Myths About

Hunger
Myths
» M Y T H 1 : T HER E IS NO T ENO UGH FO O D T O GO A R O UND.
REALITY: Enough food is available to provide at least 4.3 pounds of food to every
person on this planet every day. That’s enough food to make most people fat! The
problem is that many people don’t have access to adequate resources to produce or
purchase food.

» M Y T H 2 : T HER E A R E T O O MA NY PEO PLE.

REALITY: Global population is growing but so is agriculture productivity. Although
rapid population growth remains a serious concern in some countries, population
density itself does not lead to hunger. Hunger results from underlying inequities that
deprive people, especially women, of economic opportunity and security.

» M Y T H 3 : N AT UR E IS T O B LA ME.
REALITY: Food is always available for those who can afford it. Starvation during
hard times hits only the poorest people living on the brink of disaster because they are
deprived of land, trapped in the grip of debt, or poorly paid. Natural events are rarely
the sole culprit for deaths; they are simply the final push over the brink. The blame
belongs on the shoulders of governments that fail to offer their citizens employment
opportunities and societies that accept hunger as inevitable.

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» M Y T H 4 : T HER E A R E NO T ENO UGH NAT UR A L R ESO UR C ES TO SU PPORT
E V E RY O N E .
REALITY: The world is capable of producing enough food for everyone in a sustainable
way. But as people without access to resources struggle to survive, they are often forced
to farm marginal lands that are susceptible to erosion, flooding, or drought.

» M Y T H 5 : N EW T EC HNO LO GY IS T HE A NSWER .
REALITY: Thanks to new seeds and improved agriculture techniques, millions more
tons of grain are being harvested each year. But increasing crop production alone
doesn’t alleviate hunger. People with economic power determine who is able to access
additional food. That’s why in countries where grain production has increased, such as
India, Mexico, and the Philippines, hunger persists.

» M Y T H 6 : W E NEED LA R GE FA R MS IN T HE DEV ELO PING WO RLD .

REALITY: We need both large and small scale farms in the fight against global hunger.
In some cases, smaller farms achieve four to five times greater output per acre than
larger farms because they use more “hands-on” farming practices. A World Bank study
done in northeastern Brazil estimates that moving farmland into smaller holdings
would actually raise output by an astonishing 80 percent.

» M Y T H 7 : T HE FR EE MA R K ET C A N END HUNGER .
REALITY: Unfortunately, market efficiencies only work to eliminate hunger when
purchasing power is widely dispersed. We must therefore concentrate on promoting not
only the market but also the ability of people to participate in the market in ways that
reduce poverty.

» M Y T H 8 : P EO PLE A R E T O O HUNGRY T O HELP T HEMSELV ES.

REALITY: People will feed themselves if given the opportunity. Because we are often
bombarded with despairing images of those who are poor, we tend to forget that for
people with very few resources, survival actually requires tremendous effort. If people
who are poor were truly passive, few of them would survive. Our responsibility is to
remove the obstacles in their paths.

» M Y T H 9 : T HER E IS LIT T LE WE C A N DO A B O UT HUNGER .

REALITY: World hunger can be ended. The outcome of the war on hunger will be
determined not by forces beyond human control but by decisions and actions well
within the capability of nations and people.
(Sources: UNICEF State of the World’s Children, 2009; FAO and Briefing Paper, Hunger on the Rise, 2008; WFP Facts
and Figures)

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 About World Vision
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dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities
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poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, World
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E NDING GL O B A L PO V ERT Y and injustice begins with education:
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