If you live in the Western world, food is everywhere. Grocery stores are stocked with meat, produce, dairy, and everything in between, while restaurants and gas stations frequently fill with hungry patrons looking for an easy bite to eat.
With so much food, it’s hard to understand why so many people in the world don’t have enough to eat—especially children. With such an abundance of food, why are so many children going hungry?
Here’s a glimpse of why famine is spreading around the world:
1. Haiti
Countless children in Haiti are suffering under constant violence and chaos
The people of Haiti have suffered from food insecurity for decades, but the recent outbreak of violence has only made a bad situation worse. Gangs have taken over the country, and the government has collapsed.
As a result, many businesses are shutting down, and it’s dangerous to go out and try to find what little food is available. Even when people decide to risk their lives to buy food, prices have skyrocketed so much that they can’t afford it.
Combined with poor harvests and rising unemployment, people can’t feed their families, and over three million children are at extreme risk of starvation.
2. Rwanda
Rwandan children are still dealing with the consequences of the genocide while also going hungry
April 7 was the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and even three decades later, Rwanda is still dealing with the consequences.
During the genocide, over 800,000 people were killed, while another two million fled the country. This tragedy not only devastated the lives of countless people but also severely affected Rwanda’s economy.
Since then, the country has made progress in addressing poverty and hunger, but many people affected by the genocide still experience trauma and live in poverty as a direct result of the violence.
Plus, with skyrocketing food prices, frequent droughts and floods, and import issues caused by the war in Ukraine, many Rwandans struggle to feed their families. Over 30 percent of Rwandan children suffer from malnutrition.
3. Jordan
Thousands of refugee children in Jordan are going without nutritious food
Jordan is home to over 700,000 refugees, most of whom have fled from the ongoing war in Syria. Many of them can’t find work in an increasingly strained job market, so they can’t provide for themselves or their families.
Plus, the growing number of refugees is putting pressure on Jordan’s economy and resources. Now, as many as one in five children in Jordan are food insecure, and that number is even higher among refugees.
4. Peru
Poverty in Peru is causing increasing rates of child malnutrition
Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, Peru’s economy is still struggling to recover. Over half of the population is food insecure because of poverty, unemployment, and drought. Chronic malnutrition has become a serious problem for many children.
People living in remote communities are especially at risk because they often can’t grow or access enough food to feed their families. Children living in these areas are in desperate need of nutritious food.
Child hunger is becoming a global crisis, but you can help provide the lifesaving gift of nutritious food today.
For just $30, you can provide one starving child with food for an entire year. Your one-time gift may even be the difference between life and death.
Vulnerable and impoverished children worldwide can’t wait much longer for food to arrive. Will you be the hands and feet of Jesus to them today?