Humanity met its 7 billionth person

on Halloween. The child was born into a world much unlike that of

his parents’ youth, yet struggling with the same fundamental

questions of human prosperity that have dogged our species for

millions of years. How do we feed ourselves? How do we clothe

ourselves? How do we shelter ourselves? How do we make our

children’s future better than our past?

We all have to answer these questions. For most of

you reading this, you decided to work hard in high school, earn

your diploma and go on to college with the expectation that these

investments in your abilities will allow you to find enriching

employment so, unlike your ancestors of the savanna, life is not a

daily struggle for survival.

Sadly, not all of us have the same opportunities we

enjoy and sometimes take for granted. While most of us will rest

soundly with a full belly, according to the World Food Programme,

one out of every seven of our brethren will go to bed hungry.

Hunger and poverty are complex problems, but often

the fundamental cause is simple: An inability to access and make

efficient use of resources. From China to Guatemala, hungry people

are cut off from better nutrition by conflict, poor infrastructure,

corruption and low incomes. Improving people’s access to natural,

economic and political resources is thus critical to ensuring a

less hungry future.

How can we improve access?

First, peace must be secured. Conflict has been the

cause of much of the world’s starvation. Without the basic

assurance that one can work and trade while not in danger of a

violent death, hunger and poverty will forever plague Somalia and

the other war-ravished regions of the world. This is why the United

Nations, African Union and NATO work to improve security in

impoverished countries like Haiti and Afghanistan.

Second, people must be able to trade beyond their

local communities. Drought never causes mass starvation when people

are able to buy food from unaffected regions. While Texas and

Oklahoma are currently in “exceptional” drought, with cattle dying

from both dehydration and water intoxication when brought to wetter

pastures, nobody in these states is starving. In fact, Texas and

Oklahoma rank as some of the fattest regions in the world, with

rates of obesity above 30 percent. America’s expansive road and

rail networks ensure that food can always be imported quickly and

cheaply, no matter what the local conditions may be. Building

better roads, rails and ports frees people from the whim of the

weather and the inevitable progression of global warming.

Third, governments must be held accountable by their

people. It is not a coincidence that a map of the World Bank’s ease

of doing business index looks almost identical to a World Food

Programme map of world hunger. Onerous rules, disrespect of human

rights and simple robbery must be abolished if people are ever to

be able to make a decent living. In the end, this is something

people can only do for themselves, but the West and newly powerful

countries like China have a role to play in ensuring that people

can make their voices heard without threat of reprisal. NATO’s

recently ended mission in Libya was such an action “to take all

necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack.”

More such actions are sorely needed.

Finally, people must have access to education if they

are to improve their skills, earn more and afford food. Most hunger

is caused by poverty, not natural disaster. But children need not

be forced to work in squalor to support their family’s incomes. If

people have a voice, resources become available. When governments

are held to account, they provide free schools for youth and job

training for adults, helping their citizens rise out of

poverty.

To be sure, there are many pressing problems that

traditional liberal solutions will not solve. Global warming and

the depletion of nonrenewable resources are presenting new

challenges, but the notion that consumption by the few is leading

to starvation by the many is totally and unequivocally false. In a

world where food rots on the winding mud road to starving villages,

no degree of rationing by the West will forever fix hunger. The

solution now and forever is to empower people to produce, trade and

learn the skills they need to ensure a better tomorrow for

themselves and their children.