Hunger in Africa: Causes and Effects - Term Paper Example

Hunger in Africa: Causes and Effects Introduction Africa is the second largest continent around the world with a huge number of populations. Most of the countries in Africa belong to the third world which made continent vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition. For over sixty years, the entire continent had been suffering from great famine and malnutrition which further lead to death among a number of individuals including poor innocent children. Parents are having a hard time giving their children sufficient and nutritious food to eat every day mainly because of poverty, poor and inadequate rainfall to water their plants and crops and high food prices (“We can be Heroes”). Most of the countries which are intensely affected by the hunger crisis are West Africa, South Sudan, East Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, Chad, Senegal etc (“Fighting Hunger in Africa”). Currently, Africa is still suffering from this kind of crisis among its people and is still having difficulty in resolving this never ending issue. Thus, this paper aims to discuss the hunger in Africa and the major causes on why until now the countries in this continent still starve to death. However, due to the wide scope of the topic hunger in Africa, this paper only limit to the effects of hunger among children. Hunger in Africa Hunger can cause series of health problems and nutritional deficiencies if a person failed to eat sufficient amount of food intake in a daily basis. These mainly include malnutrition, stunting, underweight, undernourishment, and worst death (“Hunger”). Children are at higher risk acquiring these health conditions due to their vulnerability and low immunity. In Africa, there are about 227 million people suffering from famine and severe malnutrition. According to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), in every minute, 12 people die in Africa because of extreme hunger (Chiumia). Most of these hungry individuals are situated in rural areas in which their means of livelihood is agriculture and has no any alternative sources of income which made them highly vulnerable to crisis like hunger (“Hunger”). For instance, in West Africa, a number of African families had been experiencing starvation due to lack of food sources to suffice the needs of their hungry stomachs because of insufficient rainfall and failed crops. Food and even water shortage brought individuals to extreme hunger and acute malnutrition specifically children who, at their age, highly need enough food and nutrition for them to grow healthy and well-nourished. However, reports had shown that families in countries of Africa can hardly give their family member enough food to eat everyday because of extreme poverty, high food prices, and droughts on their farms (“West Africa Child Hunger”). If not given immediate solution, malnutrition rate in Africa among individuals particularly children will grow. As a result, the immune system of children will weaken due to poor nutrition permitting them towards acquiring diseases which might kill them if treated right away. These mainly include pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea (“Fighting Hunger in Africa”). In Niger, absenteeism rate among children in school is relatively high. Half of the class had been absent due to their intense desire to help their parents to earn a living. These children are forced to work at an early age upon seeing that their parents can no longer give them enough amount of food everyday due to poverty. Hence, they prefer to be absent in school than to let their family members starve to death. As a consequence, they took for granted their chances to have a better lives in the future through education and also, their right had been exploited due to child labor (“West Africa Child Hunger”). However, we cannot blame these children for their actions because what they are doing are for the benefit and survival of their families in a day to day basis. On the other hand, South Sudan is considered to have the highest child/infant mortality rate and has the lowest educational attainment across the globe because of the civil war which ended just two years ago. Most of the children in this country are underweight, stunted and underdeveloped because of chronic malnutrition (South Sudan). These are just only few manifestations of the misfortunate incidents which happened, are still happening, or might further happen in the future to the various countries in Africa if not given immediate attention and action. However, just recently in an interview, Mr.Jose Graziano of U.N. Food and Agriculture agency said that hunger in Africa can be eradicated by the year 2025 through improving crop production and promoting healthy eating habits (“UN: Hunger can be eradicated”). Causes of Hunger in Africa Poverty Individuals and families who are living within or below the poverty line particularly the people in Africa can hardly afford to buy palatable and nutritious food for them because unfortunately they do not have enough financial resources to suffice their immediate needs. As a result, these people will be forced to eat food with low nutrient contents or worse prefer to sleep at night with empty stomach. This situation will put their health at risk. They will become malnourished which may weaken their strength in performing their means of living which is their way in alleviating their situation from poverty and hunger. Poverty will create a domino effect to every member of the family especially poor and innocent children. Poverty and hunger will further result to diseases among individuals due to low immunity and worse death (“What Causes Hunger”). Lack of Educational and Agricultural Investments For developing countries like the countries in Africa, most of their major problems on why they are experiencing poverty and hunger are poor rainfall, crops failure, and high food prices. These are because these countries lack investments on agriculture which include irrigation which can help them in acquiring water supplies and warehouses where they can store their crops. Moreover, these people in Africa further lack the knowledge on how to appropriately and effectively manage their crops and water supplies with the help of new technologies and innovation due to poor education (“What Causes Hunger”). All of these are highly related to poverty. Due to poverty, African people can hardly bank on agricultural infrastructures, and because of poverty, children are forced to leave classes to earn money resulting to low educational attainment. Climate and Weather in Africa One of the major problems in the countries of Africa is poor rainfall which further leads to droughts among vast land areas. As a result, a number of crops failure occurred which is considered to be one the main causes of food shortages and hunger in the entire continent (“What Causes Hunger”). War War is also one of the major causes of hunger among nations. Due to undying conflicts, innocent individuals are forced to leave their lands and flee in order to save themselves from danger. Consequently, farming and food production in their areas are being disrupted which further constitute to food shortages and hunger. This scenario is the current and exact situation of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia (“What Causes Hunger”). This further happened to South Sudan two years ago in which a number of individuals died not just because of war but because of hunger (South Sudan). Programs against Hunger and Malnutrition Due to the undying hunger and malnutrition rate in Africa, which became one of the major causes of death in the entire continent, a number of local and international organizations were alarmed in this situation and further expressed their great concern on these affected individuals specifically the poor and innocent children. The United Nations organization is striving hard in achieving its millennium development goals towards eradicating hunger in Africa by 2025 through improving crop production and promoting healthy eating habits. According to Jose Graziano of UN Food and Agriculture Organization, this can be made possible with the help and commitment of responsible world leaders (Lederer). There are also other non-government organizations which are giving simple yet effective solution to the problem in Africa particularly the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). ADRA aims towards teaching the people in Africa on how to garden in order for them to eat nutritious foods and vegetables. They are also taught on how to raise animals such as goats and cows in which they can drink the animals’ milk for their families and bargain the excess milk to the market in exchange of other goods or sold it. This is very simple yet helps a lot to the African people to somehow fill their empty stomachs (“How ADRA is Helping”). Conclusion The never ending issue on hunger and malnutrition in Africa which had been occurring in the continent for more than sixty years is mainly caused by: (1) poverty in which people can hardly buy enough food for their families especially for their children, (2) lack of educational and agricultural investments in which individuals remained illiterate on how to appropriately manage their crops to prevent crop failures and food shortages, (3) climate and weather in the continent which further caused drought in their lands, and (4) war in some parts of Africa which further lead to food shortages and starvation. All of these cause health failures and deaths to a number to Africans not only to adults but also to the poor and innocent children who were deprived of their rights to eat accurate amount of everyday and were exploited because of their need to work at an early age for the survival of their families. Works Cited Chiumia, Sintha. “Do Africans Die of Hunger Every Minute?” Mail and Guardian. Mail and Guardian, 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. . “Fighting Hunger in Africa.” Save the Children. Save the Children, 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. . “How ADRA is Helping to Fight Poverty and Hunger in Africa.” Adventist Development and Relief Agency. Adventist Development and Relief Agency, 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. . “Hunger.” World Food Programme. World Food Programme, 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. . Lederer, Edith M. “Hunger in Africa can be Eradicated by 2025: UN.” The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. . “UN: Hunger can be Eradicated in Africa by 2025.” MSN News. MSN News, 2013. . “We can be Heroes: In the Horn of Africa, Children’s Lives Hang in the Balance.” Save the Children. Save the Children, 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. . “West Africa Child Hunger Crisis.” Save the Children. Save the Children, 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. . “What Causes Hunger.” World Food Program. 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