During an international gathering in February, experts from the U.N. said that hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased “faster and more starkly” than any region in the world. These experts attributed the surge to three factors: higher food prices and reduced farm-gate prices, increased disease epidemics like Zika, dengue and chikungunya, and severe weather conditions like drought. In the region, 16 million people are experiencing chronic hunger, 3 million more than last year.
The world is still facing extreme food insecurity. Last year, 36 million children under age 5 lived in hunger, according to the World Food Programme. The U.N. Secretary General’s reports that 73 percent of children in the world are not nourished in the right way, and the world is seeing a growing “middle income” gap in global hunger. The wealthiest nations, like Switzerland, are seeing an increase in food poverty, while almost half of the world’s children still live in extreme food insecurity.
Finally, we thought it would be interesting to hear what Georgetown students and D.C. community members have to say about hunger. To get started, please respond to this open thread: