When Food Is Scarce, Women Suffer Most

In the time it takes for these numbers to be said, one person dies from starvation. Many of us feel hunger pangs or thirst when we are only a few steps or seconds from food. 15 people have died of starvation in the 60 seconds it takes for them to grab some milk or microwave popcorn. We are currently facing the greatest global hunger crisis recorded in history. Diseases are also being spread by the food crisis. Read more: Somalia is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Acutely malnourished people are more susceptible to cholera and have lower immunity. This is only one factor that contributes to the crisis' severity and depth. We could actually see the number of 205million increase by another 620million people over the next six-months. Four seconds will turn into two, then it will become one. Behind every number is a real person who has to face the painful, slow reality of starvation and eventually death. Esther, a mother of nine children and caregiver of her two young grandchildren and nieces in Zimbabwe, is a woman like Esther. Esther struggles every day to feed her family, and worries about finding food for them all. Esther does what millions upon millions of girls and women do every day to cope with this daily struggle: she eats last, least, and often. Esther explained to CARE that there are times when she doesn't eat the whole meal and instead eats a little bit of it. My pain is worse when I don't eat. But I eat less than what I need to feed my children. Sumaya, a 32 year-old mother of four children living in a Somali refugee camp in Ethiopia, described a more grim picture. She said that there was no water, no food, and she had lost all hope. My children are starving. They are at the brink of their death. Sumaya and Esther's stories, and their sacrifices, remind us that food access is a function gender, especially in times of crisis. Hunger is fundamentally a problem of gender inequality. Ironically, women play an integral role in most food production, purchase, processing, preparation, and distribution. Globally, 85 to 90% of cooking is done by women. They also do most of the grocery shopping and spend more money on food than their male counterparts. We can improve the situation, but we must act quickly. People like Esther, Sumaya and others need immediate food to survive. They also require help in getting ready for next year's harvest. How can we do this? The recent passage The Global Food Security Act was a welcome step towards addressing the crisis. Feed the Future has helped lift over 23 million people from poverty since 2010. The act also recognizes the important role of women smallholder farmers in providing food for their families and communities. The U.S. and other donor countries cannot do everything. Esther and Sumaya don't want our sympathy. They are seeking our action. They want us all to do what they hope others will do, if our children were starving, if our bodies were suffering from the immense physical pain of starvation and if our loved ones perish.