Being hungry is not just about skipping meals. For millions of people in the developing world, it means a lack of access to nutritious food that impairs their growth and affects every part of their lives. According to studies, 1 in 9 people worldwide does not have access to enough food to fill their stomachs.
Ironically, over one-third of food produced globally is wasted, food that could easily feed the hungry and help us solve this basic human need. The main reasons for this are inefficient farming techniques, broken or insufficient supply chains, lack of post-harvest storage, or wastages at social events in cities.
What causes global hunger?
Inaccessible food – Even in countries with food surpluses, some people cannot afford two square meals a day. Families struggle to feed their children because of various issues- lack of purchasing power, lack of infrastructure, chronic poverty, natural disaster, and climate change.
One major reason why people are poor is because of conflict and violence. In fact, out of the total number of malnourished children, about three-fourths live in countries suffering from internal conflicts.
Due to climate change and inflation, many people in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia do not have sufficient nutrition.
Drought – Due to climate change, drought has become a common reason for food shortages worldwide. Add to that increasingly unpredictable rainfall, this spells doom for local communities that depend on rain-fed agriculture. The result? Crop failures, dried farmland, and deaths of entire herds of livestock; giving people limited means to fend for themselves.
Food wastages – Many people in the cities cannot fathom the extreme hardships faced by people in the countryside. At marriages, parties, and other social events, food is wasted for flimsy reasons, food that could have helped fill the stomachs of those in need. Here is where Catholic charities donations get food from such places and distribute it amongst the poor and needy.
Besides this, food is also wasted due to inefficient storage capacity, lack of post-harvest storage, and other such preventable factors.
How does it affect people’s lives?
Hunger drives people into poverty – People living on less than a dollar a day struggle to afford to provide themselves and their families with nutritious and safe food. When they continue to survive on whatever they can find, they become weak and can’t afford to work the way they used to. This limitation also means they can’t afford to send their kids to school, who also suffer from malnutrition causing development delays.
With lack of proper education and poor health comes missed job opportunities, trapping people and their families into a vicious cycle.
Hunger affects children’s future – Undernourishment causes children to have severe health implications in the future. This keeps them from reaching their fullest potential.Severe malnutrition causes stunting- where the body cannot develop well mentally and physically. It increases the child’s risk of death and disease. In other words, chronic hunger can steal children’s futures.
Prolonged hunger kills – Prolonged hunger kills- It is hunger and malnutrition that kills the most people every year, more than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Almost 45% of deaths of children under 5 years are caused due to undernutrition. The most at-risk children are those who live in remote areas of low-income countries, where there are higher chances of them being malnourished and underfed.
In fact, a lack of a proper nutritious meal claims a child’s life every 3 seconds, according to a study.
How does the Catholic Connect Foundation work towards this?
Our primary mission is to raise funds and provide resources towards eradicating hunger at the local, national and international level. We provide funds to like-minded Non- Governmental Organizations who work towards achieving these goals. Our goal is to help people in need get adequate nutrition for raising their well-being irrespective of their nationality, race or any other segregating factor.
Currently, we provide emergency medical care and disaster relief to affected people all across the world. Our immediate goal this year is to open our first food center in Mexico to provide food for those in need
How can you make a difference?
One way you can make a difference is by donating money in cash or kind towards Catholic Charities Food Distribution. To eradicate poverty and hunger, you can donate money, stocks, real estate, cryptocurrencies, or anything else that could help benefit the Catholic Connect Foundation to work towards helping the less fortunate.
Our Foundation mobilizes funds and distributes it to genuine non-profit organization who work tirelessly to make this world a better place for those in need.
Let’s make this world a better place.
Donate towards filling the stomachs of the less fortunate today! You can always contact us if you have any questions
