How to End World Hunger: 6 Zero Hunger Solutions
Here is how the U.N. World Food Programme works tirelessly to execute these solutions and end world hunger.
1. Break the Cycle of Conflict and Hunger
With almost 60% of the world’s hungriest people living in conflict affected zones, conflict is the greatest challenge to Zero Hunger.
Conflict and hunger create a vicious cycle. When war erupts, instability forces people to find illicit and sometimes violent means of acquiring their necessities.
The U.N. World Food Programme’s work to solve hunger has contributed to improving prospects for peace – effectively breaking the conflict and hunger cycle. In conflict zones, the U.N. World Food Programme is there to provide food and cash assistance.
World Food Programme’s Nobel Peace Prize is a powerful call to action, recognizing the important link between conflict and hunger and the critical role of food assistance as a building block to peace and stability.
2. Increase Sustainability and Build Resilience to Climate Change
Climate extremes are one of the main drivers of severe hunger. We have entered a ‘new normal’ where consecutive and extreme weather events – like droughts, flooding, hurricanes and cyclones – decimate farming and drive displacement.
The U.N. World Food Programme helps communities build resilience to climate change through long-term solutions including:
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Reforestation and land rehabilitation projects
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Climate insurance for small-scale farmers
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Providing local institutions with access to sustainable energy solutions
3. Address Poverty & Inequality Through Social Safety Nets
The U.N. World Food Programme is the world’s largest provider of humanitarian cash, distributing cash to over 40 million people across 70 countries. The global food crisis is mainly one of access where record-high prices mean people cannot buy what they need. Where markets are functioning, the U.N. World Food Programme can provide cash-based assistance in the form of bank notes, vouchers, debit cards, e-money or mobile money. Cash transfers empower families to decide how to spend their money while supporting local markets and economies.
4. Help Rural Farmers Connect to Markets
One of the cruelest ironies of hunger is its disproportionate impact on small-scale farmers—the very people who grow food for a living. Small-scale farmers make up the majority of people living in poverty. Their economic losses come from lack of access to production inputs like proper storage, fertilizer and farming equipment as well as constant challenges from climate extremes.
The U.N. World Food Programme works to connect small-scale farmers to local economies while providing them with the resources to improve production, reduce their post-harvest losses, develop business skills and gain access to financial tools.
5. Reduce Food Waste & Food Loss
The world produces more than enough food to feed everyone, and yet 828 million people still go to bed hungry each night. In high-income countries, 40% of food is wasted because people buy more food than they can consume. In low-income countries, where the vast majority of the world’s hungriest people live, most food loss occurs during the early stages of growth, harvest and storage.
The U.N. World Food Programme is working to eliminate food loss and waste by:
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Providing farmers with modern storage equipment like silos and air-tight bags
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Offering long-lasting foods like flour, dried beans and salt – all properly packaged in sturdy containers
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Investing in innovations like hydroponics that allow communities to grow, sell and store food in the harshest conditions
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Selling and storing food in impossible places due to exposure of extreme temperatures, excess dust and general pollution
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Advocating for policy that distributes American-grown crops to people in need – like the U.S. Farm Bill which supplies the U.N. World Food Programme with U.S. agricultural commodities like rice, corn, wheat and soybeans for people abroad
6. Eliminate Malnutrition in Mothers & Children
45% of deaths among children under age 5 are caused by malnutrition. The first two years of a baby’s life are critical when it comes to receiving the nourishment they need to grow into a healthy adult. From Fortified Blended Foods to High Energy Biscuits, the U.N. World Food Programme ensures millions of children and pregnant and nursing women have access to specialized nutritious food. Last year, the U.N. World Food Programme reached more than 17 million mothers and children with programs to prevent and treat malnutrition.
What You Can Do to End World Hunger
Zero Hunger may seem like an impossible goal, but through these six solutions we can make this dream a reality.
You can donate bitcoins and cryptocurrency for ACTION AGAINST HUNGER and THE HUNGER PROJECT Charities.
Unless action is taken now, millions of people have the potential to fall into deeper levels of hunger. We can respond to this global emergency by addressing hunger at its root causes. We all have an obligation to build a future that better serves our planet and all the people that live on it.