Causes of World Hunger

An Investigatory Project
Presented to the High School Faculty
Of Sacred Heart Academy Pasig

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
In English and Science 8

Researchers
LESGAPI, Meaghan Rose A.
MENDAROS, Adrielle E.
OPELARIO, Marco D.
SAHIJUAN, Alfaizar Akhil III L.

Research Advisers
Ms. Arian Joy M. Tubia
Ms. Mary Dianne Pearl V. Maldecino

A.Y. 2019-2020
 Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Hunger is one of the most well-known problem in our society nowadays.

We all know that not all people eat three times a day or eat as much as we do.

Some people lack food because of poverty, for they don’t have any money to buy

food. Not everyone knows the real cause of world hunger. That is why the

researchers studied about the different causes of hunger. The researchers found

out some interesting literatures and studies that support this study. The

researchers’ objectives in this study is to know the cause of hunger and solve

this major problem in our society. The importance of the study is to know or help

some people to fight their problem which is hunger and poverty. The limitation of

the study is that not all problems will be solved in this study. here are the

literatures and studies we have found.

Foreign Literature

According to a book named “The Atlas of World Hunger” (Bassett and

Winter-Nelson, 2010), an unemployed mother in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, tells

that says that they spend about $125-175, or more, in the groceries for a month.

She said that they eat only once a day to supply the needs of her three

adolescent children. A small-scale farmer from Imdibir, Ethiopia, says that

farmers can eat twice a day, and the poor can eat once a day.

Wherever there is poverty, there is a huge chance of hunger in there as

well. In Haiti, people rallied in front of the national palace in March 2008, with the
complaint of expensive food. More than 2/3 of the Haitians earn less than $2 a

day,

or less than $60 a month. The poorest of the poor only eats mud cakes, which

are made up of dirt, oil, and butter. Their president, René Préval, didn’t listened

to their complaints. Instead, he told them that if they could buy cell phones, they

could also buy food and feed their families (Lacey 2008). In return, the people

who rallied banged the palace gates, shouting that they were hungry. During the

riot, some people raided a food warehouse, and 5 people were killed in the

process. The senate impeached their president, thus the cause of the

government collapsing. Weeks later, Préval issued a price reduction for a sack of

rice of 15%.

Like in Haiti, riots are all over the world because of overpriced food items.

People went all over the place, rallying. The palace gates shook. The police can’t

tolerate the people causing riots.

‘Enough food is produced in the world for every person to enjoy a healthy

diet. Yet about one billion of the world’s population eat too little to meet their

basic caloric needs (USDA 2008, 3); two billion live on diets that are so deficient

in specific vitamins or minerals that their health is at risk (WHO 2208h). About

30% of the children in developing countries have stunted physical development

due to hunger, and each year, 8 million children under the age of 5 die as a result

of the interaction of poor nutrition and disease. While millions suffer daily for lack

of food, large quantities of grain are used to produce biofuels, animal feed, and

sweeteners.’
 Because of both food abundance and widespread hunger coexisting with

each other, it creates a problem, confusing and difficult.

Foreign Studies

According to an online study, the vast majority of hungry people live in

lower-middle-income regions, which saw a 42 percent reduction in the

prevalence of undernourished people between 1990–92 and 2012–14. Despite

this progress, in 2016, the global prevalence of undernourishment has been

rising (Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] et al., 2017). Africa has the

highest prevalence of undernourishment, but as the most populous region in the

world, Asia has the highest number of undernourished people (FAO et al., 2017).

Prevalence is the proportion of a population affected by a disease or showing a

certain characteristic (expressed as a percentage), and number is simply the

count of people in the population with a disease or showing a certain

characteristic.

There has been the least progress in the sub-Saharan region, where

about 23 percent of people remain undernourished – the highest prevalence of

any region in the world. Nevertheless, the prevalence of undernourishment in

sub-Saharan Africa has declined from 33.2 percent in 1990– 92 to 23.2 percent

in 2014–16, although the number of undernourished people has actually

increased (FAO et al., 2017).

In Southern Asia, which includes the countries of India, Pakistan and

Bangladesh, the prevalence of undernourishment is rising again, increasing from

9.4 percent in 2015 to 11.5 percent in 2016 (FAO et al., 2017). Eastern Asia

(where China is the largest country) and South-eastern Asia (including Indonesia,

Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam) have reduced undernutrition substantially.

Latin America has the most successful developing region record in

increasing food security; however, the prevalence of undernutrition has been

rising again, especially in South America, from 5 percent in 2015 to 5.6 percent in

2016 (FAO et al., 2017).

2015 marked the end of the monitoring period for the two internationally

agreed targets for hunger reduction. The target for the Millennium Development

Goals for lower-middle-income countries as a whole was to halve the proportion

of hungry people by 2015 from the base year(s) of 1990-2, or from 23.2 percent

to ll.6 percent. As the proportion in 2014-16 is 12.9 percent, the goal has almost

been met. Following the Millennium Development Goals, the Sustainable

Development Goals aim to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030 (FAO et al.,

2017).

World Food Summit target. The target set at the 1996 World Food Summit

was to halve the number of undernourished people by 2015 from their number in

1990-92. Since 1990–92, the number of hungry people in lower-middle-income

regions has fallen by over 200 million, from 991 million to 790.7 million. However,

the goal is 495 million (half of 991 million), which means that the target was not

reached. (Source: FAO et al, 2015 pp 8-12)

 Children are the most visible victims of undernutrition. It is estimated that

undernutrition—including stunting, wasting, deficiencies of vitamin A and zinc,

and fetal growth restriction (when a baby does not grow to its normal weight

before birth)—is a cause of 3·1 million child deaths annually or 45 percent of all

child deaths in 2011 (UNICEF, World Health Organization [WHO], & The World

Bank, 2018). Undernutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including

measles and malaria. The estimated proportions of deaths in which

undernutrition is an underlying cause are roughly similar for diarrhea (61%),

malaria (57%), pneumonia (52%), and measles (45%) (Black 2003, Bryce 2005).

Undernutrition can also be caused by diseases, such as those that cause

diarrhea, by reducing the body’s ability to convert food into usable nutrients.

Local Literature

According to an online magazine named Borgen, the Philippines, located

in the middle of the Pacific, has experienced several threats to food security over

the past few years. Food supply has been gravely affected by a string of natural

calamities that have rendered farmer crops unusable, while problems caused by

the lack of adequate infrastructure have posed an unnecessary and formidable

challenge to farmers.

A growing income gap between the upper and lower classes has

hampered proper access and utilization to food, especially for those who lie in
the lower income brackets. So, what factors lead to food insecurity in the

Philippines? Here are some causes in each of the dimensions:

Food availability: The economy of the Philippines is heavily dependent on

agriculture. Most of what constitutes food security in the country depends on the

agricultural sector; therefore, challenges faced by Filipino farmers and fishermen

often have a detrimental effect on food security in the country.

The challenge often does not come from the quality of terrain, as seen in

Djibouti. The Philippines is full of fertile lands ready to be cultivated for

agriculture. It is the inconsistency of supply due to external disruptions from both

controllable and uncontrollable factors that pose a challenge to food availability in

the country.

The prevalence of natural calamities is one of the factors that contribute to

food insecurity in the Philippines. The Philippines’ location in the middle of the

Pacific makes the country susceptible to typhoons and droughts, some with

devastating effects. Last year, a dry spell caused by the El Nino phenomenon

destroyed 349,630 metric tons of crops, worth about $95 million. On the other

hand, the string of typhoons that ravaged the country at the end of the year

notably slowed down the national agricultural growth rate.

Another factor that contributes to the inconsistency of food supply in the

market is the lack of accessible roads that link farms to retailers. The notable

absence of farm-to-market roads (FMRs), which are national roads that connect
farms and coastal areas to main highways, renders farmers unable to transport

their goods.

The lack of FMRs has called the attention of many political officials, local

and international. In 2010, the Australian Agency for International Development

(AusAID) released a report recommending the construction of 48,350 kilometers

of FMRs, a recommendation that the Philippine government took on. However, in

2015, the Department of Agriculture released a statement saying that the

government is yet to construct 14,989 kilometers of the needed FMRs.

The inefficiency on this front is an unnecessary burden for farmers and

fishermen, who instead of traversing these roads decide not to spend money and

energy trying to bring their products to the market and instead let their produce

go to waste. It brings loss that these farmers cannot afford and traps them in an

ignominious cycle of poverty and hardship.

Food access and stability: The biggest challenge to accessing food in the

Philippines is the lack of income due to unemployment. This problem is

especially prevalent in the southern island group of Mindanao, where nine of the

16 poorest provinces lie.

In Muslim Mindanao, which most recently serves as a battleground

between ISIS-affiliated Maute group and the Philippines military, 50 percent of

the population lives below the country’s poverty line, making just 60 cents per

day. Those who reported to be food-insecure in this area cited lack of income (37
percent), lack of a regular job (18 percent) and droughts and natural calamities

(12 percent) as main reasons for going hungry.

Food utilization: Proper food utilization ensures that “consumed food must

have a positive nutritional impact on people” and people must be informed of

“storage and hygiene practices, individual health, and water and sanitation and

feeding and sharing practices.”

Again the challenge posed for this aspect of food security in the

Philippines is income. In a country with the highest food prices in the region, only

those with a sufficient income will be able to afford nutritious food. Those with

lower incomes will have to settle for something less costly or sometimes with

nothing at all.

Fruits and vegetables are one of the highest priced commodities in cities,

which makes food insecurity in the Philippines a more formidable issue for the

country to address. Products with the lowest prices are often packed with sugar

or sodium.

Moreover, there is not enough awareness nor education on the possible

effects of consuming products of such kind in the country. As a result, obesity

rates are skyrocketing: 8.3 percent of children from the age of 10 to 19 are

overweight, while adults over 20 years old have an overweight/obesity rate of

31.1 percent. The highest obesity incidence in the country lies in the capital,

where 39.9 percent of adults are obese.

 With targeted effort toward public information campaigns around nutrition

and the completion of the necessary public transport infrastructure the country

needs, many of the issues around food insecurity in the Philippines could be

alleviated. Once farmers are able to produce and sell freely, and people are able

to afford food that nourishes them properly, this aspect of poverty in the

Philippines can be effectively addressed and eliminated.

Local Studies

According to Future Learn, the Philippines was the 13th most populated

country in the world, with a population of about 107 million. Its Gross Domestic

Product (GDP) growth rate for the last quarter of 2014 was 6.9%, more than the

6.3% of the same period in 2013, but less than the 7.2% of 2012. The full-year

GDP growth for 2014 was pegged at 6.1%. However, despite significant

economic growth (Philippines ranked 27th country in the world in 2013), 24.9% of

Filipinos – 1 in 4 – lived below the poverty line. Hunger profile There are several

statistics that provide a quick glimpse of the country’s hunger profile and all of

them point to a reality that the country has a serious hunger problem. In addition,

the growing population and a steady decline of agricultural productivity and food

production in the last three years contribute to the persistent hunger and food

insecurity problems in the country. Severe and persistent hunger situation in

2014, the Philippines’ Global Hunger Index (GHI) was 13.1. This index is based

on three indicators: undernourishment, child underweight and child mortality. It

uses a scale of 0 (no hunger) to 100 (hunger). The ideal score is less than 5,

which indicates low hunger. The country is therefore ranked 29th in the world,
with its situation categorized as a “serious problem”. In the past 15 years (1999-

2014), the number of Filipino families who rated themselves as hungry (based on

the Social Weather Station’s self-rated hunger survey) rose from 8.3% to 18.3%.

Women and children’s faces The people suffering from hunger in the Philippines

are mainly children and women. There was a minimal decrease in the number of

underweight children— from 20.7% in 2003 to 20.2% in 2011. Further, alarmingly

33.6% of children under 5 years old are suffering from stunted growth in the

same year, which placed the country 9th in the world rankings of stunted

children. Pregnant women in the Philippines also count amongst the people

suffering the most from hunger. According to the Food Nutrition Research

Institute (FNRI), one-fourth of pregnant women with children aged below 5 years

are nutritionally at risk, while close to 12% of lactating mothers are underweight.

According to a 2013 UNICEF report, the Philippines ranked 5th among the

countries with the most cases of low birth-weight babies. Exacerbating hunger:

conflicts, extreme weather events and disasters The regions that are the most

affected by hunger and food insecurity are rural. This is the case especially in

conflict-affected areas of Central Mindanao and disaster-affected communities,

mostly in the Visayas. These are also areas where poverty incidence is much

higher than the national average. Structural causes vs. hunger and food

insecurity Hunger in the Philippines is caused by various factors. One culprit is

inflation. High retail food prices makes food items unaffordable and hinders the

ability of poor households to meet their daily food and dietary needs. People

working in the agriculture sector are more prone to hunger, because of low rural
incomes (whether as farmers or farm workers), lack of access to productive

resources such as land and capital, and the vulnerability of the sector to various

shocks such as climate change, extreme weather events, pests, and disease.

Beyond the numbers and macroeconomic indicators, liberalization has become

the backbone not just of Philippine food and agriculture policies but of

development policy as a whole. This is despite implementing social justice

measures such as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, Indigenous

Peoples’ Reform Act and Fisheries Reform Code. Since 1981, the Philippines

has been pursuing a comprehensive and radical program of trade liberalization.

The impacts of this policy have been devastating to the agriculture sector,

especially to food producers. This brings to the fore numerous policy questions in

food and agriculture over last three decades. Have these policies improved the

capability of people to produce food and have access to a safe, adequate, and

affordable food supply? Have these policies and programs empowered millions

of Filipino food producers who rely on agricultural productivity for their food and

income? The centrality of access, control of land and security of tenure to a

hunger-free Philippines The absence of an effective land redistribution program

spells doom for Filipinos relying on agriculture for livelihood and undermines their

capacity to feed the nation. Current statistics on the country’s rural conditions

illustrate the farmers’ bleak situation. Farmers, the majority of whom are women,

comprise four out of ten poor Filipinos. Poverty incidence is particularly high

among landless agricultural workers and farmers cultivating small plots of lands

and in areas where the concentration of land ownership remains with a few
prominent clans. In 2013, the rural income of those employed in agriculture is

way below the required food threshold or the required minimum

income/expenditure to meet the basic food needs and nutritional requirements for

socio-economic and physical activities for a family of five.

Summary

Hunger is one of the most well-known problems in our world. People eat

three times a day, but some people can't eat because they don't have enough

money. Hunger and health are deeply connected. People who are food insecure

are disproportionally affected by diet-sensitive chronic diseases such as diabetes

and high blood pressure, and according to research. Poverty, floods, tropical

storms and long-time droughts are just a few of the causes of world hunger. We

solve the world hunger by donating, farming, access to credit and access to

education, as it is really important that we contribute so the people will not be

hungry anymore.