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The causes of hunger

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The following are factors that contribute to the world’s hunger: 

• Poverty - Poor people do not have the resources like land, tools or money which are needed to grow or buy food on a daily basis. 

• Armed conflict - War or peace and order problems affect agricultural production as well as food distribution, access and prices. Likewise, governments often spend more on arms than on social programs. 

• Natural disasters – typhoons, floods, drought and other calamities can lead to severe food insecurity among those who are affected 

• Environmental degradation –increasing environmental abuse decreases agricultural and fishery output 

• Rapid population growth - particularly in urban areas make it harder for poor people to feed themselves. 

• Lack of agricultural infrastructure – Lack of farm-to-market roads, post-harvest and irrigation facilities, and modern technology all affect food availability and access. 

• Food prices – increasing food prices directly affect the people’s capacity to buy food. 

The study conducted by Mapa, et. al, showed that food inflation and underemployment are important determinants of hunger incidence in the Philippines. The analysis showed that “a one-time increase in food prices can lead to increases in hunger incidence that will last for five quarters, while a one-time increase in underemployment will lead to increases in hunger incidence for two quarters.” In the study, underemployment was defined as proportion of the underemployed persons to the total population 15 years old and up. Underemployed persons include all employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours. Visibly underemployed persons are those who work for less than 40 hours during the reference period and want additional hours of work (NSO, 2010). Food inflation on the other hand used the food component of the Consumer Price Index. 

Data from the “Right to Food Assessment” of the FAO on the profiles of hunger and analysis of its causes revealed the following: 

• Bigger households tend to experience hunger more than smaller households. Hunger incidence increases sharply starting with 4-5 household members. 

• Hunger incidence doubles among households with three to four children compared with at most two children. Households with seven or more children had higher hunger incidence with most of these households 
experiencing severe to chronic hunger. 

• Better educated household heads have lower incidence of hunger compared to household heads not completing any grade level. 

• Hunger incidence is highest among those working in agriculture, construction and mining, contractual workers, minimum wage-earners and those who are self-employed. 

The goals on hunger
The first goal of the Millennium Development Goals is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The Philippines as a signatory to the MDG targets to: 

• reduce by half the prevalence of underweight-for-age under-fives from 27.3% in 1990 to 13.7% in 2015 

• reduce by half the percent of households with inadequate energy intake from 74.2% in 1993 to 37.1 % in 2015 

In addition to the MDGs, the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2011-2016 provides the targets for reducing hunger particularly: 

• Reduce the percent of households with inadequate calorie intake from 66.7% in 2008 to 32.8% in 2016. 

• Reduce the prevalence of underweight under-five children from 
20.6% in 2008 to 12.7% in 2016. 
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