Many countries have had world hunger on their radar for quite a while now. The US spent $2.1 billion on food aid in 2008 to cope with a global food crisis alone. With each new product that a seed or fertilizer company develops, farming is improved locally but not necessarily globally, where it might be needed most.

The article "Farm Futures," from the May/June 09 issue of Foreign Affairs, highlights some major global problems that are affecting world hunger. One of those problems is that small, family farmers in developing counties are not making enough money to survive because of big, government subsidized farms in their region.

In many parts of the world, farming practices have significant room for improvement. According to Foreign Affairs, “More land could be brought into production if farmers moved away from rain-fed, low-technology agriculture, which is vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, and if inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers were delivered to small farmers.”

Foreign Affairs estimates that it could require roughly $30 billion of aid to educate farmers on new techniques and technologies. Can you put a price on helping families and decreasing world hunger though?

These counties probably couldn’t absorb that kind of funding very quickly, but if this topic sparks more interest from innovative nations, things could start to change. In order for the world to stop a potential food crisis, we might all have to lend a helping hand.

- Colvin