Yet, over 50 countries fall below that requirement, because they do not produce enough food to feed their populations, nor are they able to afford to import the necessary commodities to compensate. Most of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families simply cannot get enough to eat. This in turn is caused by extreme poverty.
Malnutrition can severely affect a child's intellectual development.
Children who have stunted growth due to malnutrition score significantly lower on math and language achievement tests than do healthy children. 880 million people lack access to adequate health services. This study also found that in 1999 two-thirds of all adults requesting assistance were employed. Famine is a state of acute hunger, with the total lack of food supplies for entire populations which will inevitably result in death if nothing is done to help them. Famine affects people whose only 'wrong' is to find themselves involved in conflicts where hunger is increasingly being used as a political weapon.