Causes of hunger

Why are so many people hungry?

Hunger is caused by many factors and must be solved with many approaches. We have highlighted some of the factors here:

1. Lack of investment in small farmers, particularly women.

Three quarters of poor people in developing countries live in rural areas and depend almost entirelyon agriculture for food. Women do most of the agricultural work in these societies. In recent decades the support given to these small farmers has plummeted. They not only need seeds, tools and credit, but also training to adapt to changes in climate and on using new technologies to increase their yields.

In July 2009, 27 countries launched a new plan to support agriculture and food security.  They pledged US $20 billion over three years.  As of February 2010, only 3 countries have actually given money to the fund.

Trócaire’s response: 

Trócaire focuses on small farmers, especially women farmers, providing them with innovative ways of growing crops, credit to expand their businesses and assistance with irrigation to combat the impact of climate change.

We are resolutely opposed to the massive cuts in the overseas aid budget, which have already resulted in less aid being available for poor farmers across the developing world.


2. Unfair international trade policies.

Current trade policies favour rich, developed countries over poor, underdeveloped countries. Many rich countries protect their  agricultural sectors and products with high import duties and large subsidise. Meanwhile, we strip developing countries of their right to have import duties and flood their markets with cheap, subsidised food. The end result is small farmers in developing countries cannot sell their produce for a fair price.



3. Climate Change.
The world’s poor enjoy few of the benefits of our modern society. So, while they have little to do with the causes of climate change, they suffer the most as a result of it. Higher frequencies of drought, flooding and hurricanes are putting small, subsistence farmers under intense pressure. Planting times, growing seasons and harvesting times have all been disrupted by changes in the weather, reducing yields and causing hunger.

Trócaire’s response:

Trócaire is supporting communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change through the provision of drought- resistant seeds, irrigation and preparing for extreme weather events.

We believe that the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen did not produce a fair deal for the developing world. Trócaire’s campaign will continue until we get climate justice for the world’s poor.



4. Investing in women In the developing world

women do most of the work on farms. Unfortunately, although women’s contribution is essential, they are less likely to be educated, less likely to have proper healthcare, more likely to be hungry and have no voice in the political system that oppresses them. Simply investing in women could reduce the number of malnourished children by 15.1 million in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Trócaire’s response:

Trócaire is working to ensure that women have access to land, credit to support their small businesses and can participate in decision-making in their communities and countries. Our 2007 Lenten campaign focused on protecting women in conflict and ensuring they have a voice in building peaceful societies.

5. Bio-fuels.

As the world tries to break its addiction to oil, there has been a dramatic increase in the cultivation of crops used for bio-fuels on lands that were previously used to grow food. As a result, the supply of food crops to worldwide markets has fallen, causing rising demand and soaring food prices. The expansion in bio-fuels is being heavily subsidised by the United States and Europe. An extra 30 million people have already been made hungry by these policies, another 260 million are at risk.