such land and exporting its possible resources.
The uncontrolled militia wreaks havoc on villages, “spoiling useable land and killing livestock to
instill fear in the people” (fao.org). Instead of trying to regain control and implement
development plans, the corrupt political leaders accept pay-offs for allowing smugglers to steal
resources and granting land to foreign planters. In short, the system doesn’t work.
In correlation to government instability helping to cause and increase hunger, it also
prevents hunger from ending. Many countries, such as Somalia, refuse outside help or
interference from foreign governments, but allow private institutions, organizations like
TheHungerProject, to gain admittance. Yet some countries continue to refuse any aid, and
continue to suffer for it. Ghana’s average life expectancy is only 47 years old; only 22% of

4. people in Ethiopia have access to safe water; the literacy rate in Afghanistan is 28%
(worldvision.com). All of these countries boycott foreign aid, especially aid from America.
Although most of the countries within Africa are among the poorest in the world, India,
Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan join Ethiopia and DCR on the list of largest hungry
population (washingtonpost.com). Although some of the largest countries in the world, China
and India alone make up over 40% of the undernourished population worldwide. Vietnam,
Jamaica, the Caribbean, and Nicaragua have also recently been forced to expand social
assistance programs to reduce the poverty and hunger levels in rural and suburban areas
(worldfoodprize.org). Regulations and goals put in place by the United Nations strive to decrease
the populations of undernourished and malnourished countries by one third by 2025, however the
population is expected to increase by 1 billion people (un.org). Most regions are working and
achieving the goal of decreasing the numbers each year; with the exception of sub-Saharan
Africa, whose population of undernourished people is still increasing.
All around the world people are working to correct situations in countries such as the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Thousands of organizations take food, water, medical supplies,
and technology into regions where such resources are scarce. The most valuable of these tools is
the education and technology to cultivate and use the people’s own resources to their greatest
possible advantage. In comparison to America, where 100% of people have access to safe
drinking water, less than half the countries in Africa have higher than 60% access. Although
teams like the World Health Organization could simply bring the people water, it is much more
effective to teach them how to use the water they have. For this reason, many of the groups
working against hunger include books and educational tools in the donation packages available

5. for people to buy. In many villages, organizations have successfully gone in and set up wells,
schooling, adult teaching classes, and health clinics.
The general process is to empower the people and teach them to thrive as a community.
Many teams will initially help set up food banks, to store excess harvest and keep food secure, or
water treatment facilities. The people are then trained on how to run the facilities and how to
generate income. Men and women are both employed by these types of programs. Primary and
secondary education systems are also generally set up for children, with the main focus on
employing women as caretakers and teachers. Many African villages believe that the men should
work outside the home; the women should manage everything within the home (esandd.gov).
Allowing the women to run schools gives the opportunity to learn and also expand their roles of
society.
Hunger and malnutrition affects more of the world than most American’s can even
fathom. Children, men, and women are trapped in the endless cycle of poverty, sickness, lack of
education, and no help. However, through dedication of more developed countries, and the
individuals with capable resources, the vast numbers of those who suffer from chronic hunger
are diminishing each year. As our population increases, it will become drastically more
important to find solutions to develop the systems necessary to feed the masses. It is a
devastating reality that hundreds of thousands will have to die before that come to pass.