Will World Hunger Ever be Eliminated?
Are disasters really to blame?

Interestingly, disasters are not the main cause of the widespread, insidious hunger which affects one in seven people on this earth. In fact, it is not a lack of food which makes people hungry. It is rather the inability to afford an adequate diet that causes food insecurity. For instance, out of the 40 poorest and hungriest nations on earth, a stunning 36 actually export food to richer countries such as the USAi!

So is poverty likely to go away? Unfortunately for the billion people who still live in poverty todayvi, the prognosis is uncertain. The main causes of poverty are poor economic policies leading to economic disaster such as those in Indonesia and Russia a few years back, as well as the fact that poverty is a viscous cycle. It is a well-known fact that poor children have less access to education and thus good-paying jobs, and also grow up to become less economically-productive adults due to malnutrition and greater susceptibility to disease. These poor adults then give rise to the next generation of poor children and the cycle repeats itself. Both of these causes are rather abstract, complex ones that do not necessarily lend themselves to being eradicated.

Next: So is it all bad news?