January 12, 2010, remains a saved date for the whole nation of Haiti. It dramatically marked the beginning of a devastating hunger crisis that continues to rage for more than a decade now. For the records, that was one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike a populous urban center. The disaster was the major reason the country has locked up in a severe hunger causing the advent of chronic malnutrition, resulting in several sicknesses, diseases and even untimely death.
Presently, the hunger rate in Haiti is constantly on the rise, even in the absence of hurricane and earthquake. Averagely, a Haitian stay for two to three days without food. Without a careful look, you will notice the eyes sunken and unfocused due to the severe hunger that is hitting them the hardest. Many fear that one day they might sleep and never wake up after a marathon of hungry days. Based on research, the most remote regions of the nation are the most hunger-stricken.
More than four million residents are presently suffering from the chronic hunger crisis. The 7.0 magnitude that struck Haiti a decade ago displaced tens of thousands of Haitians and crippled the nation’s local agricultural output making it more difficult for an average Haitian to feed one meal per day.
After the adverse effect of catastrophic disasters, the recent and sustained political morass became another major factor that worsens the hunger problem in Haiti a decade after the disaster. Due to the political violence, there has been a lot of blockage throughout the nation, preventing easy movement of people and thereby affecting the circulation of the little available food.
Firstly, the lashing winds of the hurricane have been destroying roads and much of the coastal infrastructure a few years ago. Secondly, the violent protests by some angry residents have repeatedly been blocking several trades and delivery routes preventing food and water circulation throughout the entire nation.
The situation of the Haiti hunger crisis has augmented to inflation, leaving people in a tight living condition lacking even the necessities of daily living such as cloth, water, shelter and more. Last year, the price of food commodities such as rice, beans, and sugar soared higher, increasing a whopping 34 percent. On the 2019 Global Hunger Index, Haiti was announced the 111th out of 117 countries. Sitting ahead, only six countries in the world.
Sadly, it’s pathetic that the children are also suffering from the hunger crisis. The nation has lost a countless number of children, especially those under the age of 5 to the severe sting of malnutrition. Based on predictions, about 55, 000 Haitian children under age five are victims of malnutrition.
While there have been some interventions from several organizations to the Haiti food insecurity, it is a pity that the challenges persist and even in a more intense form. Presently, the hunger situation is accompanied by social unrest, political instability, movement restrictions, and more.
Almost half of the entire population of Haiti are malnourished. Many parents are so impoverished that they are certain what they will provide to feed their children daily. Unemployment is collaborating with the shortage of local agricultural output to punish the entire population of Haiti.
With the present situation, there’s a need for an urgent intervention to rescue the malnourished from their dying state. Worse still, the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture declared that inflation could move beyond 22 percent in the coming years.
Some upsetting facts about Haiti food insecurity
- Haiti ranked 169th out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index in 2019.
- Haiti has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world.
- One in every three people needs urgent food assistance.
- Over one million Haiti residents are in a food emergency.
- Half of the population was undernourished.
- 22% of the children in the country are chronically malnourished.
- The hunger crisis in Haiti is a combination of natural, economic and socio-political factors.
How we have helped solve the hunger crisis so far
Starting from the side of the children, Illuminating Lives Foundation has organized a food program that caters for the daily food need of the children in Haiti named FEEDaCHILDinHAITI. This program ensures that every child is fed at least one meal per day. From the urban areas to the rural regions, we strive to penetrate even into the most remote part of the nation to provide food to the underprivileged children.
According to reports, many Haiti students are underperforming in their academics due to abject poverty and malnutrition. Also, many teachers complained lack of concentration in class during teaching, which is linked to the absence of food in the stomach. To address this critical situation, we pay constant visits to schools to distribute free lunch to the students to help them study better and focused.
Our food program is all age inclusive. We are aware of the level of poverty in Haiti. Many parents lack what to eat and what to feed their children. We respond to the life-threatening hunger crisis through the provision of millions of hunger-stricken men, women, with healthy and hygienically prepared food and drinks every day.
Because it’s a life and death matter, Illuminating Lives Foundation is dedicated to saving lives giving absolute unwavering attention to consistent food supply to the hunger-stricken people in Haiti and other countries where poverty and hunger are prevailing. As the name implies, we illuminate the lives of the hungry residents of Haiti with the desire to ensure that they feed in abundance like the privileged. Our food program has been seriously instrumental in eliminating malnutrition and premature death caused by chronic hunger. We ensure that the meals we provide are a good remedy for the malnutrition situation in the country.
Good meal promotes healthy living! Our cause encloses feeding people of different ages, help the countless number of people who are dying daily of chronic hunger to recover to a healthy state of living with the passion for totally abolish hunger. Our food program feeds millions of people – both children and adult – per day.
