WORLD HUNGER
            
             The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization has estimated that as many as 550
            
             million people around the world suffer from chronic hunger. That means that as many as
            
             one of ten of the world's population do not get enough food to eat. This figure does not
            
             even include the hundreds of millions of people who suffer blindness, goiter, anemia and
            
             other diseases due to poor diet. This year alone more than 17 million people will die from
            
             starvation. About 11 of the 17 million people who will die will be under the age of five and
            
             could have been prevented by an adequate supply of food because, the diseases they die
            
             from aren't life threatening with the absence of malnutrition. The cause of food shortages
            
             in many countries is due to either the breakdown of government, civil war or the common
            
             pattern of poverty, underdevelopment, and poor growing conditions that destroy the
            
             ability to feed the population. Two nations who are now facing food shortages are Russia
            
             and Ethiopia.
            
             The populations of Russia and the other former Soviet Republics are now facing
            
             malnutrition. Although they are advanced industrial countries and have vast agricultural
            
             resources, their people are going hunger. This is because of the terrible transition from a
            
             state-controlled economy to a free market. While under the state-controlled economy the
            
             population of Russia had very little choice in what they were able to buy because, the
            
             stores had few products but, the people weren't starving. Now in the free market economy
            
             the stores are full of product its just that the people can't afford the food because, the
            
             prices are so high. Russia is a perfect example of how a breakdown in government causes
            
             starvation for its population.
            
             Ethiopia and the rest of the Horn of Africa have been facing food shortages for
            
             many years. The reason for famine conditions in this region is the damaging of crops and
            
             ...