Time to tackle the real causes of hunger
However, there are certain things which they should bear in mind:
Zambia has rejected American food aid because it is genetically modified.
The king of Swaziland is buying a private jet costing $45m, which is much more than his government spends on feeding the hungry population.
In Zimbabwe, the government is using food aid as a political weapon and is denying opposition supporters access to food, thus deliberately starving them.
Uganda is still fighting over diamonds, coltan and other precious natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Three million people have perished most from hunger and disease.
The government of Sudan has for years been bombing its citizens in the south of the country.
The ability of the government of Ethiopia to respond to the famine affecting so many of its citizens was seriously hampered by the senseless war with neighbouring Eritrea between 1998 and 2000 which cost huge sums and left both countries suffering deeply.
The eradication of hunger is always going to be difficult, but unless the governments of developing countries are forced to adopt policies that benefit their people, the hunger cycle will continue.
The sooner that ordinary people, and especially the international community, realise this, the sooner a credible responseto world hunger can be implemented.
John O'Shea, Goal, Co Dublin.
