The Global Food Crisis

Right now there are over ONE BILLION people suffering from chronic hunger.

One billion.

That’s hard to comprehend, right? It's a thousand-million people.

It's nearly 1 in 6 people worldwide. Imagine 1 in 6 people at your school not having enough food. But your friends at school are ok, aren’t they? So, the hungry must be somewhere else…

So, why is it called the Global Food Crisis?

The term "Global Food Crisis" (GFC) was coined in 2007 as the world saw dramatic increases in the price of basic foods – rice, wheat, maize (aka corn), soybeans and so ...

So how did the GFC happen? Well: lots of things happened - all at once.

Like iPods, mobile phones, aviator sunnies, or any product in our modern world, food can’t escape the simple rules of supply and demand. To understand the GFC, you really need to understand its underlying causes... See if this helps:

Supply

Drought and climate change

Climate change is going to affect agriculture more than any other industry. This is a big deal because it is agriculture that people depend on to grow enough food to eat. Temperature changes and ...

Lalu is 7. He lives with his grandparents in a tiny house with a dirt floor.

They could once grow lots of food, like cauliflower and chillies, but drought and floods have made this nearly impossible.

While his grandparents are out trying to earn money to buy food, Lalu has to stay home by himself. He’s cold and scared. He often goes to bed hungry and when he does eat, it’s usually just a little bit of bread or grain. He feels dizzy and has no energy to play.

With more unpredictable weather patterns, many kids in ...

Sami’s home looks like a bird’s nest, made from branches and junk. She sleeps on the floor on grain bags she’s sewn together with a sharpened bit of windscreen wiper.

Her breakfast is usually just a cup of tea. She’s malnourished. So is her mum, who’s so undernourished she can’t make enough breast milk to feed Sami’s baby brother.

The rations her family receive each month last about 5 days. After that Sami gets one meal a day - porridge made from water and maize flour. They never have fruit or vegetables. She’s never seen an ...

Sarita is 10. Her family doesn’t own any land so they can’t grow food, but the price of food at the market is too high so they can’t buy it either.

It’s freezing in winter and Sarita and her brothers get sick. They have no money for the doctor so they pay in rice, meaning there’s even less to eat.

Sarita’s favourite thing is the bowl she has dinner in. But usually there isn’t enough in it. Her mum says the price of rice has more than doubled since last year.

Sarita can’t go to school...