Last Autumn I had the opportunity to study for a semester in Sweden. Looking to fill some requirements for my International Studies major back home I signed up for the course Global Health. At the time, it slipped my mind that Sweden is known for this kind of study and research. As I sat amongst students from Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia who were studying subjects which ranged from nursing to psychology, I realized that I was in for an eye-opening semester. As you read, please keep in mind that all of the facts are already a year old, but their significance is no less impactful. This blog is a very short snippet of all that I learned in that class; below are the concepts and figures that moved and surprised me the most.

Excerpts from my final paper:

• “I was also struck by a statement which one of the presenters recalled from one of the older Zambian women, ‘When the white men came we saw that we were poor.’ I believe that we have as much to learn from struggling peoples as they have to learn from us, they are rich in other aspects of life.”

• “I also found it fascinating when Mr. Almroth talked about how children need love, and when their parents die they are more likely to get sick as well. It’s amazing how something so simple can have such deep and compounding impact. It’s hard to realize how much that love is taken for granted in developed countries where health is expected and sickness can be treated.”

• “Additionally, the knowledge that female literacy is most directly connected to child mortality, and that fifty percent of all child deaths could be prevented through female literacy surprised me.”

• “Education empowers women, gives children more access to healthcare, encourages micro-loan systems, informs about water sanitation and improves infant survival through breast feeding.”

• “I was finally incredibly relieved to hear Mr. Almroth talk about the fear of over-population. I admit that I was one of those people who are often conflicted by compassion for people in need and scientific numbers of over-population. Hearing that increased child survival has always lead to less pregnancy was all I needed to hear for my fears to be quickly relieved and my compassion to take over!”

• “I was encouraged to think about AIDS as a result of poverty, not necessarily a lack of knowledge. This cuts at the basic human need to survive, and when people see no way to make money, they turn to dangerous practices to survive. When it is knowledge vs. necessity, necessity always wins.”

• “Standing at twice the African regional average, 150 out of 100,000 people in Zambia are infected with tuberculosis. Of those infected, over half are co-infected with HIV/AIDS. Zambia is currently working to improve lab facilities, increase community awareness, expand public-private partnerships (such as support groups who visit patients,) increase printed and circulated materials and conduct training of health workers.”

• “One very cool way of disease education that Zambia has implemented is grounded in schools. Each year on World AIDS Day and World Malaria Day formal debates are held between students in schools to increase awareness of the disease crises.”

• “Every year 7.5 million women and babies die unnecessarily due to pregnancy-related causes, NOT disease. This is 50% more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined! In poor nations around the world poverty causes death in heart-wrenching ways because the cure is both known and attainable. On one side of the problem lies a lack of funding for pregnancy care and neonatal mortality prevention and the shift of educated doctors from rural Africa to lucrative Europe. On the other side of the problem lies hope. The greatest resource that Africa needs to improve the maternal health situation is educated midwives. Additionally, the country of Mozambique is leading the way by training ‘non-physician clinicians’ to perform cesarean sections, obstetric hysterectomies, laparotomies and other life-saving emergency obstetric care. These clinicians also exist in rural Malawi and Tanzania, creating an incredible resource where doctoral care is limited or non-existent…Cures and preventative methods are known, available and common; proper funding, education and trained professionals are what the world is waiting for.”

Thanks to lecturers Almroth, Berggren, Halling and Bergström.

I happened to have the news on yesterday as I was fixing lunch, and they were talking about the pirates off the coast of Somalia who attacked a U.S.-flagged ship, the Maersk Alabama. My young daughter caught the word “pirates” and asked, “Are there really pirates?” I said yes, and she, being a typical child, asked why. The question gave me pause.

In thinking about how to respond, it occurred to me that piracy is an excellent example of the causes and results of hunger. Why are there pirates? Why were 122 ships attacked near Somalia last year? Because there’s been no functioning government in Somalia in something like 18 years. With no government, there’s been no rule of law and pretty much no economy. There has been plenty of civil war, weapons, and corruption. With no means or incentive for things like infrastructure maintenance, business development, foreign investment, or large-scale food production, poverty is rampant. DallasNews.com reports that some 25% of children die before age 5 and life expectancy is 46. And a generation has now grown up knowing nothing else.

Enter piracy. Lots of ships float by every day, and they present a huge opportunity. Some entrepreneurial folks have determined that ransom is more profitable than the treasure-stealing, “yo-ho-ho” pirate image my daughter has in mind. Apparently kidnapping one good ship can be worth up to $1.5 million. According to the BBC, piracy also creates a local economy. You need pirates to make the initial attacks, more pirates to guard the captured hostages, and even back-up pirates on land in case anything goes wrong on captured ships or at sea. Even local restaurants have joined the industry, making food for the hostages. Plus, once the pirates get paid, they build houses, buy cars and laptops, go out to eat, and otherwise create a market for goods and services that wasn’t there before. An average Somalian citizen considering his options might well see the advantage of an entry-level job in piracy. It’s wrong, but it beats living on a dollar a day with no prospects.

War, corruption, ineffective government, lack of jobs/opportunity, poverty. All related and all causes of hunger and piracy. Now how to sum that up for my daughter…

I think I can fairly say that the loss of biodiversity in the world is something the media reports regularly. We hear about polar bears and how many other animals face extinction. We hear about how much rain forest is being cut down each day and what a loss that presents not only for the animals and plants that live there, but also the future of pharmaceutical discovery.

What I personally have heard less about is the loss of crop diversity. Here’s something I came across today on the Web site of the Global Crop Diversity Trust: “…of the 7100 varieties of apple cultivated in USA 100 years ago, 6800 have disappeared forever.”

We’re down to 300 varieties of apples here. That’s nearly a 96% drop! Of something we eat! They also say that about 165,000 crop varieties (all types of food) are currently endangered. It’s not boding well for food security in the world.

The Global Crop Diversity Trust site gives several reasons that crop diversity is dropping, and one of them is climate change. Rising temperatures and drought are not helpful to many crops, especially in places that already trend toward the hot and dry.

There are lots of ways that climate change affects hunger in the world. Killing off the things we eat is the most direct one I’ve considered.

Today is the first day of fall. Technically yesterday was still summer, though the temperatures have been significantly cooler and the days noticably shorter for a few weeks now.

But inside certain windowless stores, there’s no telling what time of year it is. Well, maybe you can tell we’re in the back half. The clothing section included both short and long things, but darker shades indicate fall. September? A “Back-to-School” section implied August, but across the aisle were Christmas ornaments. November? December? A bit farther down were the Halloween costumes and lawn decorations. Ah, October! But wait – Thanksgiving-themed dishes. Back to November. I could safely narrow the time of year down to a 5 month range.

All of which had me thinking about how much stuff is available, how much we buy, and how we are tempted to do so by such appealing and long-lasting displays. You weren’t thinking about Thanksgiving here at the tail end of summer and beginning of fall? Well, let us remind you and offer you a lovely selections of things you might need in a couple of months…

I’ve written before about consumerism, and I’ve previously linked to The Story of Stuff, which provides an exellent explanation of some of the effects of consumption. It’s a topic that matters to ELCA World Hunger because our consumption patterns disproportionately affect those living in poverty. From the Global Policy Forum:

According to the World Bank, the 2.3 billion residents of low-income countries
accounted for less than 3% of public and private consumption in 2004, while the
1 billion residents of high-income countries consumed more than 80% of the
global total (See Figure 1.) In this same year the United States accounted for
4.6 percent of the world’s population and 33 percent of global consumption.

This matters because as we rich nations happily shop away, we are using a huge share of the world’s resources. As we exceed the ability of our own country to provide goods at a price we’re willing to pay, we look elsewhere. We buy minerals, fuel, crops and consumer goods from countries anxious for the income and willing to lower prices and regulations to get the business. Poor countries grow tobacco for Western markets instead of food for themselves. They offer cheap clothing at the expense of their employees. They accept shipments of garbage and even toxic waste into their countries because it’s a source of income. The result is often degradation of land and people, making it that much harder for them to succeed. We, in the meantime, wear the clothes for a season and then discard them for something new. In the process, we use even more resources, create more trash, and demand more from the world.

There is a capitalist argument that this is the global market. Whoever can produce an item most efficiently should. Not everyone should grow corn or tobacco or sew clothes. Countries should produce what they’re best at and trade for the things they can’t do as well. It’s good and right that some countries produce coffee beans and many more don’t. And this argument has merit – to a degree. But it requires that governments are functional and acting in the interests of their citizens, not just themselves. It requires that regulations exist and are enforced. It requires educational systems that adequately prepare people to participate in those economies. It requires equity in access to those educational systems. And it requires thoughtful management of resources – both natural and human – to ensure their sustainability. Until those conditions exist, people living in proverty will continue to work in deplorable conditions and exploit their environment because it’s how they can survive. And many of them will continue to live in poverty and to be hungry.

We in the wealthy nations can help by living more sustainably ourselves. We have to consume. Everyone does. But we don’t have to consume thoughtlessly. We can pay more for Fair Trade coffee and finance it by skipping the extra sweater. We can demand products made from sustainable practices (like certified wood) that are easier on the environment. Organizations like the Worldwatch Institute can help you figure out what those products are.

Consumption in and of itself isn’t the problem. It’s how – and how often – we go about it.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about how natural disasters contribute to hunger, and how those living at or near poverty are disproportionately vulnerable. Following that line of thought, it’s hard to imagine how things could get much worse in Haiti. First they were hit by Tropical Storm Fay. Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna followed, and Ike now threatens. According to the BBC, 200 people have been killed by these storms so far, tens of thousands have been displaced, and hundreds of thousands need assistance. And it’s not just minor assistance. The same BBC article says 200,000 in the city of Gonaives have not eaten in three days and potable water is hard to find. And as one would expect, homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. But perhaps the biggest problem is that few in Haiti have the resources to really do anything about it.

Such an onslaught of natural disaster would be difficult for the people and government of any country to bear, but in a place like Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, it’s especially devastating. Already struggling with extreme poverty, hunger, and rising food prices, the people of Haiti rioted earlier this year and threw out their prime minister. Now, with the hurricanes, rice crops have been destroyed and fruit trees have been blown down, an especially large problem in a place where two-thirds of the population are involved in agriculture. The loss of crops can only add to the long-term suffering, hunger, and political instability.

The short-term is no better. With thousands displaced and no food to be found, Haiti’s government is ill-equipped to help its people. With such a poor economy, infrastructure like roads and communication systems weren’t great before the storms. Wind and water damage have made them even worse, hampering aid efforts and posing longer-term challenges for rebuilding. What’s more, poverty has led to deforestation in Haiti, exposing soil which is now washing away in mudslides. Besides the immediate danger caused by mudslides, there are future ramifications: loss of topsoil, reduction in vegetation, and long-term degradation of the environment.

In a place where poverty is so widespread and the government so uncertain, it’s hard to imagine how Haiti will recover. Certainly we Western countries have a role to play, both in the immediate, urgent need for food and water, and also in assisting with lasting, sustainable changes.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a case study on the causes of hunger, read up on Haiti. It highlights several factors, including: a history of corrupt, unstable, and ineffective governments; an insufficient and inaccessible education system; lack of employment opportunities; poor infrastructure; a degrading environment; and a susceptibility to natural disasters in the form of hurricanes. It’s not a comprehensive list, but it’s a frighteningly good start.

As I was driving to work this morning, I heard an interesting story on National Public Radio. It was about how the global food crisis is affecting Afghanistan, and it started predicatably enough with statistics and stories explaining how horrible things are. The price of flour has tripled in the past year and 2.5 million Afghans have been pushed into food insecurity. Afghanistan does not produce enough food to feed its population, and many are now relying on international food aid.

I just had time to think, “Interesting that they don’t produce enough food. They certainly have arable land. After all, they grow lots of poppies!” when the reporter addressed that very point. And here was the first shred of good news I’ve heard in relation to the food crisis. The Afghan Commerce Minister explained that in several provinces, farmers have begun replacing poppy crops with wheat crops. With higher prices and less competition from imports, Afghan farmers can now make a profit from wheat. What’s more, growing poppies is illegal and dangerous, so given a viable alternative, some farmers are happy to make the switch.

My train of thought went on to the broader implications. If higher prices and fewer imports are making wheat farming profitable in Afghanistan, what other countries might experience the same effect? For years developing countries have been unable to compete with cheap commodity crops exported from the United States. In the long term, will the food crisis help that situation? And if more countries grow more staple grains, will it improve global food security? None of this musing is meant to minimize the current crisis. It’s ridiculous that it takes starving people to bring attention and change to the way the world feeds itself, and it doesn’t mean necessary policy changes will be made. But it’s also nice to think that some good might come of the current suffering. So today I’m choosing to dwell on the bits of hope.

That war is a cause of hunger is not news. War displaces people from their homes, livelihoods, and usual food sources. It recruits and kills working-age men who would otherwise support their families. It disrupts agricultural cycles and destroys fields. It maims economies, infrastructure, and people.

But one aspect of how war causes hunger did recently surprise me. It shouldn’t have. Even a moment of thought makes it blatantly obvious. But I hadn’t before considered how the ammunition of war causes hunger, sometimes for decades after the fighting has ended.

Here’s an example I read about from the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines. The US dropped 90 million cluster bomblets on Laos during the Vietnam War. Today, they estimate that about 10 million of those bomblets remain unexploded, and that the bomblets cover one-third to one-half of Laos. They further explain that 80% of the country’s labor force is involved in subsistence agriculture.

The choices are both obvious and bad. Either Laotians don’t use a lot of land that they could to grow food because it’s too dangerous, or they farm it anyway, understanding that people will be severely injured or killed when then accidentally hoe an old bomblet.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines’ web site lists, in bullet form (munitions irony, there), the many problems land mines and cluster bombs cause. In addition to later land use, some of the key hunger-related problems include slowing the return of displaced people, slowing rebuilding efforts, environmental damage each time a mine or bomblet explodes, the resource strain to poor communities and governments trying to assist landmine survivors, and the ongoing danger to both people and livestock. Of course, some of these issues are common to any war. The difference is the length of time unexploded munitions extend the problems.

The good news is that the issue is getting some serious attention. Beginning today in Dublin, some 100 countries are meeting to discuss banning cluster bombs. You can read an overview in yesterday’s Boston Globe. And if you’ve been looking for an advocacy project, this may be an opportunity to explore. The United States is not attending the talks.

Looking for a quick way to convey the complexity of why hunger exists in the world? Try a mind map! It works as an individual activity, or with a leader mapping the ideas of a group. Once you’ve pretty much filled the page, you can talk about how the differed parts of the map are related, and add arrows to help make the connections. If you’re interested in a multi-session class, you can start with the overall picture, then focus on specific sections of the map in subsequent sessions. It’s also easy to end on a “half-full” note; with so many issues contributing to hunger, there are many points of entry to solving it. And with so many connections between issues, change in one place can cause change in others. If you want to go beyond education, it’s also a way to organize for action: which topic is the group most interested in acting on? How might you do so?

Disclaimer: my map here is not complete (ran out of space on the page). Can you name some things I left out?