Food
Hunger: The greatest enemy of development
Approximately 850 million people across the world suffer from hunger. Malnutrition is the greatest enemy of development: A person who is hungry cannot learn at school, has neither strength nor hope to plan for the future and suffers more frequently from illnesses. Kindernothilfe's partners in the field make sure that the children and young people in all their projects are given a balanced diet. In addition, training courses are organised so that people can provide for themselves.
Hunger endangers development. Picture: Christoph Engel - The number of undernourished people is falling in almost every part of the earth but the absolute number of people suffering from hunger has been on the rise again in recent years.
- Approximately one in four children under five is undernourished.
- About three million children die of hunger every year.
- Hunger and undernourishment frequently weaken children so much that harmless illnesses can be life-threatening. Approximately every three seconds a child under five years of age dies of avoidable illnesses.
Girl in Bolivia. Picture: Christoph Engel
Children in underdeveloped countries are seriously deprived
- 30 million girls and boys are born undernourished;
- In southern Asia, one in two children under five is underweight; in southern Africa over 40% ; in Latin America and the Caribbean under 20%;
- In developing countries 16% of all seven to eighteen year olds suffer from deficiency syndrome caused by inadequate nourishment.
Hunger has consequences: children suffering from malnutrition and undernourishment lag behind in their development compared to their peers and run the risk of lasting psychological and physical impairment.
Ways to escape from poverty
The greatest obstacles on the way to reach a world without hunger are wars and civil conflicts. Without stability and economic growth no progress can be made in the fight against hunger. Growth in very poor countries must above all be linked to development in rural areas and higher productivity in agriculture. The focus must be on the poor having a share in economic progress as well as access to jobs, land, loans and means of production.
Boy living in the streets of St. Petersburg. Picture: Alexandra Höner
A well-balanced diet plays an important role in all projects supported by Kindernothilfe. In many projects children and young people are introduced at an early stage to agricultural methods which are suited to local climate and vegetation conditions. In some projects attempts are made at training mothers and improving their know-how in cultivation methods or in preparing food.
The goal is not to make people dependent on aid supplies but to empower them to be self-sufficient.
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