Can you imagine that there are over 870 million hungry people in the world right now? And we are not talking about those who do not have time for lunch and have to wait for the evening. We are talking about people who are already used to living with hunger.
The World Food Program estimates that 98% of this 870 million live in developing countries. But why is this happening?
Today we take a look at the top 10 worst affected countries and see what caused their population to go hungry.
1. Burundi
An estimated 73.4% of the population suffers from malnutrition. Burundi is a continental country, which means that its economic growth is on average 6% less than that of countries that are landlocked. This is mainly due to the transportation cost of import and export products.
Burundi has a population of 9.85 million and more than half of them live below the poverty line. In addition, 35% of the population cannot find work. The country's main problem is not at all that it cannot produce food. The main causes of hunger are overpopulation, soil erosion, climate change, high food prices, and an ongoing civil war that forces the country to import more than it exports. In addition, Burundi's subsistence economy has declined by 25%.
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The current economic and political environment in Burundi makes it clear that poverty in itself is not the cause of hunger, as many external factors contribute to it.
2. Eritrea
In this country, 65.4% of the population is regularly undernourished. Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa. In recent years, the country has experienced significant economic growth, but, unfortunately, the effect of this has not improved the situation of the majority of citizens.
In 2004, agriculture employed about 80 percent of the population. The sector has been improved through the use of modern agricultural equipment and machinery, but remains under threat from a lack of financial services and investment.
Eritrea has another big problem: due to the war with Ethiopia, almost a quarter of the country's most productive land remains unused.
3. Comoros
Here, an estimated 70% of the population is fighting hunger. The country consists of three small islands off the coast of Mozambique and has a population of only 800,000. About half of the population are poor people who cannot even provide themselves with food.
The reasons for so many poor people, and with it hunger, are varied. One of the biggest problems is that despite the large number of young people in the agricultural sector, their educational level is very low, which means that there is no need for innovation and economic growth.
4. East Timor
The country has 38% of its population of just over 1 million malnourished. This small island continues to suffer the aftermath of years of independence struggles against Indonesian occupation, which severely damaged the country's infrastructure.
Private sector development lags behind due to a lack of human resources, weak infrastructure, an imperfect legal system and ineffective governance. Because of this, almost half of the population suffers from malnutrition, especially during the "hunger season" from November to March, when old stocks are running out and new crops have not yet been harvested.
5. Sudan
Around 25% of Sudan's population is undernourished, and the number is growing every day. Hunger in the country can be explained by a number of problems. For most of their history, the people have suffered from rampant ethnic strife and internal conflicts, including two civil wars and a war in the Darfur region.
Sudan was also unlucky with climatic conditions that can be called extreme, and this, unfortunately, cannot be controlled.
6. Chad
In the country, 33.4% of the population suffers from hunger. Poverty in Chad is exacerbated by numerous conflicts that have continued over the 50 years of the country's independence. Tensions between the northern and southern ethnic groups also contribute to political and economic instability, while the landlocked and desert climate impede economic development. The Sahelian zone (Central and Eastern Chad) is particularly affected by chronic food shortages. In addition, the country was affected by the crisis of neighboring Sudan and the Central African Republic. According to the data, 330,000 refugees have already appeared in the country, which puts additional pressure on the limited resources of the highly vulnerable local population.
7. Republic of Yemen
The country's food security has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Now 32.4% of the population are fighting hunger here. The reasons for this situation were civil conflicts, political instability, high food prices, endemic poverty, as well as influx of refugees and migrants.
8. Ethiopia
Hunger statistics in Ethiopia are very alarming - 40.2% of the population. Due to the 2011 drought, 4.5 million people in the country needed food aid. Cattle breeding areas in the south and southeast of Ethiopia were hit hardest by the drought. At the same time, grain markets experienced a shortage, as a result of which food prices rose significantly. By early 2012, the food security situation had generally stabilized thanks to the start of the harvest season.
Although the number of new arrivals to the refugee camp has dropped significantly since the crisis, Ethiopia continues to receive people from Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
Anna Pismenna