Despite improvements made due to the international aid cooperation and the push behind the Millennium Development Goals, over 1.2 billion people today still live in extreme poverty. This means in a global population of over 7 billion people, nearly 20 percent lives on less than $1.25 per day. Half of the world's population lives on less than $2.50 per day. Despite global hunger being reduced by 34 percent since 1990, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that over 870 million people suffered from chronic undernourishment in 2010 to 2012. Almost all the hungry people, 852 million, live in developing countries, representing 15 percent of the population of developing counties. One in eight people on this planet will go to bed hungry tonight. By 2050, with the global population estimated to reach 9 billion people, agricultural production will need to be increased 70 percent, or we could face great food insecurity.
“The poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty,” says the World Food Programme. Living on less than $1.50 per day too often leaves nutritious food unaffordable, leaving the poor under- or malnourished and unable to find work that could improve their conditions. The poverty trap is at the root of many of the world's most intractable problems today.
But words and statistics are too often just that, and it can be difficult for many—particularly those living in developed nations—to understand what it is like to live in true poverty. That is why the Global Poverty Project initiated the Live Below the Line campaign, hoping to change the way people think about poverty by challenging them to live on the equivalent of the extreme poverty line for 5 days.
Starting Monday, May 5th, Diplomatic Courier managing editor Chrisella Herzog will be taking the challenge to live below the line, and blogging about her experiences each day. Check back here Monday through Friday all next week for updates, or follow the Diplomatic Courier's Twitter and Instagram. Chrisella will also be taking recipe suggestions all weekend at @Chrisella #BelowtheLine.
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Living on $1.50 Per Day: Our Managing Editor Takes the Challenge
May 2, 2014
Despite improvements made due to the international aid cooperation and the push behind the Millennium Development Goals, over 1.2 billion people today still live in extreme poverty. This means in a global population of over 7 billion people, nearly 20 percent lives on less than $1.25 per day. Half of the world's population lives on less than $2.50 per day. Despite global hunger being reduced by 34 percent since 1990, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that over 870 million people suffered from chronic undernourishment in 2010 to 2012. Almost all the hungry people, 852 million, live in developing countries, representing 15 percent of the population of developing counties. One in eight people on this planet will go to bed hungry tonight. By 2050, with the global population estimated to reach 9 billion people, agricultural production will need to be increased 70 percent, or we could face great food insecurity.
“The poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty,” says the World Food Programme. Living on less than $1.50 per day too often leaves nutritious food unaffordable, leaving the poor under- or malnourished and unable to find work that could improve their conditions. The poverty trap is at the root of many of the world's most intractable problems today.
But words and statistics are too often just that, and it can be difficult for many—particularly those living in developed nations—to understand what it is like to live in true poverty. That is why the Global Poverty Project initiated the Live Below the Line campaign, hoping to change the way people think about poverty by challenging them to live on the equivalent of the extreme poverty line for 5 days.
Starting Monday, May 5th, Diplomatic Courier managing editor Chrisella Herzog will be taking the challenge to live below the line, and blogging about her experiences each day. Check back here Monday through Friday all next week for updates, or follow the Diplomatic Courier's Twitter and Instagram. Chrisella will also be taking recipe suggestions all weekend at @Chrisella #BelowtheLine.
