The world grows enough food to feed every person alive today. Despite the abundance of resources worldwide, there has been limited progress made in eliminating hunger. 840 million people in the world are hungry. Close to 2 billion people are malnourished and 6 million children under the age of 5 die as a result of hunger and malnutrition each year.
What Causes Hunger?
The hunger-poverty trap
In the developing world — where one out of five people are hungry — there’s a direct relationship between hunger and poverty. Hunger deprives people of their number one resource — their ability to work productively. Without work, people can’t earn money to buy food. The result? Families and communities remain locked in a cycle of poverty and chronic hunger.
Hunger and Conflict (Map) from Food & Agricultural Organization
Conflict = HungerIn 2002, 15 out of 32 countries can trace food emergencies to war and civil unrest. Conflict was a key factor in 6 of the 7 major African famines since 1980.
Civil unrest forces people to flee homes and communities—creating massive numbers of refugees and displaced persons without access to food. During times of conflict, crops, livestock, and land are destroyed, water supplies are contaminated, and the production and distribution of food is disrupted. Frequently, hunger is used as a weapon. In many places around the world, rebel forces loot and block food supplies from reaching people who are in desperate need.
With your help, ERD can provide critical food assistance after a crisis in addition to long-term solutions to hunger. We can create opportunities for people to feed themselves and their families.
We help farmers increase crop production by providing training in more effective cultivation methods and supplying superior drought-resistant seed to ensure better quality and quantity of crops. We also provide livestock such as goats and pregnant cows.
Through micro-credit loans, thousands of people have purchased better tools, fertilizers, and equipment that will make farming more productive. The loans have helped people start small businesses.
Our work results in thousands of people having a steady source of food today and seeds to plant for tomorrow. Please help in the global fight against hunger. Your dollars are needed to help people in need!
