Hunger Stats

Every year, authors, journalists, teachers, researchers, schoolchildren and students ask us for statistics about hunger and malnutrition. To help answer these questions, we've compiled a database of useful facts and figures on world hunger.

GLOBAL HUNGER

• 1.02 billion people do not have enough to eat - more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union; (Source: FAO news release, 19 June 2009)
• 907 million people in developing countries alone are hungry; (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)
• Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the world’s population and nearly two thirds of the world’s hungry people;
  
  
  (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)
• Women make up a little over half of the world's population, but they account for over 60 percent of the world’s hungry.(Source:  Strengthening efforts to eradicate hunger..., ECOSOC, 2007)
• 65 percent  of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)

CHILD HUNGER

• More than 70 percent of the world's 146 million underweight children under age five years live in just 10 countries, with more than 50 per cent located in South Asia alone; (Source: Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition, UNICEF, 2006)
• 10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of the deaths;(Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
• The cost of undernutrition to national economic development is estimated at US$20-30 billion per annum;(Source: Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition, UNICEF, 2006)
• One out of four children - roughly 146 million - in developing countries are underweight;(Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
• Every year WFP feeds more than 20 million children in school feeding programmes in some 70 countries. In 2008, WFP fed a record 23 million children.
  (Source: WFP School Feeding Unit)

MALNUTRITION

• It is estimated that 684,000 child deaths worldwide could be prevented by increasing access to vitamin A and zinc(Source: WFP Annual Report 2007)

• Undernutrition contributes to 53 percent of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries.(Source: Under five deaths by cause, UNICEF, 2006)

• Lack of Vitamin A kills a million infants a year(Source: Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, UNICEF)

• Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people.6 Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20 percent.(Source:  World Health Organization, WHO Global Database on Anaemia)

• Iron deficiency is impairing the mental development of 40-60 percent children in developing countries(Source: Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, p2, UNICEF)

• Vitamin A deficiency affects approximately 25 percent of the developing world’s pre-schoolers. It is associated with blindness, susceptibility to disease and higher mortality rates. It leads to the death of approximately 1-3 million children each year.(Source: UN Standing Committee on Nutrition. World Nutrition Situation 5th report. 2005)

• Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage. Worldwide, 1.9 billion people are at risk of iodine deficiency, which can easily be prevented by adding iodine to salt(Source:  UN Standing Committee on Nutrition. World Nutrition Situation 5th report. 2005)

• WFP-supported deworming reached 10 million children in 2007(Source: WFP Annual Performance Report 2007)

FOOD & HIV/AIDS

• In the countries most heavily affected, HIV has reduced life expectancy by more than 20 years, slowed economic growth, and deepened household poverty.(Source: 2008 UNAIDS Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic)

• In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the epidemic has orphaned nearly 12 million children aged under 18 years.(Source: 2008 UNAIDS Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic).

• WFP and UNAIDS project that it will cost on average US $0.70 cents per day to nutritionally support an AIDS patient and his/her family.(Source: Cost of Nutritional Support for HIV/AIDS Projects, WFP, July 2008)
• Assistance for orphans and vulnerable children is estimated at US$0.31 per day.(Source: Cost of Nutritional Support for HIV/AIDS Projects, WFP, July 2008)

AID SPENDING

• In a 1970 UN Resolution, most industrialised nations committed themselves to tackling global poverty by spending 0.7 percent of their national incomes on international aid by 1975. Only Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Denmark regularly meet his target(Source: DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) facts map, 2006-2007)
• The 22 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, the world's major donors, provided USD 103.9 billion in aid in 2006 - down by 5.1 percent from 2005(Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007)
• The largest donors were the United States (US$24 billion), Japan (US$18 billion), the United Kingdom (US$13 billion), Germany and France (US$12 billion each), the Netherlands (nearly US$6 billion), Spain and Italy (just over US$4 billion each) representing 80 percent of the total(Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007)  

No Clean Water!

Results from a recent study of current living conditions throughout Africa report that more than one billion people do not have enough clean water to provide for their basic human needs. As a result,more than 2,500 children are dying each day.

"When people are desperately thirsty," one official explained, "they are willing to take the risk of disease by consuming water that may not be healthy. For them - it's either risk infection or die from thirst! It is a horrible position to be in."

Unsafe drinking water can carry diseases such as malaria, trypanosomiasis, intestinal worm infections, dengue, and schistosomiasis - as well as bacteria that can lead to deadly diarrheal infections. "In some areas," the report continued, "the level of suffering and misery owing to the inadequacy of clean water is almost beyond comprehension judging by the number of pregnant women and children who suffer from deadly diarrheal diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

"These parasites and diseases feed on very young children and the elderly," explains Fr. Richard Roy. Fr. Roy is the director of the Missionaries of Africa's development office in Washington, DC. "They are the innocent and silent members of society... they have no one to be a voice for them."

"Entire villages and communities are being wiped out by diseases that are living in dirty water," Fr. Roy continued. "Children are dying in huge numbers! For many people, these numbers are so big that they cannot begin to comprehend them - they are statistics! But imagine your own child dying . . . and then imagine if it happened to every child in your neighborhood school! That's when we start to understand how horrible the crisis is! These poor people desperately need our help!" The Missionaries of Africa are currently accepting contributions that will be used to provide safe drinking water for men, women and children in Africa's neediest regions. All donations are tax-deductible.

HOW TO HELP AFRICA – WAYS TO HELP AFRICA

Negative images of Africa dominate the news. The Africa of HIV/AIDS. The Africa of Malaria. The Africa of Poverty. The Africa of Hunger and The Africa of Disaster. This is the Africa we hear all the time in the News but there is one Africa people do not hear too often.  It is true that HIV/AIDS is destroying the continent of Africa. It is true that Africa is a poor continent. It is also true that there is Hunger almost everywhere in Africa. This is the Africa we hear all the time but there is one Africa people do not hear all the time and this is the Africa of Hope. This is the Africa of Opportunities. This is the Changing Africa where people want to take their destinies in their own hands.  This is the Africa where people want to take care of their own future. Africa is not one nation but a continent of about 52 different  countries. A country like Nigeria has a population of over 150 million people. Do not judge Africa based on what is going on in Darfur. Do not judge Africa based on what went wrong in Liberia, in Uganda or may be in Congo because those are past and gone. The Old Africa is gone. We are in the present and we must look forward to the future Africa not to the past.

 

The most the external actor can do is to present the opportunity but the ability to transform that opportunity into something beneficial depends mostly on the internal actors (internal capacity). It is good to treat but the best way to treat is not to treat the symptoms but may be the causes of those symptoms. Africans are hungry and Africans need food to survive today. Africans are suffering from Malaria and Africans need malarial drugs like chloroquine to survive today. Africans are suffering from HIV/AIDS and need anti-retroviral drugs to survive today. It is good to feed the poor. It is good to cloth the poor and it is your duty to care for the poor and the needy because you are a human being. But you cannot feed the poor all the time and you cannot cloth the poor all the time. You rushed in to feed the poor and the hungry Africans because you can feed yourself. You rushed in to cloth the poor Africans because you can cloth yourself. Since you can feed yourself and cloth yourself then why not teach the poor how to feed themselves  and why don’t you help the poor feed him/herself so you don’t have to feed the poor all the time.

 

You are feeding the hungry children in Africa because their parents are not able to provide for them. Their parents are not able to provide for these children because these parents are unemployed and even those employed receive just a little  which cannot cater for themselves and their children. What Africa needs right now is not a massive increase in foreign aids but rather how to use those aids to create meaningful jobs for  the poor Africans. It is good to put money in a place where money can grow. What Africa needs right now is investment. A country like Ghana in West Africa is a very stable country after nearly two decades of political stability and economic improvement. There are resources in Ghana and above all, the majority of the people in Ghana are educated and hospitable. Investing in countries like Ghana cannot be a waste but rather profits for those who invest and also Jobs for the Ghanaians. In this way, the investor is helping him/herself and also helping the poor Africans by providing meaningful jobs. What African mothers and fathers need right now is not  loaves of bread from charities but how to make these loaves of bread themselves.

 

 Africa today is not the Africa of Yesterday. Africa is changing and we must change the way we perceive Africa. Africa today is the Africa of Hope and the Africa of opportunities not just for the selected few but opportunities for all Africans. Africa has the resources and Africa is stable except just 2 or 3 places like Darfur but remember Africa is a continent of over 52 different nations and most of these countries are ready for investment. All Africa needs right now are investors who will come and invest in Africa and create jobs in Africa so that the poor mothers and fathers in Africa can get meaningful jobs to do so they can be able to cater for themselves and their children.

POVERTY, WAR AND CONFLICTS IN AFRICA - NIGERIA

In the decade from 2002 to 2008, Niger-Delta witnessed twice the number of deaths from conflict of any sort brought about either by religious or communal clash. While significant progress has been made since then toward ending some of the continent's most deadly conflicts, continued violence and insecurity affect millions of people, and U.S. and international support for conflict resolution in Africa remains important.

Despite myths to the contrary, most of Nigeria Federal Government and Niger-Delta Militants are not at war. For each of the major conflicts ongoing in Nigeria there exists a peace process, often a settlement plan, and a National body to guide negotiations and peace agreements. Nigerian Mediators, National Personalities such as the stakeholders and institutions like the African Union (AU) continue to play a critical role in conflict resolution and in promoting peace and security. 

At the same time, where conflicts do exist in Nigeria, they affect not only the stability of the States and Communities involved, but also their neighbors, and entire sub-regions. Refugees and internally displaced people across the Country face appalling conditions. The Federal Government, AU, U.S. and the international community often fail to provide the financial, diplomatic ( and peacekeeping - in its broader perspective) support to help enforce negotiated agreements and to promote security and stability. Yet they have important obligations and interests in doing so. The achievement of peace in Africa is essential to regional and global stability, and it is also a prerequisite for development and for democratic progress.

LIFE IN AN AFRICAN VILLAGE - TRUE LIFE STORY OF AN AFRICAN CHILD - HOW AFRICANS SURVIVE IN RURAL AFRICA

Life in Africa is tough. Life is very difficult in Africa especially in the villages and small towns. Most village people in Africa are subsistence farmers who grow crops and real animals just to feed themselves and their families. Most villages in Africa have no schools and the children in these villages end up subsistence farmers just like their poor parents. In Sub-Saharan Africa, most farmers have large acres of cocoa farms attached to their regular farms. Even though cocoa is a cash crop, the poor farmers get very little from their cocoa farms because most of the times the cocoa farms get infected and since the farmers have no money to spray their cocoa farms, their hard work just go in vain.

Also, since most of these farmers are subsistence farmers who depend on their farms for food and support, whenever there is a bad harvest (in times of drought and bad weather conditions), their entire families go hungry for the entire season. Most villages in Africa have no access to good drinking water. Most children wake up very early in the morning and walk miles upon miles to nearby streams to fetch drinking water and water for domestic purposes. Most of the streams in Africa are full of water-borne diseases such as river blindness, sleeping sickness, diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, and other water based diseases like guinea worm, and Bilharzias. Malaria (water-related disease) kills people in record numbers in Sub-Saharan African countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leon, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, etc. Guinea worm disease for example is a major health problem in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Due to water scarcity in certain parts of Northern and Eastern Africa, most village people in these areas suffer from water-scarce diseases like trachoma and scabies.

 

Since most children in African villages do not get access to primary education, they become trapped in their various villages all their lives. Those who manage to escape from the trap into big cities and towns find themselves trapped again in slums (some worse than life in the villages). 

 

Here is a true life story of an African Child. Life in the city is not the same as life in the villages. There is electricity in the cities and big towns but just kerosene lamps in the villages. Life in the cities run 24/7 non-stop. Life in the villages run from sunrise to sunset. Darkness and insects take over once the sun goes down. This story shows the way of life and how people survive in rural Africa.

 

Poverty is not something new in Africa. In fact, poverty was there before man and it has become part of life, attaching itself to nature like the blood through our veins. We cannot see it clearly or feel its presence under normal circumstances but especially when the heart is beating so fast and the blood moves up and down harshly through our chests but the harm might have been done already.

The Poor is poor and the rich is rich but life still goes on in Africa, displaying all levels of poverty. There are varieties in culture and natural resources but a specific culture common to all, The culture of Poverty. The Culture of poverty appears to be the same throughout the communities in Africa especially around the sub-Saharan Africa. From Senegal to Gambia, Guinea to Guinea Bissau, sierra-Leone to Liberia, Ivory coast to Gold Coast ( Ghana), Togoland to Benin, Nigeria to Cameroun and above all, DR. Congo. Within these individual communities per se, there exist different groups of people forming tribes, clans, extended families, villages and towns who are categorize based on their individual distinctive characteristics such as different languages, staple foods, taboos and norms. However, all these groups partake or share almost equally in this unique culture (culture of poverty). Taking a small village like Fuman in Ghana, it should not be a surprise to see it display if not all, most of the aspects of poverty in Africa. Life in poverty, some causes of poverty and may be its prevention.  

 

 

Life is still the same in Fuman and it is staying out on the baobab tree all these seasons. Departing from the main Sunyani-Kumasi road, notice the face of poverty along the way. It appears to be wearing a veil in Sunyani but tends to be a catapult and eventually a hunter near the green. It hides itself beyond the mountains and hills but reveals its true colors beneath the green. The birds continue to sing its favorite song even though it refuses to dance to the tune. Departing from the main street is nothing but a wonder, a different world all together. The road is bumpy and the weather is sunny. Beside this road is the evergreen. The tall trees continue to flourish, canopying the shorter ones who depend on the mercies of the creator, for a little sunlight. Nowadays, beside the sound of the birds do not be surprise to hear the roaring voices of the chain saw along this road, pulling down the mighty odum and sapele trees of ancient times just for timber.

 

Descending down the road leading to the village appears these numerous foot paths, branching north and forth from the main road, like a network of channels in the termitarium (Ant hill), taking people into and out of their cocoa farms. Just a few steps appear these erected structures, thatched and roofed with dry grasses sometimes with some rusty sheets on them, housing human souls from the serpents and scorpions at night. Mosquitoes do their part at night, biting even the eyeballs, digging through the bodies in search of gold and raising the temperature to a thousand degrees Celsius within a few days.

Because there is no pipe borne water in my village, you will mostly find little children with big buckets and pans heading towards the riverside to fetch water especially in the morning and in the evenings.  the living conditions in Africa  

This river serves as the main source of drinking water and water for domestic purposes. Even when boiling was intended to kill the germ the causes Cholera, what about the numerous black flies that cause night blindness. When the guinea worms approaches thee with heavy hearts, who are you to turn the temperature down and so goes the tradition of death. When Cholera designs the throats of men, forget about the deadly diphtheria that tears children into pieces and above all, when mighty polio captures the legs, how good is soccer to the soul. Dry season on this river is nothing but joy but the small canoes children make for their expedition in the dry season, paddle themselves in the next season.

ABOUT 20% OF AFRICA'S CHILDREN DIE BEFORE THE AGE OF FIVE

Go to any village in Africa, and you will find dozens of little children playing with one another in the dust. Looking over them in the shade will be the grandmothers or other elders, ready to intervene when things get out of hand. If a child is hurt in the squabbles that inevitably arise, they run to soothing arms of their grandmothers. But war, AIDS, famine have brought to Africa an entirely new concept, children with no family members, no blood relatives, no extended family members. No elders to care for them, they are lost and bereft in a cruel world, and no one seems to care.