Causes of World Hunger

If you live in a prosperous nation, you may not think much about the persistence of hunger throughout poorer countries. Unfortunately, as we go about our daily lives, hundreds of millions of people struggle to feed themselves and their families.

Why? What are the causes of world hunger today?

They may not be what you think.

To understand, first consider the scope of the problem.

How many go hungry?

In 2023 an estimated 733 million people faced chronic hunger, according to the World Health Organization. In 2025 the United Nations revised its estimate, putting the number at 808 million. That figure is about one in 10 people globally.

Of course, chronic hunger is not equally distributed among the world’s population. Mid-income and low-income nations account for 99 percent of the world’s hungry.

In terms of percentage, the problem is greatest in Africa, followed by Southern Asia and Latin America. (In absolute numbers, Asia currently has more hungry people, though experts predict that by 2030, Africa will have more.)

More than a fifth of Africans go hungry, and that statistic is still rising. In Asia the figure has stabilized, and there has been some improvement in Latin America.

Causes of world hunger

Surprisingly, a shortage of food is not the main reason for chronic hunger today. Instead, it is created by a lack of “access and availability,” according to the World Food Program USA.

War is the leading cause of the loss of access and availability, which in turn leads to chronic hunger. Families may be forced to flee war-torn areas, leaving behind homes and livelihoods. Crops may be ruined or left unharvested, and infrastructure may be destroyed.

A variety of other factors can restrict access to and availability of food. Some of the more important factors include extreme weather, land-management choices and systemic poverty.

Hunger as a weapon

In the ebb and flow of war, critical infrastructure may fall prey to the chaos of the battlefield. What is more alarming, however, is the use of hunger as a weapon. Armies pursuing a scorched-earth strategy intentionally destroy anything useful to the enemy.

“A scorched-earth policy,” according to Britannica online, “may be implemented by an army advancing through enemy territory to punish resistance and reduce enemy capability or by a retreating army to leave nothing of military value to the opposing force.”

The result is devastating, not only to the opposing forces engaged in conflict, but to the general population. War of this nature leaves resource problems that linger long after the conflict itself has ended.

It is this sort of intentional devastation that prompted the United Nations to pass a resolution in 2018 condemning the destruction of food and food-distribution mechanisms.

Extreme weather

Extreme weather events can also wreak havoc on poor populations barely providing for themselves. The World Food Program USA estimates that during the past decade, 1.7 billion people have been affected by weather disasters.

Floods and hurricanes can wash away crops in the field overnight, whereas drought may result in a slow withering process. Either way, communities already struggling to produce enough to feed themselves face catastrophic hunger.

Many areas of the developed world experience floods, hurricanes and droughts, but unlike the undeveloped world, richer nations generally have support systems in place to alleviate suffering. The developed world also has better infrastructure, making it easier to provide aid.

Poor land-management choices

Although the world produces more than enough to feed itself, land-use practices result in hunger in some regions. In 2022 the World Economic Forum published a report indicating that 40 percent of land worldwide had been degraded.

This problem exists in both the richer, more developed nations and the poorer developing ones. Monoculture is a major cause. Farmers grow the same crop year after year on large tracts, depleting the soil of specific nutrients, thus degrading the land.

In wealthier nations, farmers rely on fertilizers to replenish the soil. In poorer regions of the world, fields are abandoned and new farms carved out of forested land.

This deforestation has become a major issue in the Amazon. A whopping 17 percent of the Amazon rainforest has already been destroyed. Some scientists believe that the ecosystem there will reach a “tipping point” when that figure reaches 20 to 25 percent.

The result is greater degradation of the earth. We humans seem to be in a worldwide race to destroy the very land that feeds us all.

Poverty and economic instability

Poverty itself is a complicated and multifaceted issue. In urban areas, economic recessions and depressions, which lead to job losses, are a cause of poverty, which in turn can result in hunger.

Fortunately, the pages of Scripture offer us hope for a world without these causes of world hunger. The worst cases of chronic hunger, however, are among smallholder farmers in the developing world. These individuals live on the brink of disaster, with no social safety net to protect them if war erupts or if natural disasters strike.

Land-ownership laws often favor the rich elites who own large tracts of land. According to Global Policy Forum, an independent group that monitors the activities of the United Nations, inequitable “distribution and lack of access to land are key explanations for poverty and hunger” in much of the developing world.

This is why the United Nations made the elimination of extreme poverty by 2030 its top goal a decade ago. Regrettably, the UN now projects that if the world continues on its current course, 8.9 percent of people will still live in extreme poverty in 2030.

In 2021 the persistence of the problem prompted the United Nations to admit that its “goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030,” set six years earlier, had been overly optimistic. In fact, the failure to make substantial progress is “a humbling reality.”

Is there hope for the future?

Chronic hunger is not a simple problem, nor is it one that the United Nations has been able to solve. Many humanitarians have worked tirelessly to end world hunger, but no one has succeeded.

Does that mean that there is no hope for a future in which no one goes hungry?

Fortunately, the pages of Scripture offer us hope for a world without these causes of world hunger. First, that means an end to war. It also means no extreme weather events, fair distribution of land and an end to poverty.

None of this will happen, however, until Satan, “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), has been dethroned, education replaces ignorance and bad human behavior is restrained. That will occur when Christ returns to rule over the earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 12:10; 20:4).

To gain an understanding of how Christ will end world hunger, consider what the Bible says about how the four root causes described above will be eliminated.

The end of war

Leading up to the return of Christ, world hunger will increase. Just as war is the primary cause of chronic hunger today, so it will be in the last days.

Significantly, the “fiery red” horse of war precedes the black horse and the pale horse (Revelation 6:1-8; Matthew 24:4-7). These latter horses represent the famine and disease that so often trail behind warfare. (See more in the article “What Are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?”)

Christ Himself will then fight against the armies of evil (Revelation 19:11-21). He will establish His worldwide rule, and nations will finally begin to repurpose weapons to more productive uses.

Isaiah prophesied this glorious future when people “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

When Christ has eliminated war, He will have removed the top cause of world hunger.

Rain in due season

What about floods, hurricanes and droughts?

In this age of Satan, we may find ourselves at the mercy of extreme weather. That is particularly true for the world’s poorest, who have few options for changing their circumstances.

When Christ has established His government, however, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). This means everyone will know the true God, and everyone will know how to live in obedience to His will.

In dealing with ancient Israel, God inspired Moses to describe the rewards of obedience as well as the consequences of disobedience (Deuteronomy 28). One of the blessings of obedience is “rain for your land in its season” (Deuteronomy 11:14).

In today’s world, farmers seem to be walking a tightrope between too much rain, often resulting in flooding, and too little rain, causing drought. Those who obey God in the Millennium, however, will have rain when it is needed and in the right amount.

Land for all the people

After Christ has returned, He will stop people from oppressing others. Everyone will have land, and no one will go hungry.

Micah painted a wonderful picture of the peace and contentment of that time, prophesying that “everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken” (Micah 4:4).

The end of poverty

With all the preceding reforms, it should be no surprise that poverty will be largely eliminated in the world ruled by the Kingdom of God.

It won’t be entirely removed, at least during the early years of the Millennium, because some poverty is the result of poor decisions. Zechariah prophesied about the potential for drought in any nation that refuses to worship God by keeping His Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16-17).

Such punishment will affect crop yield, and those nations will suffer loss. As has always been the case, individuals can affect their own status.

What will have changed, however, is that all the external causes for poverty—and the resultant hunger—will have been removed. Only those individuals who insist on resisting God, or who are lazy (Proverbs 13:4), will continue to suffer.

The Millennium will be a time of abundance. Isaiah records:

“The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency of our God” (Isaiah 35:1-2).

People “shall no longer be consumed with hunger” (Ezekiel 34:29; see also Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13-15).

No more hunger

One of the most comforting passages in Scripture is a promise regarding God’s servants who have suffered through the Great Tribulation.

These people, who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” will be taken before God, who will “wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:14, 17).

Although this verse is targeted at a specific group of people, it gives us a glimpse into the heart of God. As our Father, He plans to end all suffering, and that includes hunger. May God speed that day!