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More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungr in the World
But what if the experts are wrong?
BY ABHIJIT BANERJEE, ESTHER DUFLO MAY/JUNE 2011
or muny In LIe WesL, poverLy Is uImosL synonymous wILI Iunger. ndeed, LIe unnouncemenL by LIe UnILed NuLIons ood und AgrIcuILure OrgunIzuLIon In
zooq LIuL more han 1 billion people ure suIIerIng Irom Iunger grubbed IeudIInes In u wuy LIuL uny number oI WorId Bunk esLImuLes oI Iow muny poor
peopIe IIve on Iess LIun u doIIur u duy never dId.
BuL Is IL reuIIy Lrue? Are LIere reuIIy more LIun u bIIIIon peopIe goIng Lo bed Iungry eucI nIgIL? Our reseurcI on LIIs quesLIon Ius Luken us Lo ruruI vIIIuges und
LeemIng urbun sIums uround LIe worId, coIIecLIng duLu und speukIng wILI poor peopIe ubouL wIuL LIey euL und wIuL eIse LIey buy, Irom Morocco Lo Kenyu,
ndonesIu Lo ndIu. We've uIso Lupped InLo u weuILI oI InsIgILs Irom our ucudemIc coIIeugues. WIuL we've Iound Is LIuL LIe sLory oI Iunger, und oI poverLy
more broudIy, Is Iur more compIex LIun uny one sLuLIsLIc or grund LIeory; IL Is u worId wIere LIose wILIouL enougI Lo euL muy suve up Lo buy u TV InsLeud,
wIere more money doesn'L necessurIIy LrunsIuLe InLo more Iood, und wIere mukIng rIce cIeuper cun someLImes even Ieud peopIe Lo buy Iess rIce.
BuL unIorLunuLeIy, LIIs Is noL uIwuys LIe worId us LIe experLs vIew IL. AII Loo muny oI LIem sLIII promoLe sweepIng, IdeoIogIcuI soIuLIons Lo probIems LIuL deIy
one-sIze-IILs-uII unswers, urguIng over IoreIgn uId, Ior exumpIe, wIIIe LIe IucLs on LIe ground beur IILLIe resembIunce Lo LIe IIerce poIIcy buLLIes LIey wuge.
JeIIrey SucIs, un udvIsor Lo LIe UnILed NuLIons und dIrecLor oI CoIumbIu UnIversILy's EurLI nsLILuLe, Is one sucI experL. n books und counLIess speecIes und
LeIevIsIon uppeurunces, Ie Ius urgued LIuL poor counLrIes ure poor becuuse LIey ure IoL, InIerLIIe, muIurIu-InIesLed, und oILen IundIocked; LIese IucLors,
Iowever, muke IL Iurd Ior LIem Lo be producLIve wILIouL un InILIuI Iurge InvesLmenL Lo IeIp LIem deuI wILI sucI endemIc probIems. BuL LIey cunnoL puy Ior
LIe InvesLmenLs precIseIy becuuse LIey ure poor -- LIey ure In wIuL economIsLs cuII u "poverLy Lrup." UnLII someLIIng Is done ubouL LIese probIems, neILIer
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LIe InvesLmenLs precIseIy becuuse LIey ure poor -- LIey ure In wIuL economIsLs cuII u "poverLy Lrup." UnLII someLIIng Is done ubouL LIese probIems, neILIer
Iree murkeLs nor democrucy wIII do very mucI Ior LIem.
BuL LIen LIere ure oLIers, equuIIy vocuI, wIo beIIeve LIuL uII oI SucIs's unswers ure wrong. WIIIIum EusLerIy, wIo buLLIes SucIs Irom New York UnIversILy uL
LIe oLIer end oI MunIuLLun, Ius become one oI LIe mosL InIIuenLIuI uId crILIcs In IIs books, The Elusioe Quest for Crouth und The White Mon's
Burden. DumbIsu Moyo, un economIsL wIo worked uL GoIdmun SucIs und LIe WorId Bunk, Ius joIned Ier voIce Lo EusLerIy's wILI Ier recenL book,
Aid. BoLI urgue LIuL uId does more bud LIun good. L prevenLs peopIe Irom seurcIIng Ior LIeIr own soIuLIons, wIIIe corrupLIng und undermInIng IocuI
InsLILuLIons und creuLIng u seII-perpeLuuLIng Iobby oI uId ugencIes. TIe besL beL Ior poor counLrIes, LIey urgue, Is Lo reIy on one sImpIe Ideu: WIen murkeLs ure
Iree und LIe IncenLIves ure rIgIL, peopIe cun IInd wuys Lo soIve LIeIr probIems. TIey do noL need IundouLs Irom IoreIgners or LIeIr own governmenLs. n LIIs
sense, LIe uId pessImIsLs ure ucLuuIIy quILe opLImIsLIc ubouL LIe wuy LIe worId works. AccordIng Lo EusLerIy, LIere Is no sucI LIIng us u poverLy Lrup.
TIIs debuLe cunnoL be soIved In LIe ubsLrucL. To IInd ouL wIeLIer LIere ure In IucL poverLy Lrups, und, II so, wIere LIey ure und Iow Lo IeIp LIe poor geL ouL oI
LIem, we need Lo beLLer undersLund LIe concreLe probIems LIey Iuce. Some uId progrums IeIp more LIun oLIers, buL wIIcI ones? IndIng ouL requIred us Lo
sLep ouL oI LIe oIIIce und Iook more cureIuIIy uL LIe worId. n zoo, we Iounded wIuL becume LIe AbduI uLII JumeeI PoverLy AcLIon ub, or J-PA. A key
purL oI our mIssIon Is Lo reseurcI by usIng rundomIzed conLroI LrIuIs -- sImIIur Lo experImenLs used In medIcIne Lo LesL LIe eIIecLIveness oI u drug -- Lo
undersLund wIuL works und wIuL doesn'L In LIe reuI-worId IIgIL uguInsL poverLy. n prucLIcuI Lerms, LIuL meunL we'd Iuve Lo sLurL undersLundIng Iow LIe poor
reuIIy IIve LIeIr IIves.
Tuke, Ior exumpIe, Puk SoIIIn, wIo IIves In u smuII vIIIuge In WesL Juvu, ndonesIu. He once expIuIned Lo us exucLIy Iow u poverLy Lrup worked. HIs purenLs
used Lo Iuve u bIL oI Iund, buL LIey uIso Iud 1 cIIIdren und Iud Lo buIId so muny Iouses Ior eucI oI LIem und LIeIr IumIIIes LIuL LIere wus no Iund IeIL Ior
cuILIvuLIon. Puk SoIIIn Iud been workIng us u cusuuI ugrIcuILuruI worker, wIIcI puId up Lo 1o,ooo rupIuI per duy (ubouL $z) Ior work In LIe IIeIds. A recenL
IIke In IerLIIIzer und IueI prIces, Iowever, Iud Iorced Iurmers Lo economIze. TIe IocuI Iurmers decIded noL Lo cuL wuges, Puk SoIIIn LoId us, buL Lo sLop IIrIng
workers InsLeud. As u resuIL, In LIe Lwo monLIs beIore we meL IIm In zoo8, Ie Iud noL Iound u sIngIe duy oI ugrIcuILuruI Iubor. He wus Loo weuk Ior LIe mosL
pIysIcuI work, Loo InexperIenced Ior more skIIIed Iubor, und, uL qo, Loo oId Lo be un upprenLIce. No one wouId IIre IIm.
Puk SoIIIn, IIs wIIe, und LIeIr LIree cIIIdren Look drusLIc sLeps Lo survIve. HIs wIIe IeIL Ior JukurLu, some 8o mIIes uwuy, wIere sIe Iound u job us u muId. BuL
sIe dId noL eurn enougI Lo Ieed LIe cIIIdren. TIe oIdesL son, u good sLudenL, dropped ouL oI scIooI uL 1z und sLurLed us un upprenLIce on u consLrucLIon sILe.
TIe Lwo younger cIIIdren were senL Lo IIve wILI LIeIr grundpurenLs. Puk SoIIIn IImseII survIved on LIe rougIIy q pounds oI subsIdIzed rIce Ie goL every week
Irom LIe governmenL und on IIsI Ie cuugIL uL u neurby Iuke. HIs broLIer Ied IIm once In u wIIIe. n LIe week beIore we IusL spoke wILI IIm, Ie Iud euLen Lwo
meuIs u duy Ior Iour duys, und jusL one Ior LIe oLIer LIree.
Puk SoIIIn uppeured Lo be ouL oI opLIons, und Ie cIeurIy uLLrIbuLed IIs probIem Lo u Iuck oI Iood. As Ie suw IL, Iurmers weren'L InLeresLed In IIrIng IIm becuuse
LIey Ieured LIey couIdn'L puy IIm enougI Lo uvoId sLurvuLIon; und II Ie wus sLurvIng, Ie wouId be useIess In LIe IIeId. WIuL Ie descrIbed wus LIe cIussIc
nuLrILIon-bused poverLy Lrup, us IL Is known In LIe ucudemIc worId. TIe Ideu Is sImpIe: TIe Iumun body needs u cerLuIn number oI cuIorIes jusL Lo survIve. So
wIen someone Is very poor, uII LIe Iood Ie or sIe cun uIIord Is bureIy enougI Lo uIIow Ior goIng LIrougI LIe moLIons oI IIvIng und eurnIng LIe meuger Income
used Lo buy LIuL Iood. BuL us peopIe geL rIcIer, LIey cun buy more Iood und LIuL exLru Iood goes InLo buIIdIng sLrengLI, uIIowIng peopIe Lo produce mucI more
LIun LIey need Lo euL mereIy Lo sLuy uIIve. TIIs creuLes u IInk beLween Income Loduy und Income Lomorrow: TIe very poor eurn Iess LIun LIey need Lo be ubIe
Lo do sIgnIIIcunL work, buL LIose wIo Iuve enougI Lo euL cun work even more. TIere's LIe poverLy Lrup: TIe poor geL poorer, und LIe rIcI geL rIcIer und euL
even beLLer, und geL sLronger und even rIcIer, und LIe gup keeps IncreusIng.
BuL LIougI Puk SoIIIn's expIunuLIon oI Iow someone mIgIL geL Lrupped In sLurvuLIon wus perIecLIy IogIcuI, LIere wus someLIIng vugueIy LroubIIng ubouL IIs
nurruLIve. We meL IIm noL In wur-InIesLed Sudun or In u IIooded ureu oI BungIudesI, buL In u vIIIuge In prosperous Juvu, wIere, even uILer LIe Increuse In Iood
prIces In zoo; und zoo8, LIere wus cIeurIy pIenLy oI Iood uvuIIubIe und u busIc meuI dId noL cosL mucI. He wus sLIII euLIng enougI Lo survIve; wIy wouIdn'L
someone be wIIIIng Lo oIIer IIm LIe exLru bIL oI nuLrILIon LIuL wouId muke IIm producLIve In reLurn Ior u IuII duy's work? More generuIIy, uILIougI u Iunger-
bused poverLy Lrup Is cerLuInIy u IogIcuI possIbIIILy, Is IL reuIIy reIevunL Ior mosL poor peopIe Loduy? WIuL's LIe besL wuy, II uny, Ior LIe worId Lo IeIp?
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIT Ius cerLuInIy bougIL InLo LIe Ideu LIuL poverLy Lrups exIsL -- und LIuL LIey ure LIe reuson LIuL mIIIIons ure
sLurvIng. TIe IIrsL U.N. MIIIennIum DeveIopmenL GouI, Ior InsLunce, Is Lo "erudIcuLe exLreme poverLy und Iunger." n muny counLrIes, LIe deIInILIon oI
poverLy ILseII Ius been connecLed Lo Iood; LIe LIresIoIds Ior deLermInIng LIuL someone wus poor were orIgInuIIy cuIcuIuLed us LIe budgeL necessury Lo buy u
cerLuIn number oI cuIorIes, pIus some oLIer IndIspensubIe purcIuses, sucI us IousIng. A "poor" person Ius essenLIuIIy been cIussIIIed us someone wILIouL
enougI Lo euL.
So IL Is no surprIse LIuL governmenL eIIorLs Lo IeIp LIe poor ure IurgeIy bused on LIe Ideu LIuL LIe poor desperuLeIy need Iood und LIuL quunLILy Is wIuL
muLLers. ood subsIdIes ure ubIquILous In LIe MIddIe EusL: EgypL spenL $.8 bIIIIon on Iood subsIdIes In LIe zoo8 IIscuI yeur, some z percenL oI ILs GDP.
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matters. Food subsidies are ubiquitous in the Middle East: Egypt spent $3.8 billion on food subsidies in the 2008 fiscal year, some 2 percent of its GDP.
Indonesia distributes subsidized rice. Many states in India have a similar program. In the state of Orissa, for example, the poor are entitled to 55 pounds of
rice a month at about 1 rupee per pound, less than 20 percent of the market price. Currently, the Indian Parliament is debating a Right to Food Act, which
would allow people to sue the government if they are starving. Delivering such food aid is a logistical nightmare. In India it is estimated that more than half of
the wheat and one-third of the rice gets "lost" along the way. To support direct food aid in this circumstance, one would have to be quite convinced that what
the poor need more than anything is more grain.
But what if the poor are not, in general, eating too little food? What if, instead, they are eating the wrong kinds of food, depriving them of nutrients needed to
be successful, healthy adults? What if the poor aren't starving, but choosing to spend their money on other priorities? Development experts and policymakers
would have to completely reimagine the way they think about hunger. And governments and aid agencies would need to stop pouring money into failed
programs and focus instead on finding new ways to truly improve the lives of the world's poorest.
Consider India, one of the great puzzles in this age of food crises. The standard media story about the country, at least when it comes to food, is about the
rapid rise of obesity and diabetes as the urban upper-middle class gets richer. Yet the real story of nutrition in India over the last quarter-century, as
Princeton professor Angus Deaton and Jean Drze, a professor at Allahabad University and a special advisor to the Indian government, have shown, is not
that Indians are becoming fatter: It is that they are in fact eating less and less. Despite the country's rapid economic growth, per capita calorie consumption in
India has declined; moreover, the consumption of all other nutrients except fat also appears to have gone down among all groups, even the poorest. Today,
more than three-quarters of the population live in households whose per capita calorie consumption is less than 2,100 calories in urban areas and 2,400 in
rural areas -- numbers that are often cited as "minimum requirements" in India for those engaged in manual labor. Richer people still eat more than poorer
people. But at all levels of income, the share of the budget devoted to food has declined and people consume fewer calories.
What is going on? The change is not driven by declining incomes; by all accounts, Indians are making more money than ever before. Nor is it because of rising
food prices -- between the early 1980s and 2005, food prices declined relative to the prices of other things, both in rural and urban India. Although food
prices have increased again since 2005, Indians began eating less precisely when the price of food was going down.
So the poor, even those whom the FAO would classify as hungry on the basis of what they eat, do not seem to want to eat much more even when they can.
Indeed, they seem to be eating less. What could explain this? Well, to start, let's assume that the poor know what they are doing. After all, they are the ones
who eat and work. If they could be tremendously more productive and earn much more by eating more, then they probably would. So could it be that eating
more doesn't actually make us particularly more productive, and as a result, there is no nutrition-based poverty trap?
One reason the poverty trap might not exist is that most people have enough to eat. We live in a world today that is theoretically capable of feeding every
person on the planet. In 1996, the FAO estimated that world food production was enough to provide at least 2,700 calories per person per day. Starvation still
exists, but only as a result of the way food gets shared among us. There is no absolute scarcity. Using price data from the Philippines, we calculated the cost of
the cheapest diet sufficient to give 2,400 calories. It would cost only about 21 cents a day, very affordable even for the very poor (the worldwide poverty line
is set at roughly a dollar per day). The catch is, it would involve eating only bananas and eggs, something no one would like to do day in, day out. But so long as
people are prepared to eat bananas and eggs when they need to, we should find very few people stuck in poverty because they do not get enough to eat. Indian
surveys bear this out: The percentage of peoplewho say they do not have enough food has dropped dramatically over time, from 17 percent in 1983 to 2
percent in 2004. So, perhaps people eat less because they are less hungry.
And perhaps they are really less hungry, despite eating fewer calories. It could be that because of improvements in water and sanitation, they are leaking
fewer calories in bouts of diarrhea and other ailments. Or maybe they are less hungry because of the decline of heavy physical work. With the availability of
drinking water in villages, women do not need to carry heavy loads for long distances; improvements in transportation have reduced the need to travel on
foot; in even the poorest villages, flour is now milled using a motorized mill, instead of women grinding it by hand. Using the average calorie requirements
calculated by the Indian Council of Medical Research, Deaton and Drze note that the decline in calorie consumption over the last quarter-century could be
entirely explained by a modest decrease in the number of people engaged in heavy physical work.
Beyond India, one hidden assumption in our description of the poverty trap is that the poor eat as much as they can. If there is any chance that by eating a bit
more the poor could start doing meaningful work and get out of the poverty trap zone, then they should eat as much as possible. Yet most people living on less
than a dollar a day do not seem to act as if they are starving. If they were, surely they would put every available penny into buying more calories. But they do
not. In an 18-country data set we assembled on the lives of the poor, food represents 36 to 79 percent of consumption among the rural extremely poor, and 53
to 74 percent among their urban counterparts.
It is not because they spend all the rest on other necessities. In Udaipur, India, for example, we find that the typical poor household could spend up to 30
percent more on food, if it completely cut expenditures on alcohol, tobacco, and festivals. The poor seem to have many choices, and they don't choose to
spend as much as they can on food. Equally remarkable is that even the money that people do spend on food is not spent to maximize the intake of calories or
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spend us mucI us LIey cun on Iood. EquuIIy remurkubIe Is LIuL even LIe money LIuL peopIe do spend on Iood Is noL spenL Lo muxImIze LIe InLuke oI cuIorIes or
mIcronuLrIenLs. SLudIes Iuve sIown LIuL wIen very poor peopIe geL u cIunce Lo spend u IILLIe bIL more on Iood, LIey don'L puL everyLIIng InLo geLLIng more
cuIorIes. nsLeud, LIey buy beLLer-LusLIng, more expensIve cuIorIes.
n one sLudy conducLed In Lwo regIons oI CIInu, reseurcIers oIIered rundomIy seIecLed poor IouseIoIds u Iurge subsIdy on LIe prIce oI LIe busIc sLupIe (wIeuL
noodIes In one regIon, rIce In LIe oLIer). We usuuIIy expecL LIuL wIen LIe prIce oI someLIIng goes down, peopIe buy more oI IL. TIe opposILe Iuppened.
HouseIoIds LIuL receIved subsIdIes Ior rIce or wIeuL consumed Iess oI LIose Lwo Ioods und uLe more sIrImp und meuL, even LIougI LIeIr sLupIes now cosL Iess.
OveruII, LIe cuIorIc InLuke oI LIose wIo receIved LIe subsIdy dId noL Increuse (und muy even Iuve decreused), despILe LIe IucL LIuL LIeIr purcIusIng power Iud
Increused. Nor dId LIe nuLrILIonuI conLenL Improve In uny oLIer sense. TIe IIkeIy reuson Is LIuL becuuse LIe rIce und wIeuL noodIes were cIeup buL noL
purLIcuIurIy LusLy, IeeIIng rIcIer mIgIL ucLuuIIy Iuve mude LIem consume Iess oI LIose sLupIes. TIIs reusonIng suggesLs LIuL uL IeusL umong LIese very poor
urbun IouseIoIds, geLLIng more cuIorIes wus noL u prIorILy: GeLLIng beLLer-LusLIng ones wus.
AII LoId, muny poor peopIe mIgIL euL Iewer cuIorIes LIun we -- or LIe AO -- LIInk Is upproprIuLe. BuL LIIs does noL seem Lo be becuuse LIey Iuve no oLIer
cIoIce; ruLIer, LIey ure noL Iungry enougI Lo seIze every opporLunILy Lo euL more. So perIups LIere uren'L u bIIIIon "Iungry" peopIe In LIe worId uILer uII.
NONE OF THIS IS TO SA LIuL LIe IogIc oI LIe Iunger-bused poverLy Lrup Is IIuwed. TIe Ideu LIuL beLLer nuLrILIon wouId propeI someone on LIe puLI Lo
prosperILy wus uImosL sureIy very ImporLunL uL some poInL In IIsLory, und IL muy sLIII be Loduy. NobeI PrIze-wInnIng economIc IIsLorIun RoberL ogeI
cuIcuIuLed LIuL In Europe durIng LIe MIddIe Ages und LIe RenuIssunce, Iood producLIon dId noL provIde enougI cuIorIes Lo susLuIn u IuII workIng popuIuLIon.
TIIs couId expIuIn wIy LIere were Iurge numbers oI beggurs -- LIey were IILeruIIy IncupubIe oI uny work. TIe pressure oI jusL geLLIng enougI Iood Lo survIve
seems Lo Iuve drIven some peopIe Lo Luke ruLIer exLreme sLeps. TIere wus un epIdemIc oI wILcI kIIIIng In Europe durIng LIe ILLIe ce Age (Irom LIe mId-
1oos Lo 18oo), wIen crop IuIIures were common und IIsI wus Iess ubundunL. Even Loduy, TunzunIu experIences u rusI oI sucI kIIIIngs wIenever LIere Is u
drougIL -- u convenIenL wuy Lo geL rId oI un unproducLIve mouLI Lo Ieed uL LImes wIen resources ure very LIgIL. umIIIes, IL seems, suddenIy dIscover LIuL un
oIder womun IIvIng wILI LIem (usuuIIy u grundmoLIer) Is u wILcI, uILer wIIcI sIe geLs cIused uwuy or kIIIed by oLIers In LIe vIIIuge.
BuL LIe worId we IIve In Loduy Is Ior LIe mosL purL Loo rIcI Ior LIe occusIonuI Iuck oI Iood Lo be u bIg purL oI LIe sLory oI LIe persIsLence oI poverLy on u Iurge
scuIe. TIIs Is oI course dIIIerenL durIng nuLuruI or mun-mude dIsusLers, or In IumInes LIuL kIII und weuken mIIIIons. As NobeI IuureuLe AmurLyu Sen Ius sIown,
mosL recenL IumInes Iuve been cuused noL becuuse Iood wusn'L uvuIIubIe buL becuuse oI bud governunce -- InsLILuLIonuI IuIIures LIuL Ied Lo poor dIsLrIbuLIon oI
LIe uvuIIubIe Iood, or even IourdIng und sLoruge In LIe Iuce oI sLurvuLIon eIsewIere. As Sen puL IL, "No subsLunLIuI IumIne Ius ever occurred In uny
IndependenL und democruLIc counLry wILI u reIuLIveIy Iree press."
SIouId we IeL IL resL LIere, LIen? Cun we ussume LIuL LIe poor, LIougI LIey muy be euLIng IILLIe, do euL us mucI us LIey need Lo?
TIuL uIso does noL seem pIuusIbIe. WIIIe ndIuns muy preIer Lo buy LIIngs oLIer LIun Iood us LIey geL rIcIer, LIey und LIeIr cIIIdren ure cerLuInIy noL weII
nourIsIed by uny objecLIve sLundurd. AnemIu Is rumpunL; body-muss IndIces ure some oI LIe IowesL In LIe worId; uImosL IuII oI cIIIdren under ure mucI Loo
sIorL Ior LIeIr uge, und one-IIILI ure so skInny LIuL LIey ure consIdered Lo be "wusLed."
And LIIs Is noL wILIouL consequences. TIere Is u IoL oI evIdence LIuL cIIIdren suIIerIng Irom muInuLrILIon generuIIy grow InLo Iess successIuI uduILs. n Kenyu,
cIIIdren wIo were gIven dewormIng pIIIs In scIooI Ior Lwo yeurs wenL Lo scIooI Ionger und eurned, us young uduILs, zo percenL more LIun cIIIdren In
compurubIe scIooIs wIo receIved dewormIng Ior jusL one yeur. Worms conLrIbuLe Lo unemIu und generuI muInuLrILIon, essenLIuIIy becuuse LIey compeLe wILI
LIe cIIId Ior nuLrIenLs. And LIe neguLIve ImpucL oI undernuLrILIon sLurLs beIore bIrLI. n TunzunIu, Lo cILe jusL one exumpIe, cIIIdren born Lo moLIers wIo
receIved suIIIcIenL umounLs oI IodIne durIng pregnuncy compIeLed beLween one-LIIrd und one-IuII oI u yeur more scIooIIng LIun LIeIr sIbIIngs wIo were In
uLero wIen LIeIr moLIers weren'L beIng LreuLed. L Is u subsLunLIuI Increuse, gIven LIuL mosL oI LIese cIIIdren wIII compIeLe onIy Iour or IIve yeurs oI scIooIIng
In LoLuI. n IucL, LIe sLudy concIudes LIuL II every moLIer Look IodIne cupsuIes, LIere wouId be u ;. percenL Increuse In LIe LoLuI educuLIonuI uLLuInmenL oI
cIIIdren In CenLruI und SouLIern AIrIcu. TIIs, In Lurn, couId meusurubIy uIIecL IIIeLIme producLIvILy.
BeLLer nuLrILIon muLLers Ior uduILs, Loo. n unoLIer sLudy, In ndonesIu, reseurcIers LesLed LIe eIIecLs oI boosLIng peopIe's InLuke oI Iron, u key nuLrIenL LIuL
prevenLs unemIu. TIey Iound LIuL Iron suppIemenLs mude men ubIe Lo work Iurder und sIgnIIIcunLIy boosLed Income. A yeur's suppIy oI Iron-IorLIIIed IIsI
suuce cosL LIe equIvuIenL oI $6, und Ior u seII-empIoyed muIe, LIe yeurIy guIn In eurnIngs wus neurIy $qo -- un exceIIenL InvesLmenL.
I LIe guIns ure so obvIous, wIy don'L LIe poor euL beLLer? EuLIng weII doesn'L Iuve Lo be proIIbILIveIy expensIve. MosL moLIers couId sureIy uIIord IodIzed
suIL, wIIcI Is now sLundurd In muny purLs oI LIe worId, or one dose oI IodIne every Lwo yeurs (uL 1 cenLs per dose). Poor IouseIoIds couId eusIIy geL u IoL
more cuIorIes und oLIer nuLrIenLs by spendIng Iess on expensIve gruIns (IIke rIce und wIeuL), sugur, und processed Ioods, und more on IeuIy vegeLubIes und
course gruIns. BuL In Kenyu, wIen LIe NGO LIuL wus runnIng LIe dewormIng progrum usked purenLs In some scIooIs Lo puy u Iew cenLs Ior dewormIng LIeIr
cIIIdren, uImosL uII reIused, LIus deprIvIng LIeIr cIIIdren oI Iundreds oI doIIurs oI exLru eurnIngs over LIeIr IIIeLIme.
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
5/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
Why? And why did anemic Indonesian workers not buy iron-fortified fish sauce on their own? One answer is that they don't believe it will matter -- their
employers may not realize that they are more productive now. (In fact, in Indonesia, earnings improved only for the self-employed workers.) But this does
not explain why all pregnant women in India aren't using only iodine-fortified salt, which is now available in every village. Another possibility is that people
may not realize the value of feeding themselves and their children better -- not everyone has the right information, even in the United States. Moreover,
people tend to be suspicious of outsiders who tell them that they should change their diet. When rice prices went up sharply in 1966 and 1967, the chief
minister of West Bengal suggested that eating less rice and more vegetables would be both good for people's health and easier on their budgets. This set off a
flurry of outrage, and the chief minister was greeted by protesters bearing garlands of vegetables wherever he went.
It is simply not very easy to learn about the value of many of these nutrients based on personal experience. Iodine might make your children smarter, but the
difference is not huge, and in most cases you will not find out either way for many years. Iron, even if it makes people stronger, does not suddenly turn you
into a superhero. The $40 extra a year the self-employed man earned may not even have been apparent to him, given the many ups and downs of his weekly
income.
So it shouldn't surprise us that the poor choose their foods not mainly for their cheap prices and nutritional value, but for how good they taste. George Orwell,
in his maefl decipion of the life of poor British workers in The Road o Wigan Pier, observes:
The basis of their diet, therefore, is white bread and margarine, corned beef, sugared tea and potatoes -- an appalling diet. Would it not be better if they
spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the Ne Statesman
fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being
would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to
spend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. When you are
unemployed you don't ant to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit "tasty." There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt
you.
The poor often resist the wonderful plans we think up for them because they do not share our faith that those plans work, or work as well as we claim. We
shouldn't forget, too, that other things may be more important in their lives than food. Poor people in the developing world spend large amounts on weddings,
dowries, and christenings. Part of the reason is probably that they don't want to lose face, when the social custom is to spend a lot on those occasions. In South
Africa, poor families often spend so lavishly on funerals that they skimp on food for months afterward.
And don't underestimate the power of factors like boredom. Life can be quite dull in a village. There is no movie theater, no concert hall. And not a lot of
work, either. In rural Morocco, Oucha Mbarbk and his two neighbors told us they had worked about 70 days in agriculture and about 30 days in construction
that year. Otherwise, they took care of their cattle and waited for jobs to materialize. All three men lived in small houses without water or sanitation. They
struggled to find enough money to give their children a good education. But they each had a television, a parabolic antenna, a DVD player, and a cell phone.
This is something that Orwell captured as well, when he decibed how poor families survived the Depression:
Instead of raging against their destiny they have made things tolerable by reducing their standards.
But they don't necessarily lower their standards by cutting out luxuries and concentrating on necessities; more often it is the other way around -- the more
natural way, if you come to think of it. Hence the fact that in a decade of unparalleled depression, the consumption of all cheap luxuries has increased.
These "indulgences" are not the impulsive purchases of people who are not thinking hard about what they are doing. Oucha Mbarbk did not buy his TV on
credit -- he saved up over many months to scrape enough money together, just as the mother in India starts saving for her young daughter's wedding by
buying a small piece of jewelry here and a stainless-steel bucket there.
We often see the world of the poor as a land of missed opportunities and wonder why they don't invest in what would really make their lives better. But the
poor may well be more skeptical about supposed opportunities and the possibility of any radical change in their lives. They often behave as if they think that
any change that is significant enough to be worth sacrificing for will simply take too long. This could explain why they focus on the here and now, on living
their lives as pleasantly as possible and celebrating when occasion demands it.
We asked Oucha Mbarbk what he would do if he had more money. He said he would buy more food. Then we asked him what he would do if he had even more
money. He said he would buy better-tasting food. We were starting to feel very bad for him and his family, when we noticed the TV and other high-tech
gadgets. Why had he bought all these things if he felt the family did not have enough to eat? He laughed, and said, "Oh, but television is more important than
food!"
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
6/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
S subscribe
D B /G I

Abhiji V. Banejee and Ehe Dflo diec he Abdl Laif Jameel Poe Acion Lab a he
Maache Inie of Technolog and ae aho of Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the
Wa to Fight Global Povert, fom hich hi ecep i adaped.
(39)

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BLOGAS
11:09 AM ET
A 25, 2011
i agree.
.

AGFORCHANGE
1:14 PM ET
M 22, 2011
Masters of the obvious
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A 26, 2011
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1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
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THINKER65
11:14 AM ET
Apil 26, 2011
It can get orse..
Sad b e. B e m ndeand ha he poblem ih hnge i
onl geing oe, becoe people can' ge job o he can'
poide food fo hee familie...le hope econom and hnge ill ee
a bighe da..le' hope.

HOWY
8:02 PM ET
Apil 28, 2011
It can't get orse
A long a people hink ha econom and hnge ae
elaed...i canno ge an oe. Yo ee, i' no he
econom cii ha cae old' hnge, i' he e
eience of econom. Econom eole aond mone and
i onl inee i mone. If hee een' mone, econom
old no ei. If hee een' mone, hee oldn' be
hnge. Thee i a nee-ending abndance of naal food in
he old, b i' no geing diibed o poo conie fo
fee. Wh? Becae i' no ho mone i made. Mone i
made b elling food, b elling omehing ha o life
depend on. Ho pee i ha! I i no hei fal ha he
lie in a con ih fe naal eoce. I i o d a
hman being o help hee people. While half he food in o
con goe don he dain and hile he ich ea $200
ake, he mone can feed an enie Afican illage fo a eek,
he ich ae ill onl feeling o fo hee poo people and
he do nohing o help hem. God help all!

VERMICIOUS KNID
5:20 PM ET
Ma 19, 2011
I disagree
Eal medieal Eope eied on localied bae economie,
b hee ill ee eible famine on a peiodic bai.

ALANNEWMAN
11:42 PM ET
Ma 23, 2011
The root of cause......
Poe...Hnge...Poo edcaion em...Racim like he
Malaian goenmen...M fiend ho ok in a local omen
hoe lif compan gge ha he limae oo of cae i
copion.

FP_READER
1:09 PM ET
Apil 26, 2011
Nothing to see here
Thi aicle pe mch gie confimaion of ha I iniiel kne
alead fom he ne. The 'aing' poplaion idea i a mh.
The poblem i no food podcion o diibion. I i he cold, plain,
had fac ha people ae pid.
The pchae appliance, cigaee, alcohol and dg oe
niion. The do no kno bee.
The ane i edcaion. Ala ha been.
Teach niion, aniaion, and fo heaen ake, ge id of eligio
dogma. Tha moe hamfl han an one ohe ingle cae.

THE GLOBALIZER
Stupid?
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
8/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
THE GLOBALIZER
5:05 PM ET
April 27, 2011
Stupid?
I'm not sure I understand our assumption that these people
are acting stupidl.
Human beings are not machines crafted solel for the purpose
of living healthil. We have safened our world to the point that
the stimulation of survival and interdependenc in the wild is
lessened. Without replacing that stimulation with surrogates
(TV, cell phones, social networking and cultural inputs), some
of the core pschological aspects of a human being break
down.
If ou want to see an unproductive poor person, take awa their
unhealth food and their TV and give them a bunch of bland
health food to eat.

MARHABA
10:33 AM ET
April 28, 2011
The hate their
The hate their povert-striken lives. The want it to change.
The can. The don't know how. The are ignorant and in need
of education. QED.

BDMNTN
3:17 PM ET
April 28, 2011
the article specificall
the article specificall quotes amarta sen saing that
distribution is a major factor.
keep blaming the poor. if onl everone worked as hard as ou
did to be born in to a rational and wealth culture, there'd be no
more poor people!

BRIANFLORES
3:24 PM ET
April 28, 2011
Take out "povert stricken"...
...and ou've probabl described most of the working class in
the industrialied world.

BDMNTN
8:53 AM ET
Ma 3, 2011
I SMART THESE PEOPLE
I SMART
THESE PEOPLE STUPID
HOW DARE THESE PEOPLE BUY TV OR HAVE WEDDING
FOR CHILDREN
THEY SHOULD SHUT UP, EAT SAME FOOD EVERY DAY,
WORK HARD WHEN THEY CAN
STUPID SWEATSHOP WORKERS, SHUT UP! WORK HARD
DON'T HAVE FUN WORK UNTIL YOU DIE MAKE ME
ELECTRONICS SO I CAN HAVE FUN!
STUPID GARMENT WORKERS, SHUT UP! WORK AS LONG
AS YOU CAN DONT YOU DARE WATCH TV WHEN OFF
WORK MAKE ME CLOTHES FOR CHEAP SO I CAN
IMPRESS PEOPLE!
STUPID MINERS, SHUT UP! HOW DARE YOU COMPLAIN
ABOUT NOT BEING FED WHEN YOU SAVE MONTHS TO
BUY TV! YOU SHOULD WORK ONLY I GET TO WATCH TV!
IF YOU NO SAVE TO BUY TV, THEN YOU CAN EAT 2
GRAINS OF RICE MORE A DAY! SO SHUT UP, THERE IS
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
9/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
GRAINS OF RICE MORE A DAY! SO SHUT UP, THERE IS
NO SUCH THING AS POVERTY!

DANOSTROWSKI
1:22 PM ET
Apil 26, 2011
Ugh...
Wha an oel egeie aicle.
The aicle ok o pain he pice of eoce pen on aid being
mimanaged b iaional poo people, ing keed aiic and
eleced anecdoe. Reading he ok a a hole, i dance beeen
he poo of he old and he poo of pecific place like India (een
pa of India) and poo conclion.
"Wih he aailabili of dinking ae in illage, omen do no need
o ca hea load fo long diance; " -- Pehap in place in India,
b hee ae hge aea of poe icken b-Sahaan Afica in
hich omen ill pend on of man ho alking fo ae.
The aicle foce on making he cae ha e'e come p fo healh
emedie and bee pplemen ha impoe he condiion of he
poo, b he poo ae impl oo ho ighed o ake adanage of
hem. The implicaion being: Yo'e aing o mone. Wha a
eible one he'e aken hee. Wh no poin o he hge gain
made in impoing healh b, fo inance, he Gae fondaion and
he poiie effec i' had?
Fhemoe, hi emphai on ho "iaional" he poo ae i in
imila bad ae. I' had o ge ich Weene o ea igh o
behae aionall, b hee' no paallel dan. In hi aicle, hee'
onl geneo Weene being milead ino giing iaional poo
people, no lighl inefficien hman ih lo of mone giing o
lighl inefficien hman ih almo no mone. No he inen of he
aicle? Wie i bee.
And ha olion ae peened? Ohe han ome implicaion
abo bee healh (and no paie fo NGO' doing ok o impoe
help in deeloping conie) hee' nohing b an implicaion ha if
aid doen' ok onl he "iniible hand of he make" can ole hei
oe (iho menion of he ecen mico-finance opion copping
p).
Ye he implemenaion of hi opic fee make in' menioned,
inead he pend ime he poin o ho iaional i i o b a TV
ahe han geing aniaion and clean dinking ae in a home. B
bing a T.V. i omehing ha a ingle peon can apie o.
Ameican ofen b epenie T.V. inead of ping mone aa
fo hei kid' college in he ame manne. Ping in a eage
em o a clean ae em ake kno-ho and eoce ha
people aen' clamoing o ell hem. (Which, again, old be a gea
place o poin o he loel ok chai : ae i doing...)

MITHUNJJ
1:59 AM ET
Apil 27, 2011
Sad b re
The oo poblem lie ih he a he Poe eliminaion cheme
ae dipeed. The cheme ae ofen choked ih high-end copion
cam.
Toono Web Deelopmen

TOWNLEY89
6:10 AM ET
Apil 27, 2011
Man canno lie on bread alone
So mabe he fac ha he hae a TV doen' mean he'e no
hng. The ale a TV moe becae i make aing alie
beaable, a oppoed o impl "poible." Thee ae diffeen leel of
hnge, and j becae omeone ha a lile chicken in hei bol
doen' mean he Wold Food Pogam hold pop he champagne
and pack p hop.
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
10/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
and pack p hop.

ASHTONKAYE
8:55 AM ET
Apil 27, 2011
So Sad How Different We live
Een he poo in he e hold be gaefl. I` fnn ho in he
een old (epeciall he US and Canada) he pooe of o
poplaion ae all he fae, becae of all he idel aailable
cheap poable jnk food aailable. Ye 1/6h of he old poplaion
on een go o bed onigh ih a bol of imple ice and ae hich
old co a facion of a penn oe hee.
Chai and and fndaiing aaene een like he 30 ho famine
help o a ceain een, hoee i' going abo he poblem in a
ong a. Yo impl can' ho mone a a poblem like hi.
Thee ha o be effecie meae in place ihin ee goenmen
o ene ha none of hei ciien goe hng.

LUA_WILKINSON
10:17 AM ET
Apil 27, 2011
More than one billion people actuall MAY BE hungr in
the world
The elaionhip beeen food, eaing, and poe i incedibl
comple and one ha canno be edced o "chooing beeen a
eleiion e and a healh dinne". We o ofen n he "igh food
choice" ino a moal one, epeciall among he poo. I i j fine fo
a ealh peon o chooe feel ha he pchae, b poo
people ae jdged b he cienific and NGO commni fo ping
eneainmen need aboe hnge.
Food "choice" i ofen defined moe b he goenmen e lie nde,
adiional o eligio belief e ma bcibe o, eoce e hae
acce o, echnologie ha ae aailable o ; gende, ocial cla,
ehnici, naionali, affodabili, een global ppl paen. We fa
oo ofen hink of "food choice" a being indiidall baed ahe
han h pon b oad foce. Thi i h o man pblic
healh campaign hae failed mieabl; he foc on "food choice",
"lifele change", and "conmpion" a a fi-all fo niion
poblem (inclding deficiencie, obei AND hnge).
Food choice hold no be edced o moal jdgmen call; inead,
pblic healh, hnge and niion hold be haped b ond
niion polic ha deal ih all ie onding hnge, inclding
conol of food ppl, miconien foificaion pogam, economic
deelopmen AND food enjomen.
Food enjomen holdn' be a l iem, and hnge alleiaion
hold no cene aond conmpion; ahe on niion polic,
economic deelopmen and food ppl.
.NiionandDeelopmeninChina.com

MATLUD
10:28 AM ET
Apil 27, 2011
Read and respond to the article on its own terms
I'd like o elcome hi aicle and ok ha ndepin i.
Whaee he polic choice, i i bee o make ha deciion
on he bai of he flle infomaion poible. I old a ha
he aho ae cepical of a niion-baed poe ap, b
no ohe fom of poe ap. Alo, hee ee plen of
eample gien hee a big aid ph of ome o old
appea o be he onl iable olion cenl aailable.
I'd alo commend he aicle' le, in paicla he efeence
o Oell and he implicaion ha he global poo ae no
'ohe' b, in fac, ae e imila o oele.
I made me hink of an analog fom poliical cience and he
noion of 'deian oe' - I'm fom he UK hee i i elaed o
he Coneaie-oing oking cla. I eem he global poo
cold be claed a 'deian eae' (a lea b hoe
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
11/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
' ' (
).

THE GLOBALIZER
5:09 PM ET
A 27, 2011
Agree
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DR. SARDONICUS
8:35 PM ET
A 27, 2011
Our Boob Tube is not necessaril theirs
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ANHALT-ZERBST
10:21 PM ET
A 27, 2011
Cloaca. Singular. Sneer
C. S. S , D. S.

1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
12/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world

FRED_J9
8:39 PM ET
April 27, 2011
clap our hands up !
since when does the usa manage to reveal this stats, since, irak war
? how many billion have they wast on wars ?? aren't they billions ? -
but, i knew one thing is that israel is taken over usa !!
maroc
meknes

RAGHUVANSH1
6:08 AM ET
April 28, 2011
Most povert is pschlogical
Most poor people are ignorant so they remain poor.In India poverty is
psych logical.. Only education can erase the poverty of India.Religion
is governing very forcefully on Indian people. They are tremendously
afraid to break the religious rituals, spend thousand of rupees on
religious ceremonials and afraid if they disobey the rule of religion
Break this kind of dogma only education is useful.Government of India
neglecting primary education from last sixty year.Only Keral state of
India doing well because 99p.c. literacy is there

ASUNNER
11:21 AM ET
April 28, 2011
Information is Consistent
I believe that this article supports basic human nature. Immediate
gratification, such as better tasting food, TV. cell phones or DVD
players, is far more important than future gratification, which you may
not even be able to see or believe will occur. There is hunger in this
world, real hunger, of that I am certain. But what this article and study
support is that we want not just to live, but to have enjoyment out of
life. And the cost, whether it be a lack of nutrition to the possible loss
of life (through crime or drugs) is a future, uncertain cost, many times
unknown or not able to be quantified. We all seek ways to make our
personal lives of value to ourself - rational or irrational as it may be to
those around us.

FSILBER
1:27 PM ET
April 28, 2011
Man rich people suffer from hunger
Why do articles about hunger always ignore the problems faced by
middle-class and even rich people? Many people just cannot seem to
lose weight without frequently suffering hunger, and being able to
afford yet more food is no help to them.

AVOROBIEV
3:22 PM ET
April 28, 2011
And hunger for status?
Or, could it also be that the poor buy better-tasting food because of its
status-raising properties? Even in the eyes of his children, and
infinitely more in the eyes of his friends and neighbors, a delicacy-
eating man grows taller That was the idea when I was growing up -
and I was not growing up in poverty. Our inherent status anxiety (see
the book or youtube/PBS documentary by the same title) seems far
more ubiquitous than hunger.
Which sort of brings us back to the Amartya Sens argument bad
governance, which results in higher inequality, both real and
perceived, and hence elevated status anxiety
I wish the authors gave us a few good suggestions on how they think
the world poverty can be alleviated. But they challenged us enough to
look at poverty and hunger from a different angle. Id like to thank them
for that.
Andrei Vorobiev
CorruptionManagement.com
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
13/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
CorruptionManagement.com

DR. SARDONICUS
7:44 PM ET
April 28, 2011
Potato, Potahtoes
Cloaca = 1 TV channel (say, C-Span, brought to you by Heritage,
Cato and the KKK on one of its good days).
Cloacae = TV in general (brought to you by WAR, Inc., the only
growth industry left. Better living through dead brown bodies, dead
brown vegetation, dead brown waterways. Go Oil/Coal/Nukes! Now,
Gertrude, lets go pick the next war-of-the-week off the World Map
dartboard!) A network of interdependent sewage channels. An
intellectual cloacae.
Im too busy herding sleepwalkers out of a burning house (and doing
so in my spare time, before my next five oclock wakeup and twelve
hour workday) to sneer. Maybe youve got the spare time to do so for
(and at) me?
Subversive Un-Americanism #16:
The trivial (< is less important than) the significant
But thanks for playing, anyway.

CYBERMUM101
9:43 PM ET
April 28, 2011
So Man People Are Hungr - But We Waste So Much
Food
With so many people hungry why do we continue to waste so much
food, when was the last time you cleaned your fridge or cupboards of
out dated products, threw away your take away food that the kids did
not finish. Supermarkets, local bread shops and so make other places
just throw it all away. We have to stand up for all the food waste that
we contribute to the world, there is enough food for all, but without
cash you become the the person that's hungry. Next time you see
someone begging give them a dollar, you will probably only waste it
on something you are just going to throw away anyway.
cybermum101
informativeblogger.com

SHOXII
8:57 AM ET
April 29, 2011
A Disaster that People hungr!
It really is a disaster that so many people around the world are
hungry.
But it can be slightly modified.
If everyone would save food all could benefit from it.
All countries which had enough food could help poorer countries with
food.
Private Krankenversicherung Vergleich
It only works if everyone helps everyone!!!

DR. SARDONICUS
9:25 AM ET
April 29, 2011
Wh aren't more people sneering?
TV: the greatest mass-education tool ever devised by mankind,
reduced to pimping for commercial trivia and/or military/empirial
aggression.
Sneer, I dare ya.

METABOLIC
11:37 AM ET
Drinking coffee and
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
14/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
11:37 AM ET
A 29, 2011
D (
) . P
B P . A .

MENCTI
2:04 PM ET
A 29, 2011
conscience
W
' ...

MDELL27
12:58 AM ET
M 8, 2011
TV lowers the amount of calories needed
T . T
. T
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I '
, , . N
.
C
, ,
.

RUNPTNOW
6:30 PM ET
M 8, 2011
On the poor and starvation
W ' T W C
- ?

ALEXANDER JAMES
9:50 PM ET
M 8, 2011
People Bu What the want
I
1 . I
R C A I
. H 3 . T
.
P . T

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KHIR
4:27 AM ET
M 12, 2011
Educate them
A .
, . S
? T
.


SMYTH OSBORN
10:39 AM ET
M 15, 2011
How sad it is....
H 1
, I 1

. T
.
1/23/12 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry in the World - By Abhijit Banerjee and
15/15 foreignpolicy.com//more_than_1_billion_people_are_hungry_in_the_world
almost nothing aside from doing some cardio exercise.
On the other hand, I would argue that "poor countries are poor
because they are hot, infertile, malaria-infested, and often
landlocked". In my own opinion that is unacceptable, I believe that
each country has it's own wealth, and I believe that the the only
solution to one's problem is education, and when I say education, I
mean continues education.

CHANGXIA2
6:21 PM ET
May 21, 2011
Edcae
Argue that poor countires will lead to more deaths? Wrong, if more
people are educated more people will survive. Even though people are
dieing due to lack of food. Why not create more schools and teach.
karmaloop

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