October 16, 2019

Monsoon—Zero Hunger

Jeff Key—October 2019

 

October 16 is World Food Day—with the goal of Achieving Zero Hunger


“There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s needs but not for everyone’s greed."                                                                                                                              Mohandas Gandhi

When people were hungry, Jesus didn’t say, “Now is that political, or social?”  He said, “I will feed you.”                                                               Bishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

Currently, more than 815 million people do not have enough to eat. Some 155 million children under the age of five – 23% – are chronically malnourished. One in two infant deaths worldwide are caused by hunger.                                                        (Source: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization)



Why, in this “world of plenty” is there still a global hunger problem, and what can we do to help achieve the goal of Zero Hunger?
With political instability and climate change on the rise (higher temperatures, drought, flooding, increased CO2 levels, deforestation, sea level rise, water scarcity) more rural communities are under siege leading to lower crop yields, people being displaced, and mass migration.  More than three-quarters of the world’s chronically malnourished children live in conflict-affected regions.
There are solutions that can be implemented now:
• First and foremost—Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Change our diet. Develop plant-based meat substitutes. Cows emit methane—animal waste produces nitrous oxide—both add to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Stop Deforestation—cutting down forests for pastureland releases more CO2 in the air.

• Reduce food waste— Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year is wasted — approximately 1.3 billion tons.
• More training for farmers in crop/livestock management and market awareness.
• Empower rural women and girls—give them skill training.


As Greta Thurnberg, Swedish teen activist, stated, “You must unite behind the science. You must take action. You must do the impossible. Because giving up can never be an option.”