2015 ASIA

Asia Hunger Facts 

In this Monday, Nov. 9, 2015 photo, children and teenagers sit together to be registered by officials during a raid on a shrimp shed in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Abuse is common in Samut Sakhon, which attracts workers from some of the world’s poorest countries, mostly from Myanmar. An International Labor Organization report estimated 10,000 migrant children aged 13 to 15 work in the city. Another U.N. agency study found nearly 60 percent of Burmese laborers toiling in its seafood processing industry were victims of forced labor. Photo: © AP Photo/Dita Alangkara

Global grocer supply chains tied to slave-peeled shrimp Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, Martha Mendoza and Esther Htusan Associated Press Dec. 14, 2015

Al-Amin and Fatima outside their new home in a slum in Dhaka. Photo: Mubashar Hasan/IRIN  

Bangladesh's climate change migrants Mubashar Hasan IRIN News November 13, 2015  

Myanmar military still big power despite opposition victory Thomas Fuller New York Times November 10, 2015

Chowkipur, a village in India that has no electricity. Photo: Simon de Trey-White/Washington Post

India’s huge need for electricity is a problem for the planet Annie Gowan Washington Post November 6, 2015 See HN special report Environment and hunger

China ends one-child policy, allowing families two children Chris Buckley New York Times October 29, 2015

Al Jazeera investigation reveals Myanmar government triggered deadly communal violence for political gain Al Jazeera Investigative Unit October 28, 2015

Implementing the right to food: The debate over India's new national food security law Hunger Explained September 26, 2015  Also see Food and Agricultural Organization "State Food Provision as Social Protection: Debating India's national food security law" (80 page PDF) See Hunger Notes special report on the right to food

Nearly $100 billion flowed iIllegally through Myanmar from 1960 to 2013 Christine Clough Global Financial Integrity September 9, 2015 Also see HN fact sheet "Harmful economic systems as a cause of hunger and poverty," especially the section on obtaining income.

India targets tax evaders who hide ‘black money’ at home and abroad. A new law imposing stiff tax penalties and up to 10 years in prison has created panic among India's elite. Rama Lakshmi Washington Post September 7, 2015 Also see HN fact sheet "Harmful economic systems as a cause of hunger and poverty," especially the section on obtaining income.

Living like a fugitive: The attempted killing of a famed Pakistani newsman is one example of a widespread backlash Idrees Ali and Dana Priest Washington Post July 25, 2015 (Part one of a series Controlling the Story: Global threats to a free press)

Syria increasingly disintegrates in crucible of war Ann Bernard New York Times July 15, 2015

This Sept. 4, 2012 photo provided by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee shows Sir Fazle Hasan during a visit to the BRAC School in the Karail slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Photo: Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee via AP)  

Bangladesh poverty group founder wins World Food Prize David Pitt AP July 1, 2015

This is the Domiz camp in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region. 1.6 million refugees living in countries nearby Syria had the per-capita ­ration allowance cut from $27 to $19 a month in December, and the amount will be reduced to $13.50 a month soon — half the calculated minimum that the refugees need to survive. Photo: IRIN News

UN slashes food aid to Syrian refugees Liz Sly Washington Post July 1, 2015

The first 1000 days Elizabeth Whelan Myanmar Times June 22, 2015  (Whelan is a former WHES board member.)  See more nutrition articles.

North Korea says it's facing its worst drought in a century Choe Sang-hun New York Times June 17, 2015

Tribal women collect bundles of "broom grass" from the hill slopes of the Niyamgiri range in Odisha, India Photo: Manip;adma Jena/IPS

Lessons from an Indian tribe on how to manage the food-forest nexus (slideshow) Manipadma Jena Inter Press Service May 19, 2015

In India, close to a million Dalit women work as manual scavengers: labourers who are forced to empty out dry latrines with their bare hands. Photo: Neeta Lal/IPS

In India, a broken system leaves a 'broken' people powerless Neeta Lal Inter Press Service May 8, 2015  See HN special report Harmful Economic Systems: Restricting Entry

Aid agencies pour into Nepal – and then what? Kristy Siegfried IRIN News April 29, 2015  See Hunger Notes special report Development Assistance

People burned the bodies of victims at a mass cremation in Katmandu on Sunday. An estimated  2,600 people were killed in the earthquake. Photo: Prakash Mathema/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Nepal terrorized by aftershocks, hampering relief efforts Thomas Fuller and Gardiner Harris New York Times April 26, 2015

Indian farmer Gajendra Singh stands on a tree before committing suicide during an Aam Aadmi Party rally in New Delhi. Singh hanged himself in front of hundreds of protesters gathered to rally against the government's contentious reform of land purchasing laws. Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

Farmer’s public suicide in India opens debate over compassion and climate Annie Gowen and Rama Lakshmi Washington Post April 23, 2015

Eritrea and North Korea are the world's most censored countries, advocacy group says Rick Gladstone New York Times April 21, 2015

Christians who use the language of Jesus being uprooted by Islamic State Hugh Naylor Washington Post April 14, 2015

A Yemeni drags a sack away from a truck that was allegedly destroyed by an airstrike of the Saudi-led coalition targeting a wheat convoy. Photo: Abdul-Rahman Hwais/EPA  

Fighting in Yemen is creating a humanitarian crisis Hugh Naylor Washington Post April 6, 2015 Photo feature: Yemeni civilians in the crossfire Almigdad Mojalli IRIN News April 6, 2015

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A few years after the smelter, seen in the background,  opened, herders in the area said that their sheep began falling sick, with jaws so painful that they could not eat. Soon, thousands of their animals had died. When they complained, the government simply arrested five of their leaders and forced the others to resettle in the nearby city of Holingol, demolishing their original homes.  Photo: Gilles Sabrie/Washington Post

In China’s Inner Mongolia, mining spells misery for traditional herders Simon Denyer Washington Post April 7, 2015  Chinese riot police crush grasslands protest over chemical pollution Simon Denyer Washington Post April 6, 2015 See HN special report Environment and hunger

A worker holds onions grown on a plot of land sought by India's state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation.  It hasn't been able to acquire the land because the owners won't sell.  Dhaneshwar Prasad, a farmer whose land is sought, said "Why wouuld I sell this land to the government? This land gives me a life of dignity." Photo: Enrico Fabian/Washington Post

In rural India, farmers will not sell their land for others to develop, so Indian government wants to force them to sell  Rama Lakshmi Washington Post April 6, 2015

In this March 3, 2015 photo, a Pakistani villager builds a toilet in Thatta district. Photo: Associated Press

UNICEF warns lack of toilets in Pakistan tied to stunting  Associated Press March 30, 2015

A fisherman holds his catch near the shores of a seaside village outside of Karachi. Fishermen of the village say they are getting sicker and the fish are dying off. Photo: Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post

On the shores of the Arabian Sea, pollution erodes a way of life Tim Craig Washington Post March 15, 2015 See HN special report Environment and hunger

Syria: Four years on, an unimaginable toll IRIN News March 12, 2015
Alienation and violence: Impact of Syria crisis report 2014  ReleifWeb March 10, 2015 Access full report 
UN has failed Syria: NGOs Joe Dyke IRIN News March 12, 2015

Climate change probably worsened the drought that caused severe crop failure  that preceded Syria's uprising, a new study suggests. Here, a refugee camp is seen in Syria near the Turkish border town of Cilvegozu. Photo: Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press

Is Syria conflict a case study for climate change and hunger-related conflict? Geoffrey Mohan Los Angeles Times March 4, 2015  See full report See HN special report Environment and hunger

Poor state of India's food subsidies Manu Joseph New York Times  March 4, 2014 Also see Hunger Notes special report Food as a Human Right

Hungry for justice: Social mobilization on the right to food in India Shareen Hertel Development and Change December 2014  Also see Hunger Notes special report Food as a Human Right

Mothers and newborns at a hospital in Gurgaon, India. A greater percentage of Indian mothers are underweight than are mothers in far poorer countries. Photo: Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times

Study says pregnant women in India are dangerously underweight Gardiner Harris New York Times March 3, 2015

UN: World eating too much sugar; cut to 5-10 percent of diet Maria Cheng  Associated Press/Myway March 4, 2015  

Death by chocolate: the sugar-fueled diabetes surge in South Asia Gerald Denis The Guardian March 2, 2015

More than 2.2 million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes since January 2014. Photo: Cathy Otten/IRIN

Emergency aid projects in Iraq face closure due to funding shortfall IRIN News February 18, 2015

Building in the city of Hefei next to surrounding fields – as China’s urbanisation continues at breakneck speed, will its agrarian resources be hit? Photograph: AFP/Getty Image

China's urban sprawl raises key question: can it feed its people? Plans for air hub twice the size of Heathrow will destroy hundreds of farms near Beijing as observers warn unchecked urbanisation will affect food production Jonathan Kaiman The Guardian February 15, 2015

Former movie star Jayalalitha Jayaram, pictured in graffiti, was convicted on corruption charges and forced to step down. She continues to run the government even though she has not left her house since she was released on bail in October. Photo: Annie Gowen/The Washington Post

Ex movie star and convicted politician still running her Indian state Annie Gowen Washington Post February 16, 2015   See HN special report Harmful economic systems: Obtaining income

Neeraj Jagga bought this apartment in a 4,000-unit complex near New Delhi but said construction had barely progressed in three years. The developer, Kabul Chawla, has been the subject of numerous consumer complaints. Photo: Graham Crouch/ New York Times

Amid complaints in India, a real estate deal in Manhattan Stephanie Stall and Louise Story New York Times February 9, 2015 See more in this series Towers of secrecy: Streams of wealth flow to elite New York real estate  See HN special report Harmful economic systems: Obtaining income

Children play on a slide in Taoranting Park in Beijing on Jan. 23.  Photo: Wu Hong/European Pressphoto Agency

‘One is enough’: Chinese families lukewarm over easing of one-child policy Simon Denyer Washington Post January 25, 2015

Children are bearing the brunt of the drought in Tharparkar, often the first to fall victim to diarrhoea and pneumonia brought on by malnutrition. Photo: Irfan Ahmed/IPS

Children starving to death in Pakistan’s drought-struck Tharparkar District Irfan Ahmed Inter Press Service January 3, 2015

A Dalit woman stands outside a dry toilet located in an upper caste villager’s home in Mainpuri, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The village has witnessed major violence against those who have tried to leave the profession of ‘manual scavenging’. Photo: Shai Venkatraman/IPS

India’s ‘manual scavengers’ rise up against caste discrimination Shai Venkatraman Inter Press Service January 6, 2015 See HN special report Harmful economic systems: Restricting entry

WTO seeks efforts for permanent deal on food security   Asit Ranjan Mishra Live Mint November 22, 2014 US-India agreement on stockpiles of food revives a trade deal Neha Thirani Bagri New York Times November 13, 2014  See Hunger Notes special report Trade and Hunger

 

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