In North Korea, more than two years of floods and drought have destroyed much of the nation's crops and severely weakened the country's food security. This problem is exacerbated by a lack of adequate pure water. Some aid agency estimates of the number of those who have died in the famine range as high as 3.5 million. In Somalia, a United Nations report states that a majority of the rural population has already exhausted food supplies and is at present limited to eating one scanty meal a day. Families are the hardest hit, as they cannot afford to buy food to meet their nutritional needs.
World hunger is a serious problem.
We have given just a glimpse of this escalating human tragedy. The compelling truth is, never before in human history has such a large percentage of our species nearly 20 percent been malnourished. Between 40 million and 60 million people die each year around the world from hunger and related diseases. Sound nutrition can change children's lives, improve their physical and mental development, protect their health and lay a firm foundation for future productivity. Over 200 million children in developing countries under the age of five are malnourished.