Permanent famine

Forty percent of all people on the planet suffer from hunger or malnourishment. We must finally find a solution to this scandalous, monstrous problem. Participants at the International Conference on Nutrition in Rome were at least able to agree on that.

In fact, world leaders have long been in agreement on the causes of hunger and the ways to mitigate it. But what has often been missing is the political will and economic commitment, both in the rich countries as well as those suffering from the problem, mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Now, 22 years after the first world food conference, the topic was finally back on the agenda. Over the last three days, the United Nations has been able to raise a little public awareness for the serious problem - thanks in part to the presence of Pope Francis.

Why did it take 22 years? Starving children, malnourished men and women and people who are chronically ill due to food shortages should be on the global agenda every year. Many participating countries only sent their ambassadors or deputies to Rome, simply to read a five-minute speech. Real commitment looks different.

Informal action plan not enough

Nevertheless, they were able to adopt a comprehensive and lengthy action plan that outlined all the problems and possible solutions. Among the issues: supporting small-scale agriculture, developing fair trade agreements, promoting access to health care, clean water and education. Unfortunately, the plan lacked a concrete timetable showing when these objectives are to be achieved. Also missing was a control mechanism: If a government does not stick to its action plans, there are no consequences.

The decisions taken in Rome could now become part of the UN's new development goals, to be established in 2015. They may also declare a decade against hunger, with many new agencies, authorities, conferences, scholarly papers and coordination. But sometimes it's just this sort of thing that stands in the way, the Red Cross has pointed out.

The world is taking tiny steps toward the eradication of hunger, and progress is slow. But blame can also be put on the enormous complexity of the problem, which touches so many different areas in politics, economy and society at the same time.

The hungry masses will not be fed with small-scale agriculture alone; they need an income to buy food. What chance do they have in societies that don't even have sufficient employment opportunities for those who aren't suffering from hunger? Climate change, civil wars and ethnic conflicts cancel out any small successes, or simply exacerbate the problem. Education - teaching mothers how to properly feed their babies with breast milk, and promoting good hygiene when it comes to food handling - is still widely inadequate.

There will never be one great solution, a comprehensive plan to end the world hunger catastrophe - that much is clear after this week's conference. What remains are only specific projects at the local and regional level, and the hope that governments will at some point realize that malnutrition and starvation among their own citizens is not acceptable, severely affects economic development and can lead to serious political crises.

Food paradox

Incidentally, the world's rich and emerging countries shouldn't be pointing any fingers. They, too, have a huge problem with food. At least 500 million people are either overweight or obese. The World Health Organization has warned that overweight children and young people are becoming a burden on society.

In some countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, half of all adults are overweight. Emerging countries like Panama struggle with hunger and obesity at the same time. Even in the US and Europe, people are being smothered by fat, sugar and salt.

On the one side, starving people; on the other, people who are eating themselves sick. The world seems to be completely out of whack. For that reason, the world's second International Conference on Nutrition won't be its last, and the next on shouldn't be 22 years from now. Nutrition affects us all, every day.