The COVID-19 pandemic witnessed a spike in global hunger, according to a fresh report from the United Nations (UN). According to the organisation, “there was a dramatic worsening of world hunger in 2020…much of it likely related to the fallout of COVID-19. While the pandemic’s impact has yet to be fully mapped, a multi-agency report […]
hunger
Climate crisis woes to worsen in years to come
A draft United Nations report obtained by AFP News contains grim news regarding the future of our planet, positing that the climate crisis “will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades, even if humans can tame planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.” The leaked report, as AFP News reported last week, involved the contributions of […]
Starvation continues to ravage India
India is a country of contrasts. One such contrast is the fact that it is one of the world’s largest food producers – and home to one quarter of the world’s peoples afflicted by starvation. This scenario is rooted in inequality. According to the World Food Programme, “in the last two decades, per capita income […]
Hunger crisis continues, post-lockdown
Even months after strict lockdown measures were relaxed, India’s hunger crisis is ongoing. The Right to Food Campaign and other organisations launched “Hunger Watch”, surveying eleven states and interviewing 3,994 people. Marginalised groups are especially hard-hit by the hunger crisis, the survey found. As compared to the period before India entered a national lockdown, approximately […]
World Food Day: An opportunity to reflect
American psychologist Abraham Maslow theorised in 1943 a hierarchy of needs essential to every human. Enshrined in this hierarchy is the need for food. Sustenance is a basic requirement for survival, yet many across the globe – including in India – go without. World Food Day this year comes, as the overwhelming majority of observances […]
World Food Programme awarded Nobel Peace Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced earlier this week that the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme is the 2020 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in tackling hunger worldwide. In Oslo, Norwegian Nobel Committee chairperson Berit Reiss-Andersen announced the decision. She espoused the principle that “food is one of our most basic […]
Hunger: A global – and Indian – crisis
“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” I used this quote from Mahatma Gandhi to preface an article published in 2017, focused on the crisis of hunger and malnutrition – one borne by India at virtually all levels of society and one […]
“Hunger will kill us before any disease does”
“Hunger will kill us before any disease does.” These were the harrowing words of Rampal, a rickshaw driver from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh who queues daily at a government-run food shelter. Rampal’s words have already rung true for some. An eight-year-old boy named Rakesh Musahar, a resident of Arrah’s Jawahar Tola’s slum area in Bhojpur […]