‘Hunger Free Nation’ : A dream for many : CSR targets poverty, hunger and malnutrition for a better tomorrow

As the focus area of corporate social responsibility is in  accordance with the requirements under the companies act 2013, many CSR activities, among others will focus on Hunger, poverty, malnutrition and Health care.

~ According to trickle up organisation the $1.90 person per day gateway for extreme poverty is standard adopted by the World Bank and other international organisation

Over one billion people, some 13% of the world population, is living in extreme poverty. That means that people who fall under that poverty line (that’s 1/8 of the world’s population), or 767 million people lack the ability to fulfil their basic needs. Millions of people are starving, despite the world producing more than enough to feed everyone.

So, how do we continue to take important step towards the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger?

1. PRODUCE LESS BIOFUEL : The pressure to achieve target on reduced carbon emission from fossil fuel has seen countries turning sugar, maize and other food crop into ethanol and biodiesel. But the problem is many economist doubt how important this issue really is in food price rise. Food and fuel prices are interrelated and linked. So producing bio fuel may lower food prices.
2. STOP THE MEAT FEAST : Meat production is a wasteful use of the planet’s limited resources – even today, 40% of grain crops are going to feed livestock and fish. It is most inefficient with intensive beef farming, where it has been shown that just 2.5% of the feed given to cattle emerges as calories for our consumption.That is why the UN says agricultural production will have to rise 60% to feed the extra 2 billion mouths in 2050.
3. SUPPORT SMALL FARMER : There is a consensus between NGOs and government that supporting and training small farmers is the best possible solution to future food security. A combination of Aid, Education in low tech method such as better seeds and fertilizers could spark a green revolution.
4. TARGET CHILD NUTRITION : Big improvement has already been made in the field of malnutrition. The target needs to consider nutrition profiles, risk factor trends, demographic changes and implement nutrition policies and health system development. But nutrition intervention alone is almost certainly insufficient, hence combining direct nutrition intervention with strategies concerning health, family planning, water and sanitation is the need of the hour.Big improvements have already been made. The solution lies in education on good feeding techniques and getting the right nutrients to the mother and child from the beginning of pregnancy. Overall, malnutrition makes people poorer – it is responsible for an 11% decline in GDP in affected countries.

By facilitating the maintenance of local support infrastructure and monitoring systems for child nutrition levels increased accountability for important, early development in the most at-risk nations. Not all the world’s most hungry people are children, but a great proportion of them are. These efforts take aim at an area in need of major improvement and by doing we ensure that these are an efficient measure taken toward the eradication of hunger.

 Hungry children are more at risk to develop problems later in life than hungry adults because the internal systems in children are still growing and more at risk for failure due to insufficiencies in their diets. By focusing on child nutrition, many organizations do well in taking a utilitarian stance on extreme poverty and hunger.

Overall, to reduce the poverty rate we need to focus on more comprehensive indicators mentioned above, particularly rural development, to close the wide gap between the upper and lower classes and build a more equal, prosperous population.

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