21 Days for World Hunger – Day 2: Alarming and Curious Statistics

According to the World POPClock, as of 1:13 UTC September 26, 2016, the total population of the World was projected at 7,341,907,137.

During spring of 2010 I conducted my first 21 Days for World Hunger experiment. At the time, the world population was 6.8 billion people. In six and a half years the population has increased by 500 million, which is 50 million more people than the combined populations of the United States (325 million), Mexico, (122 million) and Canada (35 million). In six years the earth has gained North America+. By 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9.7 billion.

According to the Hunger Project, 98% of the world’s undernourished people live in developing countries.

• Asia: 525.6 million
  Asia is the continent with the most hungry people – two-thirds of the total. The percentage in southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in western Asia it has increased slightly.
• Sub-Saharan Africa: 214 million
  Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence (percentage of population) of hunger. One person in four there is undernourished.Since 2000, Rwanda, Angola, and Ethiopia have seen the biggest reductions in hunger, with GHI (Global Hunger Index) scores down by between 25 and 28 points in each country. Despite these improvements, the hunger levels in these countries are still serious.
• Latin America and the Caribbean: 37 million

Global Nutrition Consumption

The World Health Organization (WHO) put out data that are rather curious and puzzling to me. Look at the numbers to see if you agree.

The dietary energy consumption per person is the amount of food, in kcal (calories) per day, for each individual in the total population.

• Globally the average is 2780 kcal/person/day
• Developed countries 3429
• Developing countries 2630
  ~Sub-Saharan Africa 2240
  ~Central Africa 1820 

For example, the world average of calories consumed (per person per day) is 2780. Already that seems high, but when you look at the data for developed countries, those numbers skyrocket to 3429 per person per day. Seriously, 3429? That’s a LOT of calories. I’ll continue to search for examples of this to better understand it. If anyone has insight, let me know.

I then checked with the WHO about the rise of obesity. Sure enough, worldwide, obesity has doubled since 1980.

Imagine what would happen if folks in the developed countries shared some of their calories to Sub-Saharan and Central Africa.

Caloric Intake Recommendations by the US Department of Agriculture

These numbers seem more realistic to me.

Calorie Recommendations, Men

The amount of calories men require each day varies based on their age and activity level. Calorie recommendations decrease with age. The USDA recommends men consume 2,000 to 2,600 calories if they’re sedentary, 2,200 to 2,800 calories if they’re moderately active and 2,400 to 3,000 calories per day if they are active.

Calorie Recommendations, Women

The amount of calories women require depends on age and activity level. But (according to the USDA) because women generally have a smaller frame and less lean body mass than men, they usually require fewer calories. The USDA recommends women consume 1,600 to 2,000 calories if they are sedentary, 1,800 to 2,200 calories if they’re moderately active and 2,000 to 2,400 calories per day if they are active.

Global Hunger Index

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is the organization that identifies and analyzes policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world. Their fabulous website houses useful tools and valuable information about hunger including the Global Hunger Index (GHI).

To reflect the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI combines the following four indicators into one index:

• Undernourishment: the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient;
• Child wasting: the proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from wasting (that is, low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition);
• Child stunting: the proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from stunting (that is, low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition); and
• Child mortality: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).

Famine Fast Facts  

Number and Prevalence (%) of Undernourished in the World:
(Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
1990-1992 – 1010.6 million (18.6% of the world)
2000-2002 – 929.6 million (14.9% of the world)
2005-2007 – 942.3 million (14.3% of the world)
2010-2012 – 820.7 million (11.8% of the world)
2014-2016 estimates – 794.6 million (10.9% of the world)

Check out some more fascinating famine fast facts here.

Hunger Trends

The GHI severity scale ranks countries on a 100-point scale based on the above 4 component indicators with 0 meaning no hunger (the best rank) and 100 meaning severe hunger – labeled extremely alarming.

Values less than ≤ to 9.9 low
Values between 10-19.9 reflect moderate hunger
Values between 20-34.9 indicate “serious”
Values between 35 to 49.9 indicate an “alarming”
Values between 50 and 100 are “extremely alarming”

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)  offers a useful interactive map for The Global Hunger Index (GHI).

If the map looks like it’s in German, click anywhere and it should revert back to English. Drag the marker to any country and click to see the severity of hunger in that country. Click again and the data compare present day to the data from 2005. It’s encouraging to see decreasing numbers, but those numbers still represent nearly one billion people. That’s nearly one billion people too many to be suffering in the absence of food.

Start with frozen mangos and hemp milk in the blender. Blend for 15 seconds. Add blueberries and yogurt. Blend for 15 seconds. Add banana, hemp seeds, coconut milk and drizzle in the kombucha until you reach your preferred consistency.

**For the record, this is not an African meal. But you knew that already. I have a freezer filled with organic fruit and a large container of coconut milk yogurt in the fridge to use up.  Sure was yummy.

Simple Salad with Leftovers & 1 Slice of Garlic Bread

Lettuce-Romaine	1/2 head (small)
Spinach	1/2 cup
Tomato	1 med
Pumpkin Seeds (I dry roast these)	2 TBSP
Yellow Pepper	1/2
Garbanzo Beans	1/2 cup
Dulse Sea Vegetable	1/3 cup
Avocado	1/2
Sprouts (lentils I sprout at home)	2 TBSP
Peperoncini (I LOVE these, but 3 may be too much for some folks)	3 peppers
Dressing – Olive Oil (I mix a batch that includes 1/4 cup of olive oil and take a portion of that for my salad)	1.5 Tbsp
Dressing – Vinegar (About 1.5 TBSP of vinegar to 1 TBSP yellow mustard & a dash of salt with the olive oil and vinegar)	To taste
Sprouted Wheat Bread w/ Organic Earth Balance Buttery Spread (toast bread, spread, sprinkle with garlic powder and salt)	1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If we can muster up that degree of commitment and get away from the uniquely American perception that if something can’t be done immediately it isn’t worth doing, then I think the Hunger Movement, this small but growing minority of us, can have a truly significant impact.
~Harry Chapin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To read other posts in this series, click click click the links. Please share your comments!

Day 1:    The Food Justice Diet
Day 2:    Alarming and Curious Statistics
Day 3:    Finish Your Plate, There are Children Starving in Ethiopia
Day 4:    The Nameless Hungry
Days 5-6:  “Where Does She Get Her Protein??”
Day 7:    One Small NGO Making a Big Impact in Ethiopia
Day 8:    The Language of Hunger
Day 9:    Plenty of Soy Solutions in Latin America
Days 10-11: Can Small-scale farming feed the world?
Day 12: Why Organic Farming?
Days 13-14: The Have and Have-Nots of Southeast Asia
Day 15: Have You Eaten Today?
Day 16: Hunger in America
Days 17 & 18: Hunger’s Dirty Little Secret
Day 19: Eat Plants
Day 20: Watch This, Read That
Day 21: The Power of Activism