What can be done in order to make sure that no one in the world goes hungry? Generally speaking, the human race has the information and experience to do this. However, humans have so far not been wise enough to make correct decisions.

In the European Union (EU), where 81% of the land is farmed, there is plenty of food, in fact often too much. Farmers have the right to sell their crops to the EU. For example, if the apple harvest is very good and there are so many apples on the market that farmers cannot sell them, the EU will buy apples from the farmers and throw them away. And the fact that farmers are also paid by the EU for not growing crops surprises many people. If they leave some of their fields free and do not plant anything, they will still receive money from the EU. There is a similar system in the USA.

It has been proved that the way to produce the most food is to let farmers grow crops either to feed their family or to sell, whichever they choose. However, although this happens in China, it does not happen in some other countries, like India. There, most of the land is owned by rich people who pay peasants very little money to work in the fields for them. If the peasants could farm the land themselves, food production would be much higher. What is needed is a change in land ownership, and it has been suggested that the land should be shared equally among the peasants. The problem is that most politicians in India are landowners. They would not vote to lose their land and wealth, even if it resulted in a fairer society.

Many less-developed countries are in debt because they borrowed money from richer countries in order to develop industry. Unfortunately they find it difficult to repay this money. As a result, farmers are forced to plant "cash crops", like coffee, tea, cocoa, nuts and tobacco that are sold abroad in order to pay off the country's debts. The problem is that much of the land is used for crops that will never feed the population. If fewer cash crops were grown, more food could be produced and there would be less or no starvation.

Many western countries raise and butcher a large number of beef cattle. The problem with beef cattle is that 10 kilograms of grain is needed to produce just one kilogram of meat. In the USA, for example, 75% of the grain is used to feed animals. This grain could be used to feed humans, rather than animals. However, in hilly, dry or mountainous areas where it is impossible to grow crops, it makes very good sense to keep sheep or goats. These provide milk, meat and wool, yet this does not take land away from food production.