Hunger and malnutrition have thankfully never been a catastrophic issue in Costa Rica, a country where food is plentiful, and where social conscience motivates individuals to look out for those who are less fortunate and make sure they do not go hungry. Although hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean has effectively decreased by 3.8 percent in the last two decades, there is still a lot of work to do in this regard, and one non-profit agency in Costa Rica is willing to do it.

Nadie con Hambre (No One Should be Hungry) is a non-profit organization based in Costa Rica. The purpose of Nadie con Hambre is to help those in need through Christian organizations or service projects. Those who would be benefit are lower-income families, particularly those with young children. Nadie con Hambre collects non-perishable food items to distribute to places in need across Costa Rica; this is their primary mission.

The way Nadie con Hambre works is by approaching organizations willing to collaborate. The groups then define a goal and set out to collect donations. In this regard, rice is a major hunger killer and one of the most-commonly collected food items. The organization delivers food directly to the needy; it is estimated that they have already collected more than six tons of rice.

One of the organizations that Nadie con Hambre benefits is Fundacion Piedad (Mercy Foundation). This non-profit has six soup kitchens where in low-income neighborhoods. In the Central Valley, the work of Nadie con Hambre extends to neighborhoods such as Los Guido, La Carpio, Leon XIII, and some communities in Hatillo.

Global Hunger Situation Improves, But More Work Awaits

According to a recent press release by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations:

Some 842 million people, or roughly one in eight, suffered from chronic hunger in 2011-13, not getting enough food to lead active and healthy lives according to a report released by the UN food agencies.

The number is down from 868 million reported for the 2010-12 period, according to the State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI 2013), published every year by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). The vast majority of hungry people live in developing regions, while 15.7 million live in developed countries.

More substantial reductions in both the number of hungry and prevalence of undernourishment have occurred in most countries of East Asia, Southeastern Asia, and in Latin America.

Costa Rica is lucky to only have a portion of people going hungry from time to time. This Central American nation, however, is progressively turning into a consumer society where socioeconomic factors are squeezing the lower classes and occasionally make them go hungry. To this end, we ask readers of the Costa Rica Star to look into the work of groups such as Nadie con Hambre and help their cause.