What will it take to end child hunger?

The world produces enough food to feed everyone in it yet child hunger persists. According to the UN’s latest report on global food insecurity and nutrition, the number of people who suffer from hunger has slowly increased over the past three years and, today, one in nine people around the world goes hungry.

Children are disproportionately affected by poverty and hunger. Despite global progress in reducing child mortality, an estimated 5.4 million children under age 5 died in 2017 and half of these deaths were due to factors related to poor nutrition.

The consequences of malnutrition and food insecurity on children are devastating and include stunting, vulnerability to disease and long-term physical, social and cognitive deficits.

Children are most at risk of death and illness related to hunger and malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. But child hunger exists in wealthier nations too. Children living in poverty in Canada are also at risk of dire health outcomes related to poor nutrition.

Poverty and child hunger go hand in hand

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #2 is zero hunger by 2030. Its first is no poverty, and the two go hand in hand. The leading cause of malnutrition is poverty.

Families living in poverty often cannot provide the basics for their children: nutritious food every day, consistent access to education. Sometimes, they must sell off valuable assets like livestock to earn immediate income to purchase food.

Without assets, families are trapped in a cycle of poverty, living hand to mouth – hands and mouths that are too often empty.

Families who rely on agriculture for income often experience a “hunger gap” – a period between harvests when the food runs out. This period is growing longer and more severe in many parts of the world due to the impacts of climate change. Families may need to sell seeds, tools or oxen before they can replant – because they can’t afford to wait.

Agricultural programs that include feed, pens, veterinary care and training on animal raising like this “pay-it-forward” pig program in Uganda are essential for sustainable food security.

Your choices are only as good as your options

Impoverished families often have to make impossible choices. Do they accept an offer of marriage for their daughter to reduce the number of mouths to feed? Do they keep their children from school because they need all hands available to work on the family farm? Do mothers and fathers leave home themselves to travel for work, leaving the youngest children in the care of older ones?

Poverty eliminates options and becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.

In middle income countries like Ghana, or well-off countries like Canada, poverty can be disguised by the country’s overall wealth. The UN report found that in countries where income inequality is rising hunger is also on the rise. The report urges us to foster pro-poor and inclusive solutions to reduce economic vulnerabilities and end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

Members of a Village Savings & Loans Association in Ghana receive a pay-out. Women invest their earnings back into their children’s health and well-being at much higher rates than men.

Child hunger at the root: Lack of food

One of the core principles of food security is the reliable availability of food. In a cruel irony, some of the poorest people in many regions and countries of the world are smallholder farmers. Those who grow the majority of the world’s food are often the most food insecure themselves.

Climate change in combination with poverty is leading to more frequent crop failures, lower production, and less income from farming for the world’s smallholder farmers. And, children are paying the price in lack of food and rising rates of malnutrition.

Humanitarian food aid is a short-term solution, but one that remains essential to prevent child hunger and suffering. But longer-term, sustainable approaches are also important. These include climate-smart agricultural training, encouraging revenue diversification through farm and off-farm livelihoods, and helping smallholder farmers organize and participate in credit and savings groups and agricultural co-ops.

Families that adopt climate-smart and market-led approaches to agriculture are making more food available to their children even in areas hard-hit by droughts and flooding.

More women’s equality means less child hunger

Women are responsible for growing, harvesting, preparing and selling the majority of food in poor countries but they are rarely compensated for or given a fair share of the proceeds from this labour.

Not only that, but barriers to women’s (and girls’) inclusion in economic development activities, paid employment, access to credit or to a good education persist. Consequently, women and girls lack the basic building blocks necessary to participate fully in their own and their family’s development.

When women DO earn income, they invest in their families at rates much higher than men. That’s why one of the best ways to reduce child hunger is to empower women: the UN states that if women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.

Woman sorts through shea nuts. Called “women’s gold,” these are turned into products that offer women good livelihoods and increased status in their communities.

‘Mal’nutrition is poor nutrition

Malnutrition takes many forms, some of them hidden. Poor nutrition stems not only from lack of food, but also from lack of access to healthy food or to essential nutrients in food. Protein sources can be scarce, for example, and families may rely on one or two starches to provide bulk in their children’s diets. Conversely, a meat-rich diet such as that enjoyed in many Latin American countries may be lacking nutrients, vitamins and minerals present in fruits and vegetables.

That is why nutrition education is essential to improve children’s nutritional status and reduce child hunger.

Urban gardens add fruits and veggies to Bolivian children’s diets by increasing income and through nutrition education for parents.

In Indigenous communities in Canada, fresh fruits and vegetables can be scarce and, even when available, expensive. In fly-in and remote communities, families may have access only to “convenience” foods. Those foods are often less expensive than fresh fruits and vegetables but they are also less nutritious.

As a result of colonization, land dispossession and the residential school system generations of Indigenous children have grown up without access to healthy food and disconnected from their community’s food traditions. Knowledge of how to fish, hunt, forage, grow and prepare healthy, culturally appropriate food has in many cases been lost. One of the results is that diet-related diseases like type 2 diabetes are up to three times the national average.

Local food systems and land-based education create sustainable paths to food security and food sovereignty for Indigenous communities in Canada (as elsewhere). Community-based initiatives like Muskeg Lake Cree Nation’s food forest are rebuilding connections between culture, traditional knowledge, land and food – and ultimately reducing malnutrition, hunger and suffering among Indigenous children, youth and families.

This family has started a garden at Waywayseecappo First Nation and is able to grow fresh food that is often too expensive or hard to get in their community.

How you can help reduce child hunger

While the causes of child hunger are complex, change is possible. Coordinated action to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically goals #1 (no poverty) and #2 (zero hunger), by countries, civil society and NGOs is a great start.

Individual Canadians can also advocate for change at the municipal, provincial and federal levels from supporting pro-poor public policy to speaking up for greater investments in food security initiatives around the world.

And, you can help feed children by supporting initiatives like school food programs, climate-smart agriculture, and women’s livelihoods all of which provide more food and income for children and families in Canada and around the world.

Join us to create a future where children thrive with healthy, nutritious food every day.