There is no question that world hunger, starvation, and poverty are of major concern, and that these issues are plaguing many underprivileged, under-resourced developing nations globally. Importantly, the hunger and poverty that can be observed in the developing world is not lessening over time, in fact, it is worsening – with the growing division between the rich and poor nations of the world becoming increasingly apparent.- End World Hunger
Across the globe, nations on almost every continent are suffering – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, as well as throughout Central and Southeast Asia. In Malawi in Southern Africa for example, half of the total population live below the poverty line and lack access to the resources necessary to feed themselves and their families. Rural Oaxaca, Mexico, is one of the poorest regions in the world, as is Peru in Latin America – with hunger and starvation being a growing concern for many in the community. In India in particular – a nation that is home to an entire third of the world’s most underprivileged people – hunger continues to be a consistent and ongoing problem for the poorest members of the population.
But how to end world hunger? According to The Hunger Project, top-down and financially-based aid relief is only a short-term solution. The real resolution to the problem lies in education – in teaching self-reliance, independence, and autonomous methods of survival to grassroots members of the community, who can then impart that knowledge to coming generations – thus instigating long-term change.
Working Towards Sustainable, Long-term Change
As we speak, important work is being carried out by charitable foundations that are truly invested in establishing long-term, sustainable and transformative solutions to end world poverty and hunger. Foundations such as these aim to achieve their goals by focusing on educating grassroots community members and providing them with the leadership skills, resources, and techniques they need to enable them to work towards independent, self-sufficient, dignified lives, as well as permanent, long-term transformation and change.
By working on community mentality to shift the peoples’ mindset from resignation and despondency to optimism and empowerment, these charities aim to educate and unlock new capabilities within the communities they are helping, to help guide them towards self-sustenance, independence, and self-reliance. This progress and shift in mindset also helps to provide the community with a sense of pride and dignity – having now learned that the key to helping themselves is within them.
Importantly, you can help be a part of the solution – and help feed the hungry in India, Malawi, or Peru. To see how you can help end world hunger, read on.
How You Can Be Part of the Solution
By donating to a charitable organisation that is genuinely invested in facilitating and enabling long-term, transformative change, you can actively help end world poverty and hunger for good.
The goal is to ensure that people are not only given the resources they need to survive, but that they are also taught the skills and mentality to lead lives of independence, dignity, and self-reliance. A simple check of a charity foundation’s mission statement will alert you to whether they are a financially-driven aid relief fund, or if, more importantly – the foundation is focused on facilitating education-based, grassroots transformative progress and change.
Critically, top-down aid-driven relief which focuses on financial assistance can only help in the immediate. The true solution lies in educating, encouraging, and teaching grassroots communities how to become independent, self-reliant, and self-sufficient, and showing them how to see themselves as the long-term solution. This needs to be done from within the community itself, by teaching and educating grassroots community members – particularly women (who can impart the knowledge to their children).
The critical step in transformative change and progress is education – including fostering and encouraging a shift in mindset to cultivate a positive, hopeful, and optimistic mentality and outlook on the future of our world. By shifting community mindset and teaching people that they themselves have the capabilities to unlock this change, and by giving them the skills to become autonomous and independent, true transformation can occur, and progress towards ending world hunger for good can finally become closer to being achieved.