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David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, an advocacy organization to stem hunger, told CT, "Christian people need to know that the world has been making progress against hunger, poverty, and disease. I see this as God moving in our time. People need to understand that we are going through a very serious setback in that progress. We're seeing a sharp increase in hunger in our own country and in developing countries. If we are going to get back on track, we need to be activist citizens and get our government to do its part."

"This situation is calling out for action, political and spiritual," Hall told CT. "This thing is becoming so big that we need to bring God into this and we're not. We are attacking it piecemeal. We need to ask God's wisdom and his help. We need a major fast and prayer across this nation. That's job one."

Twenty-one of the 35 nations hit most severely by food scarcity and high prices are in Africa, according to the UN. Of those 21 African nations, Ethiopia represents the worst of the worst. War, drought, famine, and starvation have been familiar to Ethiopians for generations. Right now, 14 million don't have enough food. Stunted by chronic malnutrition, 12-year-old boys have the height and weight of American seven-year-olds.

In southern Ethiopia, a vast, Texas-sized rural area of subsistence farmers, grain prices have tripled in the past two years, while prices for coffee beans, their main export crop, have stalled. One of the biggest cash crops is khat. The poor and hungry chew its mildly addictive leaves as a stimulant and appetite suppressant.

Food aid is often distributed with armed escorts to prevent robbers or mobs from overwhelming relief workers. Religious tensions also run high between Christians and Muslims. From the village of Wondo Genet, Pastor Philip, who helps distribute food aid locally and asked not to be named for security reasons, told CT, "We do not give priority according to religion. We give priority according to need. Maybe they are Muslim or Coptic or whatever they are. We give to the most affected."

When the food aid trucks arrive, local leaders use information gleaned from household surveys to decide who gets fortified grain and other foodstuffs. CT interviewed Pastor Philip during his U.S. visit to raise additional aid funds. "We are focusing on the rural area. The women and children are most affected. The mothers give priority to children. Everything is finished before mothers get something. That is the saddest part."

Eastern Africa's 19 nations have a total population of 300 million. On average, 80 percent live on no more than $2 per day, and most farmers live from harvest to harvest. In urban areas, millions of Africans cannot find food; when it is available, they cannot afford it. In Nairobi, Kenya, more than one million routinely go hungry. In Zimbabwe, it is projected that over five million of the country's 12 million will be starving next year.

For Bishop Paul Mususu, head of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, which is active in helping drought and flood victims in rural southern and western Zambia, the region's crisis has "almost become a norm."

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November 2008, Vol. 52, No. 11