Food shortages
Food shortages are a critical global issue characterized by the insufficient availability of food to meet the dietary needs of populations. Throughout history, various factors have contributed to food scarcity, including population growth, environmental degradation, and conflict. The agricultural revolution improved food procurement, but challenges remain, especially due to natural disasters and socio-economic inequalities. In 2024, approximately 783 million people were reported to be hungry, with malnutrition leading to severe health issues, particularly in developing countries where poverty and lack of access to resources prevail.
The causes of hunger extend beyond mere overpopulation; they often include inequitable food distribution and income disparities. Environmental factors such as soil erosion, deforestation, and climate change exacerbate the situation, diminishing farmland and threatening food production. Furthermore, political instability and warfare can lead to famine, disrupting food supply chains and causing mass displacement. Efforts to combat food shortages involve government policies, international aid, and the work of NGOs, highlighting the complexity of addressing hunger in a world where millions remain at risk of starvation. Understanding the multifaceted nature of food shortages is vital for fostering sustainable solutions and ensuring food security for all.
Food shortages
Throughout human history, civilizations have on occasion been plagued by malnutrition, hunger, and famine. The growth of the human population, environmental factors, and continued warfare and civil strife have all been named as contributors to the problem in modern times.
Background
The procurement of food is one of the necessities of all societies. For thousands of years, this was accomplished by hunting and gathering. While people were able to find and use various types of food, they were not always able to acquire the items they needed in the quantities that were required. With the onset of the agricultural revolution and the advent of organized farming, the problem was alleviated to a certain extent. Individuals and societies had more control over what their food supply might be at a given time. While this fact did not eradicate the problems caused by natural disasters that could destroy food sources, it did help to mitigate those catastrophes.
Other important developments were the scientific and technological advances that occurred beginning in the sixteenth century. The results of this scientific progress were applied to agricultural endeavors, medical practice, and industry. The knowledge gleaned from science enabled farmers to grow additional crops and to increase the productivity of the land on which they grew them. However, the advances in medical science increased the life expectancy of people and thus created additional demands for the foodstuffs that were produced. The Industrial Revolution also led to the invention of fuels and machines. These fuels provided the energy to run the factories that created farm equipment and machinery. They later served as a source of energy for farm equipment.
Population
By 2024, the global population was estimated at 8 billion. Among the very poor, many people continue to have large families for a number of cultural and religious reasons. Large families provide labor; in some countries children as young as six years of age are part of the family’s labor pool. Besides providing more income, having many family members may mean more clout in community affairs. Extra children also provide additional hands to care for parents in their old age.
It would be tempting simply to blame the problem of food shortages on the world’s increasing population, but population increase alone is by no means responsible for the hunger that exists in the world. Rather, food shortages are caused by a combination of elements that contribute to blocking access to the tools that enable people or cultural groups to break the cycle of hunger.
Extent and Causes of Hunger
According to the World Food Programme, some 783 million people were hungry at any given time in 2024. Further, thousands of children die of hunger-related diseases each day. Malnutrition, or not getting the proper nutrients, is one of these related syndromes. Malnutrition often leads to other diseases, such as goiter, in places like Bangladesh, where people have great iodine deficiencies. The disease pellagra, another malnutrition-related condition, is caused by a lack of the amino acid tryptophan. Pellagra is found in countries where the diet consists mainly of maize and jowah, a type of sorghum eaten mainly in India. Nutritional blindness is also a side effect of malnutrition. Infantile marasmus and kwashiorkor are two protein-deficiency diseases that cause lethargy, edema, and a number of other medical problems. These are brought on by a lack of protein in the diet and are prevalent in West Africa.
One of the easiest methods of ascertaining the extent of hunger worldwide is to examine infant mortality rates. In countries where hunger is greatest, the infant mortality rate tends to be high. The country with the highest rate in 2021 was Sierra Leone at 78 deaths per 1,000 live births, followed by the Central African Republic at 75 deaths and Somalia at 71 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to data from the World Bank. By contrast, in developed countries the rate is far lower. In 2021, Monaco had the lowest rate at just 1 death per 1,000 live births, followed by several countries with approximately 2 deaths per 1,000 live births, including Estonia, Japan, and Finland. Developed, or highly industrialized, countries are able to feed their own populations and generally have additional supplies of food to send to other nations. In less developed countries, however, that is not the case, in part because the world's population has become increasingly concentrated in developing countries; in 2022 over three-quarters of the world's population lived in developing countries, and that number was expected to be at 86 percent by the year 2050, according to the United Nations. The World Health Organization states that about half of deaths of children worldwide are from malnutrition, mostly in less developed countries. The primary causes of death are dehydration due to pneumonia, diarrhea, infection, and disease in newborns. Without access to proper nutrition, these causes are compounded and contribute to substantially higher rates of infant mortality.
There are a number of explanations for hunger throughout the world. Many experts believe that hunger arises not so much from overpopulation as from the inequitable distribution of food supplies. In other words, a small number of people are responsible for the production of food and are obliged to apportion it to the world. Political scientists with this viewpoint argue that it is not only the ineffective or inequitable distribution of food that leads to hunger; in addition, the inequitable income distribution among the global population leads to the inability to purchase food. Poverty leads to hunger, and the causes of poverty throughout the world are many. Large numbers of people are poor because they have no access to land or to the means of production. Many people have no way to earn a living, and many are forced to migrate to other places—which often offer no relief for their suffering. Hunger occurs when there are societal dislocations; Arline T. Golkin summarizes these as “disorders in food production, distribution, earning capacity, medical care, and levels of development.” Hunger exists in rich nations as well as poor.
Environmental factors such as soil erosion, deforestation, and desertification lead to a diminution of farmland, a situation that eventually leads to food shortages and hunger. Deforestation leads to the washing away of soil. Forests are often destroyed to provide fuel; in other cases, forests are reduced or washed away completely by flooding. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that some 70 percent of global drylands, which are 30 percent of the globe, are already degraded, with much of the farmland becoming desert annually. Desertification is caused by periods of exceptional dryness in an already tenuous climate. Desertification is found in a number of African countries as well as in Russia, Ecuador, Nepal, and other nations. All of these reasons contribute to a shortage of usable farmland, which translates into hunger as a chronic condition for millions of people throughout the world.
The threat of climate change exacerbates the environmental conditions that can lead to food shortages. Many experts warn that nations around the world are poised to experience sharp increases in hunger as global warming brings drought and other environmental changes. While anthropogenic climate change (caused by humans) is a leading concern, and one tied to the many complex ethical and economic issues surrounding food supply, other factors outside of human control also play a role. One of the most important is weather. For example, the El Niño pattern that periodically causes warmer temperatures can trigger extreme heat and drought across large swaths of Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. This was evident in 2015–16 as a major drought and subsequent food shortage struck southern Africa.
When hunger persists in a region for an extended period of time and leads to increased mortality from disease or starvation, famine exists. Periods of famine can last for several years, and often more than a food shortage is involved. Major famines have occurred throughout history. Since 1970, notable famines have occurred in Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, the Sahel region in northern Africa, and North Korea. In Ethiopia, severe drought caused a famine, while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, civil war was primarily responsible. Other instances of famine caused by war or other conflict include the Israel-Hamas War that broke out in 2023 and resulted in widespread starvation among residents in the Gaza Strip. Likewise, fighting in Sudan in the early 2020s caused what was deemed the largest hunger crisis in the world by early 2024, when some 18 million people faced severe food insecurity, especially in the Darfur region. Frequently, a famine is indicative of many underlying structural malfunctions within a society. A long and deep recession in a rural area, for example, can cause dislocation in employment, income, and production. In Cuba, a prolonged economic crisis led to severe food shortages and other issues, including chronic power outages, in the early 2020s. The crisis led to reductions in the production of staples like rice, beans, and pork of over 80 percent in 2023.
In times of famine, people are unable to pay for artisans’ services and products. As John Osgood Field states, “Famine occurs not only because a chain of events disposes to a famine outcome but also because nothing, or at least nothing effective, is done to break the process.” Most of the countries that are subject to famine do not have the resources with which to break the cycle of famine, and often the entire ecosystem is out of balance in a number of ways. While societal problems may lead to famines, they can also be the outgrowth of famines. When groups of people suffer from famine, they frequently migrate elsewhere if they are able; they then become part of the throng of people in overcrowded cities. The result can be significant numbers of people hoarding, huge increases in the price of food, and accompanying violence.
Many groups work to avoid food shortages and prevent famine. In many nations, the government at some level takes measures to ensure an adequate food supply for its citizens. These can range from basic economic policies encouraging farming and food production to complex regulations and even strategic food reserves. Even in the face of good intentions, however, food policy is difficult due to the complexity of the economic, social, and environmental factors in play. When a government is unable to prevent food shortages, international aid often plays a major role in combating hunger. For example, many developed nations send humanitarian aid, including food supplies, to developing countries suffering from famine. Numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), charities, religious organizations, and other groups are dedicated to or contribute to efforts to provide proper nutrition to disadvantaged populations.
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