OWN CORRESPONDENT, Bloemfontein | Tuesday
THE world is failing to feed those who need it most, with some 80 million children dying worldwide every year through malnutrition, says the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
And while the potential exists to produce enough food for everyone in the world, about 20% of people in developing countries are undernourished and some 800 million people worldwide are chronically hungry.
Addressing a gathering in Botshabelo outside Bloemfontein to mark international World Food Day, the FAO’s South African representative, Florence Chenoweth, said urgent action had to be taken not only to provide food for the hungry, but also to eliminate the causes of hunger worldwide.
“The right to food is arguably the most fundamental of all human rights, and without it no other right is meaningful,” she said. This right was among those most cited in solemn declarations of political intent, yet the most violated in practice.
Chenoweth stressed the need for increased food production, but warned that this would not be enough without making sure that people had the means to acquire that food.
“We must … introduce socio-economic policies that enhance access to food, in particular by alleviating poverty.”
She urged civil society to become involved in promotional and fund raising activities against hunger, saying everything should not be left to governments.
Addressing the same event, Free State Premier Winkie Direko said hunger not only cut short the lives and hopes of individuals, but also the peace and prosperity of nations.
Hunger and starvation impacted directly on economic growth, environmental degradation and human resource development.
“Though it is sometimes hard for some of us to imagine what goes through the heart of a mother when her children are crying of hunger and she does not even have a morsel to feed them, this is the tragic reality for millions of people in Africa,” she said.
Direko pointed out that ending hunger was not simply a matter of growing more food. The main problem was that food was not being distributed equally.
The richest one-fifth of people of the world consumed 45% of all meat and fish, while the poorest got 5%.
“We must make sure that food gets to the people who need it most – the poor, girls and women, isolated rural communities, ethnic minorities living on the economic margin of society, and victims of war and natural disasters,” Direko said.