No Christmas dinner: One-third of the world is going hungry

Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want” painting depicts one of the most peaceful scenes in American life as a family gathers around a holiday dinner table to give thanks, eat, talk, laugh and share in an abundance of blessings. While this great American tradition will play out in the coming weeks, a hunger catastrophe is unfolding around the world, putting even the simplest of meals out of reach for a growing number of individuals and families around the world. 

Right now, nearly one-third of the world is food insecure with over 828 million people going to bed hungry each night. 149 million children experience stunted growth and development due to a chronic lack of essential nutrients. As many as 50 million people in 45 countries are at immediate risk of famine. And more than 45 million children suffer from acute malnutrition, or wasting, a devastating condition where a child’s body is so starved of nutrients it begins to consume itself. These numbers are staggering, and behind every one of them is a real person. 

The reasons for this growing global food security crisis are many. The COVID-19 pandemic cut supply chains in communities around the world. Conflicts like the war in Ukraine, a country which has been called the breadbasket of the world, drive up prices for staples like grain and wheat when many already cannot afford them. A changing climate with persistent seasons without adequate rainfall and increased temperatures in places like the Horn of Africa and an exponential growth in natural disasters around the world destroy crops and the ability of people to feed themselves and their families.  

The challenges are so daunting that one may think there are no solutions, but in coming alongside these communities in crisis, there is hope and opportunity. For over 50 years, my organization Food for the Hungry has worked to fight poverty, hunger and malnutrition around the world. Last year alone we reached over 10 million people in 20 countries, including a farmer I met in Ethiopia last year named Erkihun.

Erkihun and his family are subsistence farmers, meaning they only grow enough to survive. One of his children was sponsored by an individual supporter of Food for the Hungry, so we were already working with his family and walking alongside them and their community in this food security crisis. 

Erkihun had an entrepreneurial spirit, though, and he shared his vision of growing different types of climate resistant crops, as well as a desire to create a honey business. Through programming and partnership with the local government, Erkihun was able to plant and grow climate smart produce and acquire beekeeping equipment to begin his honey business. 

By linking his business to local markets, Erkihun now has not only enough to feed his family, but all six of his daughters are attending school, and he is thriving by selling his produce and honey. Even in the midst of drought, he is using agriculture technology to continue to grow his crops and educate his community on how to be resilient in the face of a changing climate. 

Multiply this story by more than thousands of communities globally, and there is hope and opportunity to put an end to the global food security crisis. Small investments in families like Erkihun’s can make the difference between life and death, catalyzing human flourishing and enabling “freedom from want.” 

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that what happens in one part of the world affects us here at home in the U.S. So, this Christmas, when my family and I sit down at the dinner table and give thanks, we are going to remember families like Erkihun’s and recommit to sharing our abundant blessings with families around the world.

Mark Viso is the president and CEO of Food for the Hungry, a Christian humanitarian organization providing life-changing development programs, disaster relief and advocacy in more than 20 countries since 1971.