Need to eliminate human-caused famine

Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote, “Poverty is unbearable, the wife and child cry endlessly, knocking on my door.” News reports often feature stories where mothers sell their children due to hunger, and fathers commit suicide. Hunger is such a devastating force that it turns people into beasts.

Since prehistoric times, millions of people have died simply from starvation. Many regions have lost millions instantly due to natural disasters, wars, and man-made famines. In today’s world, while human resources and food production have increased, man-made famine still persists. As a result, millions around the world still suffer from hunger. The reasons for this include war and vast inequalities in resources. Though there is no war in Bangladesh, it is still a country where millions suffer from moderate hunger according to the global hunger index. Many people in the country do not have access to nutritious or essential food.

According to a news report published on Thursday (12th December), the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024 indicates that while Bangladesh has made progress in addressing hunger, it still faces moderate hunger. With a score of 19.4, Bangladesh ranks 84th out of 127 countries. Although Bangladesh’s score is better than that of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, it lags behind Nepal and Sri Lanka. A review of the Global Hunger Index shows that while Bangladesh has made progress in reducing hunger, it is still far from the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 2, which promises the complete eradication of hunger. Due to climate change and gender inequality, many people in various parts of the country continue to face severe food shortages.

The widespread food scarcity in Bangladesh is evident in daily life. Leaving aside the homeless and displaced people, the majority of families in the country barely manage to survive on minimal food. On one hand, the prices of essential food items are rising, while on the other hand, countless people remain unemployed, facing extreme inequality in both society and the state. As a result, many low-income individuals survive on a daily basis, suffering from severe malnutrition, which impacts their productivity and overall livelihood.

Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, in their book Poor Economics, show that children from poor families, even when they attend school, are unable to learn much due to malnutrition. This often leads to them falling sick, and the family's extra income goes toward medical expenses, which makes them even poorer. This cycle continues for generations. It creates a vicious cycle.

The entire world seems to be trapped in such a vicious hunger cycle. On one hand, most of the world's resources are concentrated in the hands of a few, while on the other hand, a small portion of the population continues to suffer from hunger. Many studies have been done on this issue, and more will follow, but can we ever build a hunger-free world? Without our collective will, this will not be possible. Food is a fundamental human right, a fundamental right—keeping people hungry cannot be the hallmark of a civilized society. We desire a world free from hunger. We must ensure that every person in the world has enough to eat, at least two meals a day.