Helping hungry children

Médecins Sans Frontières urges the end of what the organisation terms "sub-standard" food aid donated to impoverished countries through international donors and humanitarian contributions. The majority of the donations are cereal-based fortified flours that do not meet basic nutritional standards for infants and young children, according to MSF nutrition expert Dr. Susan Shepherd.

"Much more attention is paid to the food of cattle and pets," Shepherd told more than 500 attendees of a panel discussion. She urged the international community to "give the children what they need, not what is left over. Treat the young children of developing countries the same way you would treat your own children."

The grim facts from the Food and Agriculture Organisation are that 14,000 children die of hunger every day and five million children die every year. The death of children due to hunger stems from malnutrition than starvation. "Children in Asia are not receiving the correct micronutrients; they lack sufficient vitamins and minerals in their food," said France Begin, regional nutrition advisor of Asia-Pacific office of the United Nations Children’s Fund. "Children die of chronic hunger in Asia because their immune systems are weak" she told IPS. "Pneumonia and diarrhoea are the two main killers."

The cost of food has condemned millions into food insecurity, according to the Asian Development Bank. In Cambodia, nearly 71 percent of a family’s expense goes toward food, in Tajikistan and Burma (Myanmar) 70 percent goes to a family’s food bill, Georgia, 64 percent, Azerbaijan, 60 percent, and Nepal, 59 percent.

The irony among victims of food insecurity in Asia is that most of them live in rural areas that produce food.

"Small farmers are net buyers of food from the market," said FAO official Konuma. "The rice they produce is sold to buy other food items."

The crazy consequence of capitalist commodity production .