Can We Solve World Hunger? YES! and Here's How

In Part 1, I pontificated that that while world wide hunger is a major issue – many of us are blind to it because it is not directly in our face everyday and as such – we tend to not think about it in any meaningful way. I went on to argue that in today's highly advanced world – the major cause of hunger is not in the lack of resources , but lack of the will to do anything about it. Now I would like to delve a little deeper into the subject and discuss some of major causes of world wide hunger and why they could be easily overcome.

When we look into it , we find that there are definitely physical reasons for world hunger. The number one cause attributed to hunger is poverty. Those who fall into the poverty trap find themselves in a negative cycle as access to healthy food and healthcare is limited. Poverty, defined as income of $1.25 per day or less, affects small farmers in developing countries the most. The majority of these small farmers don't own enough land to grow the food to supply their families all year. Even though the earth has over 15 Billion acres of usable, farm-able land - the small farmers do not own enough of it to grow all the food they need to survive the year. The income they earn from what they sell is so small that , once their own supply runs out, they can't afford to buy food from other sources.

A “solution” for higher yields

Developments in yield production have made amazing progress in their ability to grow large amounts of food in small spaces. Hydroponics and Aquaponics both use a direct “water to root” systems that feed plants the nutrients they need without the water seeping away into the soil so that the roots get 100% of the water and nutrients you feed it through nutrient rich solution– this leads to larger plants and because you can grow them in a confined area - you can also grow many more crops than you could on the same size piece of soil. Simple technologies like this could be implemented to help them grow more food for their families and communities. Even for farmers in poverty this is a viable solution as it extremely inexpensive to set up basic hydroponics systems.

 

Poor Infrastructure

Poor infrastructure is another leading cause of world wide hunger. The lack of roads, irrigation and reliable water supplies can reek havoc on a community. Without enough water, crops are small and susceptible to disease and crop failure. Not having the proper equipment, knowledge, or systems to grow food on a larger scale – many impoverished people depend on tiny farms with very little production. Using age old methods and being slow to change has led to many communities getting left behind, but research by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization indicates that an investment in agriculture is 5x's more effective in reducing poverty and hunger than investments in any other sector.

So why isn't it happening?

Much of the funding for projects in third world countries ( as with the rest of the world) comes debt instruments – meaning that they basically borrow the money from investors and pay it back with interest. But rising interest rates in the US help to provide a safe haven to investors who are pulling their assets out of unstable markets. Unable to compete, they are left without a means of mass scale production. This a very human problem that is being looked through the lens of profits. If the focus was not to profit, but to feed - less children would go to bed hungry at night.

 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), The number of starving citizens in India is 255 million people, making up about 36 percent of the people on earth who are hungry. That's more than a third of all hungry people. Yet, according to the Indian government’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, India exported 30 million metric tons of food, worth $23 billion in U.S. dollars. That's almost 300 pounds of food per person – so someone there is figuring out out how to grow food on a massive scale – but it simply isn't making to those who need it the most. Again the human problem looked at through the profit lens – there can be no solution to it when it is overshadowed by the condition of profitability.

Someone needs to step up to the plate and say “this is going to happen. Profits or not.

There are thousands of people on the planet that could do this if only they had the will to. Just look at Dubai – The amount of excess is abominable – the cost of that city would likely have been able to put infrastructure in every impoverished country or state. There is no lack of resources – just the lack of will to do it.

 

Finally , a third reason cited for world wide hunger is climate change. Changes in weather patterns can bring blistering droughts for years at a time. During these times water is scarce and food production is lower, food and water security is at risk. After years of hot dry weather – the soil is baked and hardened - lacking in nutrients or ability to hold water. The first big rain causes flooding which can also damage crops and endanger lives and homes. Clearly this a concern for farmers worldwide and in areas where the margin for error is so small. Just one season of drought is hard on the community – but several years of it can be downright devastating. However could we get water to these people?

The world's longest crude oil pipeline is the Interprovincial Pipe Line. It spans the North American continent from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada through Chicago to Montreal for a total distance of 2,353 miles. If they can build pipelines across an entire continent to transport oil, surely the ability to build one to deliver life saving water should not elude us. Worried about melting icecaps and rising oceans? How about we divert that freshly melted ice water to the nations that need them the most and solve two problems with one fell swoop. Not profitable? What does that have to do with saving human lives and feeding starving babies? If you saw a baby fall into a lake – you would give no consideration to the profitability of jumping in and saving the child - you would simply instinctively recognize that the child need help and would act upon it. We need to act.

Here are some projects held in higher regard than human lives:

 

International Space Station : Over $60 Billion to build with additions projected to hit a trillion by 2020

California High Speed Rail: $70 Billion – said to be completed by 2030

Dubailand: $64Billion - a 3 million Sq meter mall with theme parks , sports venues , attractions, and hotels.

Mars Colonization: $100 million a year - expected fleet launch date of 2030

 

Hunger on this planet should have become extinct by now. With the abundance of resources and our nearly unlimited capacity to access it, solutions are just outside our grasp. But there is still hope – the common man is wresting power from the elite through knowledge in today's ever more connected world. With smart devices getting smaller and more powerful, and most importantly cheaper access to information is becoming available to countries that had previously never even had phone lines. This is empowering people all over the planet – giving them the ability to learn new techniques and to connect with those who help them.

New millionaires are sprouting up everyday and it's simply a matter of time before some mega-rich philanthropist finally awakens to the problem. We cannot however afford to depend on such a person to come along eventually. People are starving today and will be even hungrier tomorrow. We need to crowd-source a solution – by bringing thousands and maybe even millions of people together with some kind of open source project that can fund it.

I don't have the answer and I don't know how it would work – I'm just thinking out loud and saying that there has got to be a solution, given the ability we have to connect to so many dynamic and diverse people. This is a problem important enough to really put some brain power behind. I know everyone wants sex robots, vacations on Mars, and self driving cars – but couldn't we at least solve a few crucial issues first?

What kind of solutions can you imagine to use social engineering to solve world hunger? Would to hear your ideas. Please leave a comment if you thought this was an interesting article.

 
 

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Please be sure to check out my others articles on real estate, investing , and cryptocurrency ( and some other random dog stuff)

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