Western institutes employ thousands of people, allocating financial and agricultural resources in attempts to contain the problem of hunger in developing nations, but these efforts aren’t enough.
An obvious solution to hunger is… send hungry people food!
But the cost of transportation, in dollars as well as environmental pollutants, creates more problems than it solves (Robbins). Instead of providing consistent aid to people who are starving, food shipments to developing countries often hurt local farmers (local to where the goods are sent) who are trying to make a living off of their own crops and rely on a profitable market of consumers. While many farmers in developing nations focus on mass production of just one or a few crops, “monocropping”, it would be more sustainable to use the resources from food-aid charities, mostly money and volunteers, to help educate people in underdeveloped countries about sustainable gardening to grow foods with sufficient nutrients. Instead of mass producing cash crops, communities could focus on more diversified gardens to fulfill dietary needs. While there are factors in play like access to water, crop theft/protection, and seasonal climate that greatly effect agricultural opportunities in developing nations, there could be long-term benefits if developing countries saw a shift from monocropping to diversified garden spaces.
Beyond developing nations, humans and the earth benefit from smaller, diverse gardens. Instead of actively working against the environment as monocropping does- repelling native insects and poisoning soil with pesticides and hefty water consumption- more diversified gardens have the potential to work with the environment and enhance the ecosystem.