May 28, 2006

I dreamed of bread in my sleep, Mother,
And the sight was heaven to see;
I awoke with an eager, famishing lip,
But you had no bread for me.
How could I look to you, Mother,
How could I look to you
For bread to give to your starving boy,
When you were starving too? — Chris Morash

Explosions, suicide bombings, ethnic and sectarian strife, inhuman torture in war camps, and natural disasters have combined to result in the loss of millions of innocent lives. The continuous oppressive measures taken by the superpower, termed “International State Terrorism” by many, have interfered in the freedom of Third World countries. The destruction all over the world has caused economic depression, pushing the Third World population to the brink of drought and poverty, now quickly spiralling out of control.

The hunger crisis has overwhelmed the deprived population in the world. Much is promised, but little is delivered, and very few measures really address the problem of hunger, poverty and famine. It is perhaps pertinent to try and understand why it is difficult to tackle the issue of hunger.

In this regard, the most alarming fact appears to be the spectre of the growing population, the size of one’s family, and the decrease in the access to, and availability of, financial resources. The recently released report by Unicef entitled: “Report card on child nutrition” says that some 5.6 million children die every year due to lack of enough nutrients in their bodies and around 146 million children are at risk because they are underweight.

An estimated 1.08 billion poor people in developing countries live on $1-a-day or less, says Global Poverty Monitoring World Bank. Of these, an estimated 798 million suffer from chronic hunger, which means that their daily food intake is insufficient to lead active and healthy life. Progress in poverty reduction has been concentrated in Asia. In all other regions, the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased (The Food and Agriculture Organization 2002). Several countries in Africa have very high infant and under-five mortality rates. In Niger, 320 children out of every 1,000 die before their fifth birthday; in Angola, 292 out of every 1,000 pass away because of the same reason.

Of about 165 million malnourished children in the world, the largest numbers are in South Asia, and that is around 50 per cent of the world’s hungry live in five countries: India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia. According to fact findings by Save the Children, which involved speaking to more than 300 people in camps reveals that girls as young as eight in Liberia are being forced to have sex in exchange for food by workers for local and international agencies. The report also found that teachers are also contributing to the abuse. They demand sex in lieu of school fees, or even just to give good grades, Save the Children says.

Across the world, the average number of yearly food emergencies has nearly tripled or more. The population is growing at a faster rate and the number of malnourished people has increased. The UN World Food Programme, on May 21, 2006, has urged the whole world to walk with them to fight hunger with a belief that child hunger can be eliminated by 2015. Unfortunately, food is available to those who can pay the most. Some people end up with more than enough, while others have less than they need. Families that can only afford starchy food but no vegetables are at a greater risk of seeing their children malnourished.

Malnutrition weakens children’s defences against diseases. In turn, sick children lose their appetite and the few nutrients that they do absorb are often drained away by diarrhoea and vomiting. It is common for children in poor communities, who lack good food, clean water and sanitation, to have six to 12 illnesses per year. According to World Vision reports, Pakistan’s 2.5 million homeless earthquake victims face hunger, and continue to struggle to survive. Approximately, 500,000 have no shelter, and 340,000 of these live in the snow-capped mountains. Apart from these earthquake victims, a similar crisis is burgeoning amongst the population in the province of Sindh.

Faulty planning while implementing mega projects, especially in Sindh, has put the people under the strain of a severe shortage of food, which is causing acute starvation. The disaster of the Left Bank Out Fall Drain (LBOD) in the district Badin has created an immense misfortune for the people who were forced to leave their homes and cultivate lands due to the flow of drainage water into their houses and land. All these people are experiencing chronic hunger and nutrient deficiencies as part of their daily life. Children living in most of interior Sindh villages have serious effects of undernutrition that limit their growth, affect their capabilities for movement and cognition, and increase their vulnerability to illness. A big section of the population in such areas is facing a yearly food shortage and the government is denying the alarming situation.