Global Policy Forum

More and more people in the United States and the developing world are going to bed hungry each night even though our political leaders can stem the tide of this growing problem, according to Bread for the World Institute's 14th annual report on the state of world hunger.

This new study illustrates that we are backtracking on the realistic and achievable goals our leaders set in the mid-1990s: cutting hunger in half globally by 2015 and domestically by 2010. Still, the report finds that voter polling reflects the nation's political will to fight hunger both domestically and globally. It is this voter good will that our political leaders need to harness then reform and expand proven initiatives to achieve these goals.

"We know what needs to be done to turn the corner in the battle against hunger," said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World Institute, a non-profit anti-hunger education and research organization. "Far too many children go to bed hungry each night, be they in Malawi or Milwaukee. The problem is not the lack of food. Hunger is a political problem and people need to demand change from their elected officials," he said.

At the World Food Summit of 1996, the United States took the lead and agreed with other nations to cut world hunger in half by 2015. That meant reducing the number of hungry people in developing countries from about 800 million in 1995 to about 400 million by 2015. Soon thereafter, U.S. leaders pledged a goal of cutting domestic hunger in half by 2010. That meant reducing the number of people living in homes at risk of hunger from 30.4 million in 1995 to about 15.2 million in 2010. Current U.S. government statistics show almost 35 million people lived in households that had trouble putting food on the table.

Reducing Domestic Hunger

The report notes that recent polling data indicate likely U.S. voters would reward candidates that campaign to fight hunger. A resounding 94 percent of voters said it was important to them to pay for anti-hunger programs in the United States, even in times of budget deficits and economic hardship. The political will is there, and effective programs for reducing hunger already exist.

An example of what mustering the political will can do for fighting domestic hunger is what the citizens of Oregon have accomplished. After several years of being ranked highest in the nation for both food insecurity and hunger, Oregon's political and community leaders made curbing hunger a priority. Within two years, innovative programs helped increase its food stamp participation rate 14 percent, to 84 percent of those eligible in 2001. Oregon also saw its hunger rate decline in 2002, despite growing poverty rates and increasing housing costs.

In the United States, an array of nutrition programs is available to help people who struggle with hunger. However, Bread for the World Institute has found nearly half of these people do not receive any assistance available to them from the three largest programs – food stamps, school lunches and the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

There are four specific reforms that should be pursued to cut U.S. hunger:

• Increase participation in the federal food assistance programs;

• Enhance the programs' efficiency and integrity;

• Improve participants' nutrition in addition to increasing their access to enough food; and

• Better integrate the programs with and build on successful community-based efforts.

While some of these changes can be made in ways to help hungry people while limiting taxpayer costs, ultimately these efforts have to be expanded and additional money has to be allocated to pay for these efforts.

Some elected officials have argued that churches and charitable organizations should be leading the charge in the fight against hunger. Bread for the World Institute has found that food banks and soup kitchens, while an important ally in helping feed people, are already stretched beyond their means. Private donations to such initiatives total $2-$4 billion annually, compared to the $44 billion a year spent on federal programs, which still leaves far too many people behind.

"Clearly, if the United States is to meet its goal of cutting hunger in half by 2010, our nutrition programs must be retooled and reformed to not only modernize and strengthen the current initiatives, but also to extend their reach to those people falling through the cracks," Beckmann said. "It is up to our political leaders to make this happen."

Reducing Global Hunger

Just a few years ago, the prospect of making dramatic progress against global hunger looked tantalizingly close. Throughout the developing world, hunger decreased from the 1970s through the mid-1990s. Some 30 years ago, more than one in every three people across the globe were hungry. By the mid-1990s, that number decreased to less than 20 percent. However, for the past several years, that number has jumped by 5 million people annually.

Despite recent setbacks, progress against hunger still can be accomplished if political leaders move fighting hunger and poverty to the top of the political agenda, as done by Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Elected on his personal commitment to hungry people, Lula's anti-hunger and poverty program, Fome Zero, reached more than a million families in its first year. It is both the result of political will to fight hunger and a political mobilizing force for building further political will to end hunger.

In the developing world, the report indicates that a successful anti-hunger strategy must focus on both long-term, sustained investment in reducing poverty, and meeting the immediate food and nutrition needs of hungry people. Both of these approaches cost money, much more than the world has been spending.

Again, U.S. voter polling shows strong support for initiatives that target reducing hunger globally. The report cites a national poll in which 64 percent of likely U.S. voters said the United States has a moral obligation to lead the battle against hunger worldwide.

While providing food in emergency situations is vital, an international development agenda that is focused on reducing hunger has more to do with strengthening people and communities so they can stand on their own feet and provide food for themselves. The report illustrates that the international community knows what steps must be taken to end hunger. Such an agenda would include:

• Sending girls to school, as more than 100 million children in the developing world do not have access to a basic education, 60 percent of them girls;

• Supplying families with mosquito nets to ward against malaria;

• Providing medicines to those afflicted with HIV/AIDS and also stepping up education and prevention measures; and

• Promoting policies that make fertilizer and drip irrigation available to farmers so they can grow food and earn money.

A sustained anti-hunger development strategy is only one component of what an effective partnership with poor countries should be. Fairer trade rules and deeper debt relief also are essential to developing nations being able to climb out of hunger and poverty. For example, U.S. cotton subsidies cost Mali $43 million in 2001 cotton export earnings, while total development assistance to that country totaled only $38 million that same year. Meanwhile, African nations spend $14.5 billion each year on debt repayment while receiving only $12.7 billion in aid.

"In the past year, President Bush and Congress have taken many positive steps to dramatically increase U.S. assistance targeted to reduce hunger, poverty and disease around the world," Beckmann noted. "But there needs to be consistent and deeper commitment from our leaders and the leaders of the world's wealthy nations."

Bread for the World Institute seeks justice for hungry people by engaging in research and education on policies related to hunger and development. Its sister organization, Bread for the World, is a 50,000 member Christian citizens' movement against hunger. Founded in 1974, Bread for the World's members lobby Congress and the administration to bring about public policy changes that address the root causes of hunger and poverty in the United States and overseas. Bread for the World is a nonpartisan organization supported by 45 denominations and many theological perspectives.