Planet

Hunger and malnutrition, the world upside down

October 21, 2018

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Hunger and malnutrition are on the rise again around the world, returning to levels of a decade ago. The world upside down.

Hunger and malnutrition, 2017 global balance sheet vs. SDGs

821 million human beings-12 percent of the population-suffer from hunger in the world today. This includes 150 million children, condemned to growth delays. This is the 2017 global budget, a sharp deterioration from the previous year, when the hungry were already 804 million.

The report ‘Food Security & Nutrition around the World’ – published by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) as of September 2018 – downgrades the rating Of a civilization in decline. That in spite of renewed commitments, it is unable to deal with the first planetary emergency.

After failing i Millennium Development Goals, UN member states are now approaching the confrontation with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Eliminating world hunger is the second goal, closely related to the first-eliminating poverty-to be achieved by 2030.

‘
END HUNGER, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
‘ (2′ Sustainable Development Goal, UN General Assembly, resolution A/RES/70/1, 25.9.15).

‘
END POVERTY

in all its forms everywhere’
(1′ Objective above).

The Sustainable Development Goals Are far away, and the world goes upside down. Given that, based on FAO data, we are moving away rather than closer to achieving them. On 7/18/18, the European Commission registered an EU citizens’ initiative to eliminate hunger on the old continent, which is estimated to affect 8 percent of the population. But nothing has been done yet, not even in Brussels.

Hunger and malnutrition, where and why

The FAO report-the result of studies shared with the United Nations-offers a clear geolocation of the problem. Africa is the continent with the highest incidence ofundernourishment (Prevalence of Undernourishment, PoU). Which affects more than 256 million individuals, 21 percent of the population. In Asia, malnutrition afflicts more than 515 million human beings, 11.4 percent of the total. In South America, the situation, relatively less severe, is itself worsening (from 4.7 percent in 2014 to an estimated 5.0 percent in 2017).

The causes of the current increase in poverty, disease and death are identified as follows:

A) conflicts and persistent instabilities in various areas of the planet, (1)

B) adverse weather events, in different regions of the world, (2)

C) economic adversity, extending even to regions not afflicted by wars and disastrous climatic events.

Colonialism and neo-colonialism play a crucial role in the increasingly unequal distribution of resources between the global North and South. The constraints still imposed by countries such as France on former colonies (3) are compounded by the serious crimes against humanity related to land robbery.

The

land grabbing

is still being perpetrated against human communities in Southeast Asia, Central Africa, South America. And it is good to remember its first motive, theextension of oil palm monocultures. Soybeans, to follow. (4)

Malnutrition, women and children the first victims. Hidden hunger and obesity

Women and children are the population groups most afflicted by the scourge of malnutrition, and malnutrition more generally. 202 million children under the age of 5 suffer from growth disorders and wasting. The verdict of inequality can thus lead to premature death or disability (physical and/or neurological), as the case may be.

‘Hidden hunger’ -that is, micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) deficiency-completes the picture of malnutrition-related woes. It is a sneaky affliction since it is often asymptomatic (or at any rate, rarely diagnosed), with high incidence on the peoples of the planet. (5) Even on individuals with obesity and overweight, which also increase in the same countries where hunger affects most.

The

junk food

is more accessible

– even in poor countries and to the deprived classes-over nutritious foods with balanced nutritional profiles . And serious in this respect is the irresponsibility of

Big Food

which also bombards slums with junk food, opposing UN-proposed health policies.

From food insecurity to excessmalnutrition, the path is simple. Poor access to balanced foods because of their higher costs, stress related to the uncertainty of food and living, physiological adaptations to food deprivation. Indigent families are thus at greater risk of overweight and obesity. To which also contributes the level of schooling, which is also lower among the less affluent. It’s raining wet.

What to do?

The FAO document Food Security & Nutrition around the World indicates the need to implement and strengthen any intervention aimed at ensuring a basic human right. Access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food. Instead, to address the extremes of climate variability and its impact on food security, it is necessary to think about climate resilience.

From words to actions, only political will can stop this vicious cycle.

Egalité!

Dario Dongo and Giulia Baldelli

Notes

(1) The UN Security Council has its own serious responsibilities in this regard. Exemplary, after Syria, case of the Yemen where 5 million children are currently exposed to hunger as a result of Saudi bombardment. See https://www.indepe ndent.co.uk/news/world/yemen-crisis-conflict-children-famine-starvation-death-a8545666.html

(2) Climate disaster events-including extreme heat, droughts, floods, and storms-doubled between 1990 and 2016, to an average of 213 events each year

(3) Many ‘former’ colonies in Africa are still forced to deposit their financial reserves with the B

anque de France

. France thus maintains the financial reserves of fourteen African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, Senegal, and Togo). See https://www.zambianobserve r.com/china-reportedly-gives-france-an-ultimatum-to-end-the-colonial-pact-in-africa/