World Vision asks the U.S. government to increase its response to the global food crisis. The future of families like the Galgitheles hangs in the balance.


June 2009

By Lucy Murunga, Davinah Nabirye and Shawna Templeton

Nkidiko Galgithele struggles to feed her six children on a daily basis. Not a day goes by without her fretting about the next meal. The three years of consecutive drought have left many of Kenya’s rural communities desperate.

On a good day, when they do have a meal, it usually consists of porridge or boiled maize. “My children come home and I have nothing to offer them. What kind of a mother am I?” Nkidiko utters hopelessly.

Two months ago, Nkidiko’s husband left in search for food. So far, he hasn’t returned.

Food prices soar

The price of staple foods, like beans and corn, has skyrocketed in Kenya. The price of flour has risen by nearly 300 percent. Many families spend almost all of their income on food.

Even before food prices started significantly rising last year, more than 963 million people faced hunger. Now, because of higher food prices and the global financial crisis, nearly 1 billion people face extreme hunger and poverty.

An estimated 907 million people who are hungry live in developing countries — that's more than the population of the European Union, the United States, and Canada combined.

The number of undernourished people in the world increased by 75 million in 2007, largely due to higher food prices.

Children suffer the most

As food prices soar, the poorest populations — especially children — are the most severely affected.

Receiving little nutrition takes a toll on Nkidiko and her children. “I get tired quickly, I have got no energy to look for food, and my health is not good,” she says. “The children are the most affected because they have got weaker bodies, they are [pale], very thin, and have stunted growth.”

Insufficient nutrition during critical growth phases is known to result in poor physical and cognitive development in children. Malnourishment can cause physical and mental stunting for life, further deepening the cycle of poverty.

Death from hunger-related causes is a very real threat. Moderately underweight children are more than four times more likely to die from infectious disease than are well-nourished children. According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition contributes to more than half of deaths among children under 5 worldwide.

U.S. a key player in battle against global hunger

In response to this global threat —exacerbated by the financial crisis — World Vision is urging the U.S. Congress to expand hunger reduction, child nutrition, and agriculture development programs to combat world hunger.

“Ensuring that every person has enough basic food is a moral decision, but it's also a strategic choice that strengthens the global economy over the long term,” says Robert Zachritz, World Vision’s director of advocacy and government relations.

“It's far more effective and far less expensive to prevent these types of humanitarian crises than it is to try to fix them.”

Zachritz says that interventions like food aid, school feeding programs, and child/maternal health and nutrition programs help meet the basic needs of the poor. Increased investment in sustainable agriculture development will empower small-scale farmers, who are some of the world's poorest people.

“While it’s tempting to take care of ourselves before we address the needs of others,” he adds, “it's absolutely critical that the world's richest nations do not neglect the world's poorest during these tough economic times.”