In the developed world, people spend an average of $10 a day on food. In Third World countries, an emergency daily food ration from the World Food Programme costs less than a 1/30 of that: only $0.29. And even though 29 cents may seem like a truly miniscule amount, hundreds of millions of people, many of them children, are unable to get enough food to lead a healthy lifestyle.

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Around the world, 852 million people do not receive enough food. Of these, 214 million are chronically malnourished. These individuals can be described as having an unhealthy diet. In developed countries, ‘unhealthy diets’ usually refer to an excess of food, and an excess of nutrients such as sugar and fat. In the case of the malnourished, it is exactly the opposite: their diets do not contain enough food, or the food they eat does not contain enough calories (the Food and Agriculture Organization recommends 2,350 calories per day). The diets of malnourished people can also can lack many important nutrients such as fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and ‘micronutrients’ (nutrients that, while essential for many bodily functions, are consumed in very small amounts) such as iron.

A child suffering from severe malnutrition.

Malnutrition is sometimes called the ‘silent killer’ because most of its victims are often ignored. Of the 11 million children who die in developing countries every year, hunger is the root cause of 40% of the deaths. Malnutrition can also cause mental retardation, severely hampered growth, physical defects, blindness, and other problems in those affected by it.

There is no doubt that both malnutrition and poverty are linked together. As the World Bank says, “poverty is both a consequence and a cause of ill health. [M]alnutrition… is often a reason why households end up in poverty, or sink further into it if they are already poor.” Fortunately, there are many ways to improve the nutritional situation in developing countries.

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[click image to expand to full size] - This image opens a chart that shows various hunger-related statistical information.

There are many global campaigns to improve nutrition. The most notable of these, of course, are the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – reducing the proportion of hungry people is part of Goal #1. Also, the 1996 World Food Summit, held in Rome, proposed to cut the number (not the proportion) of hungry people in half by 2015. However, goals alone will not help the hungry. Organizations such as UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) pick up where the Millennium Development Goals leave off and utilize different methods to give malnourished people ‘food security,’ which exists, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, “when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Here are some common methods used to improve nutrition in developing nations:

• Distributing Food: One of the most effective ways to fight hunger is to supply food rations to hungry people, especially children, giving the community time to build the infrastructure it needs to produce enough food in the long-term. The WFP is a master at this kind of work – almost all food distributed to developing countries, whether for emergency relief efforts or long-term development, is delivered by the WFP.



• Supplying Food in Schools: Providing children with food while they are in school accomplishes two goals at once. Nutrition in children is increased greatly, and so is school attendance. In fact, the WFP estimates that in some cases, school attendance has risen by 100% due to school feeding programs.

  Increasing production and raising prices of crops such as this papaya can improve nutrition and reduce poverty.

  The WFP has parterned with the U.S. Global Food for Education Intiative since 2001 to create one of the most successful school feeding programs ever: in 2004, 16.6 million children in 72 countires received free school meals.



• Increasing Crop Production: While there is more than enough food in existence to feed ALL the world’s people, shortages can still exist in developing countries. Improving farming techniques to increase crop yields can solve this problem. After the ‘Green Revolution’ brought new farming techniques to Southeast Asia, many countries saw a huge upsurge in food production, and the same thing can happen again.



• Increasing Prices: One of the other major problems that farmers in developing countries have is in selling their crops for enough money to live off of. Unless they farm for ‘cash crops’ such as cotton or coffee, they often receive very little for their yields. Allowing small, independent farms in developing countries to sell their crops in international markets for good prices can help prevent malnutrition.



• Preventing Micronutrient Deficiency: Millions of people are deficient in essential micronutrients, especially Vitamin A (254 million people), iron (between 1.7 and 4 billion people), and iodine (780 million people). Vitamin A deficiency decreases the effectiveness of the immune system, and can cause blindness. Iron deficiency increases risk of bacterial infection, learning disorders, and stunted growth. Iodine deficiencies lead to severe brain damage early in life. Fortunately, removing these deficiencies is easy, because as micronutrients, only a small amount of each is required by the human body.

  An agricultural field.

  Switching to a different diet, or adding micronutrients to existing foods can usually solve the problem and increase health.



• Nutrition-related Education: Educating people in developing countries about the benefits of a balanced diet can improve health. For example, UNICEF uses educational programs to teach adults about the importance of iron in the diet and encourage them to diversify their diet as much as they can to increase their iron intake.



• The World Health Organization: The World Health Organization, or WHO, is the world’s authority on all health issues. While the WHO does not engage in actual development projects, it can supply developing countries with the technical assistance they need to determine effective ways to fight malnutrition.

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The WFP is the by far the largest distributor of food relief on the planet. It was created in 1963, and is based in Rome, Italy. As a United Nations organization, it works closely with the United Nations FAO. While the FAO conducts research and leads the fight against malnutrition on an international level, the WFP’s job is to go on the ground to help malnourished individuals directly.

And what a job it does. The WFP has one of the largest budgets for ANY U.N. organization, yet spends only 9% on overhead costs. Ninety percent of its staff, which number in the thousands, work overseas delivering food. Since its creation, it has delivered a mind-boggling 47 million metric tons of food aid, in the form of daily rations (each ration contains staple foods such as salt, rice, and beans that add up to 2,100 calories). In 2004, it delivered food to 113 million people – no easy feat, since there is often a lack of good transportation in the areas the WFP works in. A testament to this, and to the immense task that WFP staff undertake each day, can be seen in the WFP’s transportation statistics: every day, the WFP “has 20 planes in the sky, 5,000 trucks on roads and 40 ships at sea delivering food aid.”

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1996 World Food Summit.

CARE USA: Nutrition. 2006.

FAO: World Food Day. 2005.

FoodFirst: FoodFirst Program Areas. 2005.

Iodine Network: What is Iodine Nutrition?. 2005.

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005 (PDF). 2005.

UNICEF: Nutrition.

Vinodini, Reddy. Why Nutrition Improves. 1992.

WHO: Nutrition. 2006.

Wikipedia: Food Security. 2006.

Wikipedia: The Green Revolution. 2006.

Wikipedia: Malnutrition. 2006.

Wikipedia: Nutrition and Health. 2006.

Wikipedia: Protein-energy Malnutrition. 2006.

World Food Programme. 2006.

WFP: Hunger Facts and Figures. 2006.

World Bank: Health, Nutrition and Population. 2005.

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