Today is the 41st World Food Day and 1 in 10 people around the world are starving

16 October is the 41st World Food Day. When we are well fed, there are still people in some corners of the world who can't eat... Although humans have been growing food for more than 10,000 years, the food crisis remains a problem that plagues the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in hunger around the world, with some 811 million people facing hunger in 2021.

>> official data

One in every 10 people goes hungry

On 11 October, the Chinese edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021, co-authored by several UN agencies, was launched. This is the first global assessment of its kind to be released since the COVID-19 outbreak. The report shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in hunger around 1 in 10 of the world's population (811 million people) facing undernourished plight, i.e. one in every 10 people go hungry. 3 billion adults and children still do not have access to healthy meals, largely because of the excessive financial burden. More than 2.3 billion people – 30 % of the world's population – cannot guarantee adequate food throughout the year, and more than 149 million children under the age of 5 are stunted.

The data show that more than half (418 million) of the world's hungry people are undernourished in Asia; more than a third (282 million) live in Africa; and a small proportion (60 million) in Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa is the region with the largest increase in hunger, with undernourished people accounting for 21 per cent of the population.

In July, a report titled "Hunger Virus Spreads Around the World" showed that factors such as conflict, COVID-19 and climate change are fuelling global famine, with about 11 people dying every minute from hunger and malnutrition.

>> United States

"Nearly 1 in 8 U.S. households don't have enough to eat"

Since COVID-19 ravaged the United States, more than 700,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus and millions have lost their jobs. About 13.8 million households in the United States are considered undersupplied, and more than 54 million Americans face food shortages, including 18 million children.

Tens of millions of families in the United States cannot eat enough to eat, and the continuously high food prices make the food on the table simply not enough to fill the stomach of the family. Since 2021, corn prices have risen by about 50 percent and bacon has become more than 10 percent more expensive. And cornflakes, bacon, etc. have become breakfast that many Americans can't afford to eat.

On October 15, a new survey in the United States showed that nearly 20% of American households spent all their savings during the COVID-19 epidemic. Nearly 2/3 of U.S. households earning less than $50,000 have struggled to pay rent, medical treatment and food expenses.

New York Times photojournalist Kenner used the lens to document Americans battling hunger, launching a photo report on "America on the Edge of Hunger," "In the richest country on earth, nearly 1/8 of American families don't have enough to eat, and children live on the edge of hunger." ”

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more Americans are turning to food banks across the country for help. Jennifer, 29, is having difficulty working because of her disability, and the pandemic has meant for her family that there will be longer lines and fewer fresh foods at relief facilities. Whenever a relief agency came to deliver food, her children would cheer: "Oh, Mom, we have something to eat tonight and won't go to bed hungry anymore." ”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development previously released a report saying that the United States is the only developed country where millions of people are hungry. There are 500,000 homeless people every night, including even graduates of some of the elite Ivy League schools.

>> Africa

People were forced to eat soil and eat locusts

According to the BBC, the United Nations said in August that the island nation of Madagascar on the east coast of Africa is on the brink of famine triggered by climate change, with parts of the region having been without rain for four consecutive years and thousands of people are facing catastrophic famine and food risks. And when we will be able to get rid of famine, no one knows.

Tamaliyah, a mother of four, said: "For eight months, my children and I ate only locusts every day because we had nothing else to eat and food we couldn't afford to buy. Dodiva, a 35-year-old farmer, said: "We call this soil living soil because it allows the sour taste of tamarind to penetrate into our mouths and make us less hungry." ”

What happens to Africans is just a microcosm of the current state of global famine. On the map of the earth, there are more than 20 countries and regions like Madagascar that are shrouded in hunger. Of these, south Sudan, Yemen and northern Nigeria are the most severe.

>> Brazil

Hungry people forage for food in their bones

October 12 is Brazil's Children's Day, but due to the severe inflation of the new crown epidemic, rising unemployment and rising food prices, 60% of Brazilians do not have enough to eat, and nearly 20 million children live in hunger and do not eat three meals.

Affected by extreme weather, the problem of hunger in Brazil, one of the "breadbaskets of the world", worsened. The continued drought has not only led to a sharp decline in agricultural production, but also directly to energy shortages and rising prices.

Brazilian media released a group of photos on September 29, titled "Brazil 2021: The Pain of Hunger," in which many poor people search for food in animal bones and offal prepared for pet feed. In the photo, poor people in Rio de Janeiro rummaged through boxes and cabinets in a van loaded with offal and bones discarded from supermarkets, ready to be transported to a factory that produces pet food and soap to make canned goods. This set of photos attracted attention from the outside world after it was released. Saul, the reporter who filmed it, had prevented a woman from eating discarded meat, and the woman told her: "Young people, we will either eat this or starve to death." ”

On October 8, Brazil's COVID-19 deaths exceeded 600,000, making it the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, after the United States. In response, Brazilian President Bolsonaro actually asked: "Which country has no dead people?" Recently, a large-scale demonstration has been set off across Brazil calling for the impeachment of President Bolsonaro, who is considered the initiator of the hunger crisis.

>> India

Food exports are starved by hundreds of millions of people

According to Deutsche Welle, there are two things in India that are surplus – "food and the hungry". India is the world's second largest food producer and the world's largest exporter of rice, while India is also the world's hungry country with the largest number of hungry people, accounting for nearly 30% of the world's total. According to Indian media reports, a new report shows that 27% of India's population is extremely hungry, nearly 200 million people are malnourished, and about half of children are malnourished.

The analysis said that the cause of the famine in India is not food shortages, but problems in the food distribution system. Farmers worked hard to grow rice, and when it was expropriated by the state during the harvest season, exported for foreign exchange, resulting in farmers who planted land unable to afford the rice they grew themselves. The Indian government has not taken corresponding measures to solve the problem of food and clothing for the Indian people.

In India, not only are farmers hungry, but some middle-class families are forced to queue up for relief food, and many people sell gold jewelry to survive. Compiled by Guo Ji, a reporter of Huashang Daily