Nearly 842 million people are currently suffering from hunger. The number of people going hungry every year has dropped 17 percent since 1990. Although the numbers are dropping, hunger still kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.
Of those people that die of starvation, 75 percent are children. In developing countries, one in six children are underweight. That adds up to roughly one million children. One in four of the world's children are not growing properly, many from malnutrition issues. In developing countries, that proportion rises to one in three. The numbers of children affected by hunger is astonishing. Over 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the world, 23 million in Africa alone. Nearly half (about 45 percent) of deaths in children under the age of five across the world are related to poor nutrition. Hunger issues for children don't always start as the child grows up. Children can be undernourished even before they are born. About 17 million children are born underweight annually. This is a result of inadequate nourishment of the mother before and during pregnancy.
Normally when you think of world hunger, you picture starving kids in Africa. Although Africa makes up a big part of the world's hunger statistics, every country has a percentage of their population that are hungry. Asia has the largest number of hungry people, counting over 500 million, but Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence at 24.8 percent of the population. The majority of hungry people live in developing countries, where 14.3 percent of the population is undernourished.
But how can this problem be solved? Researchers have said that if women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million. This is because there is a gender gap in agriculture that has developed over time. Women are much less likely to use purchased supplies such as fertilizers and improved seeds or to make use of mechanical tools and equipment. In many countries, women are only half as likely as men to use fertilizers. Women are also less likely to own land or livestock. But closing the gender gap in agriculture is just a start to solving world hunger. World hunger can never be solved entirely, due to personal situations, but there are simple things we all can do to get a start on solving this issue. More ideas are available on the Action Plan tab of this website.
Of those people that die of starvation, 75 percent are children. In developing countries, one in six children are underweight. That adds up to roughly one million children. One in four of the world's children are not growing properly, many from malnutrition issues. In developing countries, that proportion rises to one in three. The numbers of children affected by hunger is astonishing. Over 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the world, 23 million in Africa alone. Nearly half (about 45 percent) of deaths in children under the age of five across the world are related to poor nutrition. Hunger issues for children don't always start as the child grows up. Children can be undernourished even before they are born. About 17 million children are born underweight annually. This is a result of inadequate nourishment of the mother before and during pregnancy.
Normally when you think of world hunger, you picture starving kids in Africa. Although Africa makes up a big part of the world's hunger statistics, every country has a percentage of their population that are hungry. Asia has the largest number of hungry people, counting over 500 million, but Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence at 24.8 percent of the population. The majority of hungry people live in developing countries, where 14.3 percent of the population is undernourished.
But how can this problem be solved? Researchers have said that if women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million. This is because there is a gender gap in agriculture that has developed over time. Women are much less likely to use purchased supplies such as fertilizers and improved seeds or to make use of mechanical tools and equipment. In many countries, women are only half as likely as men to use fertilizers. Women are also less likely to own land or livestock. But closing the gender gap in agriculture is just a start to solving world hunger. World hunger can never be solved entirely, due to personal situations, but there are simple things we all can do to get a start on solving this issue. More ideas are available on the Action Plan tab of this website.