IXL Social Enterprise Case Studies Food Security January 2013 | Page 4

Food Security in Urban Slums by 2018

The Human Side of Hunger,
Repeated Daily
Anne Reuben moved from a rural area in
Kenya to Nairobi in search of a better life.
She only has enough money, though, to
live in the slums of Kibera with her three
children and sick husband. She washes
clothes to try to make ends meet. Most
days she doesn’t. The high costs of rent
and public transportation that she needs
to get to work are making her income,
which would seem high to her rural
cousins, disappear. Food is a priority,
but so is having a place to live. When she
can’t get mush or wilted vegetables, her
children ask, “Mama, today aren’t we
cooking food?” or, “Mama, isn’t there even
charcoal?” She does not reply.1

Of almost a billion people who need food
security, 200 million live in urban slums
Food security should be a basic right for all human beings
Over 870 million people world-wide are hungry today because they do not get sufficient, safe and
nutritious food to meet their daily needs (Figure 1).2 This is unacceptable. All human beings should
have secure access to food.

Undernourished
 People
 (in
 millions)
 by
 Region
Asia/Pacific
Sub-­‐Saharan
 A frica
Latin
 America/Caribbean
Middle
 E ast/Northern
 A frica
Developed
 World
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Figure 1. Over 870 MM people are hungry with most in Asia, Africa and Latin America2
“One of mankind’s oldest
and most debilitating
threats—hunger—is
preventing one out of
every seven people on
Earth from enjoying the
opportunity and prosperity so many of us
take for granted.” President Clinton

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, food security exists
when, “Every human being everywhere [has] the ability to produce or purchase safe, sufficient and
nutritious food that is culturally acceptable, for an active, healthy and dignified life.”3 In other words,
food security can be described as, “the right to food.”
Food security increases productivity and provides opportunity to do other activities
Solving food security means so much more than ensuring a steady supply of safe, nutritious food.
People won’t just live longer lives; they’ll live better lives. Families will suffer from less disease,
less illness and less of the gnawing pain that keeps children awake at night. Fewer families will
lose infants and children who waste away to nothingness. There will be more opportunities for
education, employment, and social activities. People will be more productive, have more time, and
be able to end the vicious cycle of poverty.
Almost 200 million people in urban slums lack food security, and there may be many more
in the future

Figure 2. The number of hungry people living in slums is significant4
“A hungry man cannot think of anything
else other than food. Work, education,
relationships - these all suffer as a
consequence until that need is satisfied!”
Charles Kane, Director, One Laptop per
Child Association

Version 1.0, January 2013

Over 200 million people in urban slums are living without food security (Figure 2).4 These slums are
inside of or on the outskirts of major cities in poor and emerging nations. They are called favelas in
Brazil, bustees in India, barrios in Mexico, and shanty towns in Zambia. People’s homes are made
of waste materials and corrugated iron roofs. They have limited access to clean water, electricity
and education. Migrants from rural areas find themselves without a network in the midst of a
complicated system. Families don’t know how to get legal documentation, which means they often
earn informal and irregular income.5 Every day, these families struggle to find food and survive.
Although life in these slums appears unattractive, close to a billion people live in here because they
offer more opportunity to improve quality of life than rural areas.6 Unfortunately, those struggling
with hunger are unable to take advantage of these opportunities.7
Hult International Business School Publishing 4