The main cause of hunger worldwide is poverty. Millions of people around the world are simply too poor to be able to buy food. They also lack the resources to grow their own food, such as arable land and the means to harvest, process, and store food.

Where does starvation exist in the world today?

While hunger exists worldwide, 526 million hungry people live in Asia. Over a quarter of the world's undernourished people live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Almost 1 in 4 people in this region is chronically hungry. When a mother is undernourished during pregnancy, the baby is often born undernourished, too.

Does starvation still exist?

Figures on actual starvation are difficult to come by, but according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the less severe condition of undernourishment currently affects about 842 million people, or about one in eight (12.5%) people in the world population.