World Hunger & Global Overpopulation Not Necessarily Linked

by Michael Thompson, Contributing Writer


Many people link global hunger with overpopulation. In other words, too many people, not enough food for all. 

World Hunger Educational Service tells us differently.

 "The world produces enough food to feed everyone," the organization flatly asserts, stating that even though the global population has grown by 70 percent during the past three decades, agricultural production has surged so massively that calories per person have increased by 17 percent. Match the two numbers, and we see that the total calories produced have nearly doubled. 

So if all this is true, why are nearly 1 billion of the planet's 7 billion souls suffering from hunger and malnutrition, including 578 million in Asia and the Pacific, and 239 million in sub-Saharan Africa? 

World Hunger Educational Service cites three main reasons: Poverty, corrupt governments, and conflicts among nations. Poverty and hunger create an especially vicious cycle because each causally contributes to the other. 

Five million children die annually from hunger-related afflictions such as malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and measles. 

Lack of necessary nutrients also has tragic effects. Shortages and their effects include Vitamin A (blindness), iron (anemia) and iodine (mental health troubles). 

SOURCE: http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm