WORLD HUNGER 2012 1

Sociological Review of World Hunger in 2012

Sociologist Max Weber concluded that people select research topics according to their personal beliefs – which is why I have chosen to investigate the dilemma of World Hunger. World hunger is a complex social issue that has overwhelmed us globally for centuries. I’ve taken a personal interest in this social issue because of my incomprehension of the apparent challenges to the world’s most solvable problem.

Hunger is defined as a condition resulting from chronic under consumption of food and or nutritious food products. Most would like to assume that famine only exists in poor countries, yet research shows that most in poor countries live on farms and half the world’s people are farmers – therefore, minimizing an opportunity for lack of food and hunger (Macionis, 2010). This information coupled with the enormous amounts of food produced by other means leaves us to question why yet more than nine million people per year die from hunger???

World Hunger is an issue that crosses sociological boundaries at all levels, to include poverty, race, and economic limitations. While I’m sure there are some who would like to blame hunger on one social boundary over another – research indicates that famine is a form of global poverty that results from deliberate worldwide policies and the world produces enough food for every person in the world to eat plentiful (1986; Lappé, Collins, & Rosset, 1998). We must remain mindful that excessive hunger leads to sickness and disease, resulting in the inability to work and feed/provide for themselves and/or a family. A report in SeedDaily.com reveals that, “…hunger puts in motion a vicious cycle of reduced productivity, deepening poverty, slow economic development and resource degradation” (Staff Writers, May 2012).

In summary, the inability to work creates opportunity for poverty to set in and often creates thoughts of inevitability for those that are affected by hunger and poverty – resulting in a sort of generational curse of poverty, low productivity and famine.
A variety of sociological theories apply to the issue of global hunger. However, I feel that the social conflict theory best applies as this is a perfect example of various forms of social inequality at its best. World hunger can be linked to class inequality, race inequality and age discrimination which all set the stage for the theory that describes how social patterns can benefit some and harm others. Marx would say that the dominant class should provide the disadvantaged class a minimum of enough money to live so that they don't start conflict against the dominant class. This sounds like a very simple solution which leaves one to wonder what other types of social conflict need to happen before we can see some social change around this major issue. Research also suggests that global poverty is largely related to global hunger (Karasu, 2011). I too believe that they are interrelated, with neither having more significance over the other. The modernization theory implies that in addition to economic and gender inequality – technology, cultural patterns, growth in population, and global power have led to much of the global poverty seen today. This theory plays heavily into global hunger as well. An example would be how technology in farming has led to greater levels of productivity in that industry and those that are unable to afford the technology have been left with manual labor techniques which result in lower levels of production and greater risk of premature death – eliminating the ability to provide for a growing family. With some forethought, the modernization theory could bring about some significant changes in the areas of economic development and world hunger.

It is known that an estimated 25,000 people die from hunger related causes on a daily basis. Three fourths of those deaths are children under the age of five. World hunger is puzzling because regardless of the world’s ability to produce sufficient food supplies – research still indicates that many of these deaths are caused by an inability to obtain sufficient quantities of food to eat. An example of this is on the continent of Africa, who exports food daily, yet one third of its population is malnourished (Macionis, 2010). 870 million people in the world do not have enough to eat and 98 percent live in developing countries. Some of the likely causes of hunger are known to be natural disasters, which cause people to have to migrate and start life over, poverty, poor agricultural infrastructure and over-exploitation of the environment. And as noted earlier in this text it is apparently not due to lack. Butterfly & Shepard indicate that global ‘hunger is not the result of inadequate resources but rather a lack of political will to ensure that all people have access to food to which they are entitled to have distributed to them safely, fairly and equitably’ (Butterfly & Shepard, 2010).

The issue of world hunger is very complicated and therefore continued sociological research is critical to solving this worldwide dilemma. Sociological investigation of not only those affected by this crisis, but further investigation into the causes will lead to development of programs and resources to alleviate the conditions that lead to such a state. Continued research builds awareness that builds support for farmers and local food markets. More inquiries around why women account for 60 percent of worldwide hunger can lead to programs that allow for more nourished mothers to produce healthier babies, thus reducing child malnourishment and resulting in economic growth for low producing areas. Additional review creates resources to equitably provide food to suffering parts of the globe. Due to studies and sociological examination there was great progress in reducing the number of malnourished in China & India between 1970 and 1991, resulting in a decrease in global hunger worldwide.
REFERENCES
Macionis, John J. (2010). Sociology —Thirteenth ed.
ISBN-10 0-205-73574-6, ISBN-13 978-0-205-73574-7

Karasu, S. (2011). Strictly from hunger: The abcs of insufficient food. Psychology Today, Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-gravity-weight/201102/strictly-hunger-the-abcs-insufficient-food

Space Media Network (May 2012), One in seven suffer malnourishment: UN food agency, Retrieved from http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/One_in_seven_suffer_malnourishment_UN_food_agency_999.html

World Food Programme (2012). Fighting Hunger Worldwide. Retrieved from http://www.wfp.org/

Sanchez, P. A. (2009). A smarter way to combat hunger. Nature, 458(12), 148.