Tag Archive for: Malnutrition

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Hunger in Pakistan: Famine or Inadequate Policy?

Hunger in Pakistan has killed many people and affected the lives of many more, especially children. After a drought hit the Tharparkar district of Pakistan’s southern Sindh Province earlier this year, at least 132 young children died, many as a result of malnutrition.

The problem of hunger in Pakistan is not limited to Sindh Province, however. While Sindh certainly has the highest rates of malnutrition and least access to food, Pakistan’s National Nutrition Survey reported that 58 percent of all Pakistani households were food-insecure.

Malnutrition is also widespread; the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey found that 24 percent of Pakistani children under 5 exhibited “severely stunted growth.”

Why is hunger such a prevalent issue in Pakistan? Some of it has to do with past inflation of wheat prices in the late 2000s, as it was more difficult for people to afford domestic grain. Infrastructural difficulty, such as providing electricity to flour mills, also poses a problem.

Still, the largest factor causing food insecurity in Pakistan is the nation’s own government and its policies that hinder food production and distribution.

Take, for example, the deaths from the drought: the government did not work to distribute food until after the crisis. As the Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network reports, “the government didn’t act until [it received] reports of children dying” last December, even though animals had been dying since October and rainfall was decreasing. Moreover, government-run hospitals and clinics in the region have been constantly understaffed, making it difficult to get medical care to those who needed it.

Other government policies affect all of Pakistan, not just Sindh. Under the Corporate Farming Ordinance, the Pakistani government leases large tracts of land to foreign investors looking to stockpile crops for their own countries. This takes valuable land away from local farmers while keeping the food away from Pakistani citizens that need it.

The government of Pakistan seems to prioritize profits over its people. During the inflation of wheat prices in 2008, the government increased its wheat exports, depriving many hungry people of food. Even today, much of the wheat that large corporate mills produce leaves the country.

In reality, Pakistan should be capable of providing its citizens with enough food to survive, and there should not be as much food insecurity as there is now. Arif Jabbar Khan, Oxfam’s Pakistan director, affirmed that “missing public policy action and persistent economic inequalities are the main causes of malnutrition,” not droughts or famine.

How can hunger and malnutrition be reduced in Pakistan? Foreign aid providers may be able to earmark funds for the redistribution of grain to poorer areas, and this aid could be cut if the government does not comply.

Nevertheless, political pressure to change food distribution policy must come from within Pakistan itself. The citizens of Pakistan must demand change and hold elected officials responsible for their actions in the polls if the system is to be fixed.

 — Ted Rappleye

Sources: The Guardian, South Asia Masala, Triple Bottom-Line
Photo: Tribune

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Child Malnutrition in Cote d’Ivoire

For the past six years, the rate of chronic child malnutrition in Cote d’Ivoire has remained at a whopping 40 percent. This is slightly higher than the overall population’s malnutrition rate, which is a solid 30 percent. The Ivory Coast, located on the coastal edge of Western Africa, experiences high malnutrition rates due to a multitude of factors including high food prices and inadequate food access, which is a consequence of hot, dry weather.

Tumultuous political circumstances from the early to late 2000s divided Cote d’Ivoire into North and South; rebels then controlled its northern region. As a result, government and public services in the north were wrecked, the economy collapsed and food access was scarcer than ever. Health and food distribution services were no longer functional. Thankfully, in 2008 its government created nutrition centers in the north and east, of which there are now 14.

Yet, the regions exhibiting the highest chronic rate of malnutrition in Cote d’Ivoire are Bafing, Worodougou and Montagnes. Additionally, the Savanes, Worodougou and Montagnes regions exhibit the highest concentrated rates of consequent stunted growth. Widespread national poverty as well as thousands of displaced peoples further complicate the dire circumstances.

It is evident that Cote d’Ivoire’s government lacks the funds necessary to effectively combat its malnutrition problems. A few humanitarian organizations have assisted, most notably Action Against Hunger (ACF) from 2002 to 2011. ACF’s aid ceased abruptly when its funds were depleted. The organization retracted much of its aid and missionaries, a circumstance that somewhat reversed the critical progress it had contributed.

Diarrassouba Issouf, an official at the Family Protection Unit in Korhogo, said that the humanitarian organizations’ exits left primary areas without food and resulted in fewer women visiting nutrition sites.

Cote d’Ivoire’s stagnating and critical malnutrition levels, especially in young children, demands immediate attention. With more international humanitarian assistance and aid, more lasting improvement may be on Cote d’Ivoire’s horizon.

– Arielle Swett

Sources: All Africa, Action Against Hunger, UNICEF
Photo: News Wire

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UN to Provide Food Aid to Yemen

Food Aid to Yemen
Nearly 54 percent of Yemen’s population remains below the country’s poverty line. The rate of unemployment among young people in Yemen has grown to be around 60 percent of the population.

“Preliminary studies show that between March 2011 and March 2013, Yemen’s economy saw a loss of about $4.75 billion as a result of oil pipeline bombings and acts of sabotage targeting some installations,” said Yemeni Minster of Oil and Minerals, Ahmed Abdullah Daris.

Recently, the United Nations food agency has stated that they are scaling up their food aid to Yemen as nearly half of the population is going hungry. More than 10 million of Yemen’s 25 million inhabitants either require food aid due to an inability to find enough food for themselves, or are teetering on the edge.

In 1996, the World Health Organization defined food security as “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.”

Food security is built on three pillars: (1) food availability, or the opportunity to have sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis; (2) food access, having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet; (3) and food use, appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

“The country has one of the world’s highest levels of malnutrition among children,” said World Food Programme spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs, “with nearly half of all kids under the age of 5—a full 2 million of them—stunted. A million of those kids are acutely malnourished.”

The problem is difficult to tackle. Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been going through a difficult political transition since the removal of president Ali Abdullah Saleh after a year of deadly protests against his 33-year rule.

At the same time, Yemen is also vulnerable to international hikes in food prices, since it imports around 90 percent of its main staple foods like wheat and sugar. The price hikes, according to the U.N., affect around 90 percent of Yemeni households and may be the reason why nearly 50 percent of children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Starting in July, the U.N. agency plans to launch a special two-year “Recovery Operation” aimed at addressing long-term hunger in the region. The Recovery Operation will help to ensure food stability for around 6 million people. Under the program, the U.N. will provide malnutrition prevention and treatment, give 200,000 girls in school take-home rations and will help create rural jobs, improve farms and water supplies.

The program aims to safeguard Yemeni lives and boost food security and nutrition in poverty-stricken areas. The program seeks to reach 6 million Yemeni people from mid-2014 to mid-2016, and will aim to provide solutions for long-term relief instead of short term. The U.N. has announced that their efforts would only offer temporary relief.

The U.N. warns, however, that the aid increase will be costly, with the agency estimating that the two-year program will cost around $491 million.

– Monica Newell

Sources: Gulf News, Press TV, Al-Monitor, Yemen Post
Photo: Care

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What is Poverty?

Before becoming an advocate to fight to end global poverty, you should understand what poverty actually is.

What is poverty? There are plenty of textbook and Google definitions for poverty.

Miriam-Webster defines poverty as “the state of being poor.” The definition works, but poverty is so much more than words on a page; it is a living, breathing problem that millions of people live with every single day.

Another dictionary definition for poverty is “the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount.” When you think about that in terms of human life, it can sound clinical, cold or cruel to refer to other humans as “inferior” or “insufficient” simply because they are living in poverty.

The world works that way. Many people question those who live in poverty and how some of them have “nice” things when they can barely afford simple goods like food or clean water. Other people view impoverished people as dirty or beyond help.

Poverty is people who live on a dollar a day, people who can’t find shelter, people who are dying from curable diseases all because they can’t afford treatment. Poverty is the fear that you will not make it to the next day.

When people think of poverty, they often think about people in Africa or just people who don’t live in their immediate country. However, poverty, even extreme poverty, is not localized to just the African continent. There are people struggling, suffering and barely getting by everywhere.

In America, one in six people struggle to make ends meet; to have just enough food and health care to feed and take care of their families. Over 600,000 people in America alone suffer from extreme poverty; the lack of shelter, food, health care and income.

So, what is poverty, because poverty is more than being poor and it’s more than having nothing to your name. Poverty is being terrified of not being able to make it to the next day without having something else taken from you and not being able to do anything about it.

The image of poverty is often a cruel and unforgiving one, but there can also be hope in the people who hang on day after day.

These people are the reason for the fight to end global poverty. The fight is for the people who hang on to life and struggle for the chance to one day be free of their demons and for the people who couldn’t make it, so no one will ever have to feel like them again.

– Cara Morgan

Sources: Feeding America, Google Definitions, Merriam-Webster, New Nouveau
Photo: Productive Flourishing

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Malnutrition in Mali

Ranking 182nd on the Human Development Index (the 6th lowest ranking on the planet,) Mali is recognized as one of the most nutritionally unstable and under developed countries in the world. About four in 10 children under the age of 5 are underweight, and one in four people are as well. As a study from 2014 indicates, over 1.5 million people are not sustained by a regular supply of food.

This landlocked country is often afflicted by droughts and insect infestations, which deplete the crops upon which they often rely on for food. While malnutrition in Mali afflicts the entire population, it is the second largest killer of children under the age of 5.

In her intensive ethnographic study of Magnambougou, Mali, “Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa,” however, Dr. Katherine Dettwyler suggests that rather than poverty, a lack of education surrounding nutrition is the main root of malnutrition in infants and young children. It is the mothers’ misunderstanding that it is not simply enough to give children food, but in the early stages of development, it is crucial to distribute the right kinds of food.

On one of her visits to Mali, Dettwyler examined a little girl with kwashiorkor, of which the primary symptom is swelling all over the body and particularly in the abdomen. The disease is a result of protein deficiency combined with a high caloric intake and often appears when the child cannot sustain the same level of protein intake after being weaned.

The mother who summoned Dettwyler called the disease “funu bana,” meaning “swelling sickness,” and believed her daughter caught it from another child. She begged Dettwyler for medicine to cure her daughter despite Dettwyler’s assurance that all her daughter needed was to have a higher quantity of protein slowly introduced to her diet.

Dettwyler also offers an anecdote regarding misconceptions about nutrition that occurred when she brought her young daughter Miranda to Mali. When the two were eating with some of the villagers and Dettwyler gave her piece of chicken to her daughter, she was immediately questioned. One man explained that good food should not be wasted on the young, because they have their whole lives to eat, while the old should be honored because they will soon die. Dettwyler, however, tried to explain that children should be the ones to receive the better food because they need the protein to fuel their growth.

Moreover, a large reason for the high child mortality rate due to malnutrition is because adults often have trouble identifying the signs of malnutrition. In her ethnography, Dettwyler notes that “people simply get used to the way children look. If the typical child is mildly to moderately malnourished, then that becomes the standard… normal is what you’re used to” In addition to providing emergency relief, Dettwyler, along with Action Against Hunger, argue that the key to combating malnutrition in Mali is education, and that teaching Malians how to identify malnourished children will be an enormous step in the process.

– Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: Action Against Hunger, Dancing Skeletons, WFP
Photo: Flickr

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Malnutrition in Cambodia

After many decades of economic struggle and vicious civil strife Cambodia is slowly working toward becoming an advanced society with a robust economy.

Cambodia is a colorful and richly cultural society that has contributed pricelessly to the Asian and Buddhist realms, among countless others. Despite its encouraging contemporary development, there are still drastically high levels of malnutrition in Cambodia, as in many developing countries.

For those unfamiliar with this nation, some descriptive information may help to place it in perspective. Cambodia is referred to as the Kingdom of Cambodia. It is in Southeast Asia and is located in the southern area of the Indochina Peninsula. It is surrounded by Thailand to the northeast, Laos to the northwest and is largely bordered by Vietnam in its southern and eastern regions. Its national language is Khmer, and its officially recognized religion is Theravada Buddhism.

Cambodia’s incremental progress is and has been significant. Since 2004, its poverty rate has decreased by 5 percent every consecutive three years. Additionally, the population statistics on most “key health indicators” have improved dramatically over recent decades. At the same time, however, sizeable segments of its population still suffer from gross malnutrition, and the population’s average life expectancy is 58 and 64 years for men and women, respectively.

According to the United Nations World Food Programme data, 18 percent of the population lives under the food poverty line. The child population is alarmingly more afflicted; about 40 percent of Cambodian children suffer from chronic malnutrition and stunted development consequent of nutrient deficiency. This is a troublingly high statistic that begs attention and effective, long-term solutions.

Though Cambodia primarily exports high volumes of paddy rice produced at a surplus, the U.N. reports that extremely high poverty rates and inaccessibility to nutritious food are responsible for this widespread malnutrition. Natural disasters such as droughts and occasional flooding additionally contribute unfavorable and sometimes devastating circumstances for residences and agricultural production.

The population’s alarmingly high malnutrition rates are currently being addressed by the U.N., which provides assistance, local food education and attempts to formulate and implement more long-term food security and production infrastructure.

– Ariel Swett

Sources: WFP, UNICEF
Photo: Flickr

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1,000 Days Campaign in Rwanda 

1,000_days_campaign
Since conflict started in the Democratic Republic of Congo, children have been fleeing the violence to Rwanda and into the hands of another challenge: malnutrition. The state of food security and proper nourishment in Rwandan refugee camps is becoming dire as nearly 44 percent of children under 5 face serious chronic malnutrition.

However, the Rwandan government is making strides to welcome its new residents with open arms and humanitarian aid. Under the command of Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, the Rwandan government launched the “1,000 Days in the Thousand Hills” campaign back in September of 2013 to combat malnutrition in both its refugee camps and its local population. With the help of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), the 1,000 days campaign was implemented first in the Kiziba camp in Western Rwanda, then in all five refugee camps in the country.

The mission of the campaign: combat malnutrition using programs that make populations more self-reliant and educated on proper health. The approach: provide children with the proper nutrients for the first 1,000 days from birth until the child’s second birthday and establish local community efforts to produce more nutritious food.

The 1,000 Days campaign in Rwanda is not unique. In fact, similar programs have been implemented in a variety of other locations including Ethiopia, Indonesia and Guatemala. But what makes Rwanda’s campaign special is its focus on integration. Like all of MIDIMAR’s programs, the 1,000 Days in the Thousand Hills campaign aims to connect the refugee and local populations by using their combined forces to solve mutual problems. All practices used in the local population are being used in refugee camps and vice versa.

What are these practices? As established, the campaign seeks to make populations at risk more self-sufficient while still receiving help to reduce malnutrition. Programs include setting up kitchen gardens and animal breeding programs. At the start of the campaign, 315 kitchen gardens were set up and 151 families received rabbits to breed, eat and sell. The hope is to make refugees and local populations independent with livestock and farming techniques that provide them with greater nutrients.

On top of this, the 1,000 days campaign aims to provide children with the necessary sustenance for healthy development and nutrition from day one until age 2. This allows children to escape malnutrition and stunting of growth and to have better immune systems and brighter futures. The program achieves this goal both by putting more food into the community and educating parents on what counts as fortified and healthy foods, such as vegetables, fruits and milk. In addition, the campaign seeks to spread awareness on the warning signs of malnutrition and the diseases associated with the condition.

All of this culminates in two results: first, it brings children out of risk of malnutrition by providing them with necessary protein from the start. Second, it pulls populations into a state of food security by providing sustainable ways of harvesting good food.

The program is set to end in October of 2016, but many strides towards success can be taken by then. With any luck and lots of hard work, malnutrition will cease to be an insurmountable problem facing refugees in Rwanda.

– Caitlin Thompson

Sources: All Africa, Doctors Without Borders, Ministry of Disaster Management, Relief Web, Republic of Rwanda, Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Health, World Vision International, 1000 Days
Photo: Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Health

 

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Malnutrition Persists Despite Economic Growth

Malnutrition claims the lives of more than 3.1 million children a year. Those who survive face mental impairment as well as a heightened risk of disease or disability.

Yet the rising gross domestic product (GDP) of low-income to mid-income countries fails to correlate with a decline in stunted, under-weighted or wasted children. In field of development, many presume economic growth and improved standards of living lead to greater food security. S.V. Subramanian, a social epidemiologist at Harvard, reports an “insignificant decline in stunting” during times of economic expansion. He and his associates researched 36 of these countries, collecting data on children from 1990 to 2011. The Journal Lancet Global Health published the results this month.

With every 5 percent gain in GDP, less than 1 percent of decrease in stunting results. This results in a “zero effect” of GDP on child malnutrition, according to Subramanian.

Derek Heady of the International Food Policy Research Institute objects to this conclusion. “Income growth is a necessary condition for increased spending on food, health, education, sanitation and so on,” he asserts.

Subramanian, however, attributes this “zero effect” to disparities in income distribution and the inefficient delivery of health services. A rising GDP, he remarks, may not benefit every individual, region, or sector. For instance, these countries often invest money into sectors that initially led to the this growth. Such investments, however, often fail to improve child health.

India highlights this tendency. Its GDP has grown rapidly in recent decades, reaching an estimated 5 percent increase per year. This growth far surpasses that of most Western countries. Yet nearly half of children appear stunted and an additional two-fifths underweight. This limited food security among children has persisted as early as 1990.

Rather than investing in nutrition efforts in schools or clinics, the government focused on highway construction. A large population currently lacks basic sanitation. Child malnourishment endures without interventions in safe water, breastfeeding practices and food aid. Economic growth alone cannot resolve this health threat.

Lawrence Haddad heads the Institute for Development Studies in England. He highlights Ghana, Vietnam and Brazil as success cases; in these countries, malnutrition declined as a result of both economic growth and investments in water, sanitation, health services and nutrition programs.

“Unfortunately, with malnutrition, there is no silver bullet,” he elaborates. “It’s like a series of links in a chain, and if any one of those links is weak, it undermines everything else.”

Understanding the driving factors in malnutrition, though, promises reform in government spending. These growing economies hold the potential to combat this health crisis. First, though, strategic investment in the fields of nutrition and sanitation must occur.

– Ellery Spahr

Sources: NPR, Voice of America
Photo: United Nations Photo via photopin

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HIV-Hunger Trap

Referred to as the “wasting disease,” HIV demands a far greater energy and nutrient intake to fight infection. The virus threatens the immune system, leaving its host emaciated.

With the double burden of malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, those in developing countries must decide between food or antiretroviral medications. According to the nutritionists at the World Food Programme (WFP,) many live in this “HIV-Hunger Trap.”

The WFP reports a prioritization of food over treatment.

Yet, those living with HIV/AIDS continue eat less than their healthy counterparts. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and sore mouth may affect appetite. The illness–as well as the medication for it–may “modify the taste of food and prevent the body from absorbing it.” The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations also cites exhaustion, depression and isolation symptoms.

These may limit energy to prepare and eat regular meals. And, in general, populations with high rates of HIV/AIDS lack sufficient access to food.

African nations affected the most depend on “labor-intensive farming systems.” Agriculture accounts for more than a third of these countries’ gross national product, reports the U.N. Yet from 1985 to 2011, AIDS led to death of seven million agricultural workers in 25 African countries. By 2020, the U.N. predicts HIV/AIDS could reduce the agricultural workforce by 25%.

This loss of the most productive age group (15 years old to 49 years old) results in greater food insecurity. Many households offer food and shelter to sick relatives or orphans, further limiting nutrient intake for each member.

HIV/AIDS also inhibits the ability to absorb food. Digestion breaks food into nutrients, and these nutrients subsequently provide energy and defense against infection. HIV and other infections, though, damage the gut wall. Consequently, food cannot pass through and be absorbed. Coupled with reduced food intake, this damage leads to severe weight loss and malnutrition.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) engineered a solution to the “HIV-Hunger Trap” in Lesotho. The country faces one of the highest prevalence rates, with 23.6% living with the virus. An estimated 28,000 children live with the dual threat of a weakened immune system and food insecurity.

The EGPAF aims to integrate nutrition education and support at local hospitals and health centers. At its “Nutrition Corners,” mothers and caregivers observe cooking demonstrations “using locally available fare such as sorghum porridge, beans, peas, vegetables and fruits.” This program also helps provide early treatment to HIV-positive children below the age of 2 years old.

Malnutrition serves as a gateway to infection for HIV-positive children.

At these hospitals and clinics, EGPAF monitors children to ensure proper weight for age and weight for height. If children fail to improve nutritionally for three visits, the foundation provides one-on-one counseling. Families who did improve participate in a group discussion. EGPAF also acts preemptively, providing caregivers and children of unknown status counseling. Testing services also offer an early diagnosis and access to treatment.

The HIV virus demands both medication and sufficient food intake. The World Health Organization recommends increasing energy intake by 50% to 100% for HIV-positive children experiencing weight loss. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation understands how impoverished regions fall into the “HIV-Hunger Trap.”

AIDS claims the lives of agricultural workers and those living with the virus subsequently face growing food insecurity. To meet the demands of this virus, the public health and agricultural fields can converge to protect vulnerable populations.

– Ellery Spahr

Sources: Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, United Nations
Photo: Joe McKay

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Poverty in Iraq Dangerous for Pregnant Women

A recent report called Iraq “one of the worst places for children in the MENA region.” The past few decades in Iraq have been marked by warfare and human rights violations. Currently, 3.5 million Iraqi children are living in poverty and over 1.5 million are considered malnourished. Iraq is also a dangerous place for pregnant women and infants, with approximately 100 infants dying per day, according to a Global Research report.

Dozens of pregnant Iraqi women are being admitted to the hospital with life threatening conditions every month. According to UNICEF, maternal mortality rates in the war torn country have increased by 65 percent since 1989, a number that is much higher than neighboring countries. Until political conditions improve and pregnant women have more access to healthcare and basic necessities, doctors in the region fear the problem will get worse.

Dr. Mayada Youssif, a gynecologist in Baghdad, attributed the increasing mortality rate to ‘insecurity and poverty that Iraqis live with due to conflict.’

“Insecurity has forced pregnant women to stay at home during their whole period of pregnancy,” Youssif says, “and they look for a doctor only when they are feeling really ill or feel, near to delivery time, that conditions have become too dangerous.”

UNICEF recommends three basic needs that should be available for pregnant women and their babies: good nutrition, access to antenatal care and access to emergency care if a problem were to arise. All of these services are impeded in Iraq because of limitations such as curfews and a fear of being subject to violence. What often results  is that help isn’t sought out until it is too late.

That is exactly the situation in which Salah Hussein found himself when his wife died during childbirth. The doctors attributed her death to a combination of malnutrition and the effects of constant stress from living in a war-torn country. Now Hussein faces having to raise his child alone with the help of his extended family. Malnutrition is still a problem, as he cannot afford formula for his child.

Even if Iraqi women can get to a doctor, many hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with common pregnancy issues such as anemia. There is a rising call to increase investment in the health department to combat rising mortality rates. The main issue is the lack of specialized care that is available to all pregnant women. Some live in areas where they cannot physically get to a doctor, or worse, there is not even a doctor in the area.

Global Research says that the problem will not be fixed until governments that are actively and militarily involved in the country use their resources to address the problem. Until action is taken to improve women’s health in Iraq, we will continue to see the same problems. Global Research has recommended that this issue be taken up by the international community in order to work together to find a solution.

– Colleen Eckvahl

Sources: IRIN News, Centre for Research on Globalization
Photo: Articlesbase