“keep them alive in famine”
In Argentina, famous as one of the world’s top 3 largest granaries, 1.5 million children skip one meal per day due to the economic crisis, local media Ambito, C5N, and TN reported on the 13th (local time). Local media quoted UNICEF’s report that 1.5 million children in Argentina cannot have one out of four meals a day, including snacks, and 1 million children go to bed without having dinner.
In addition, 4.5 million adults skip one meal per day as they “prioritise their children’s food” when they cannot afford food for all their family members. In other words, adults go without food to feed their children.
“With incomes drop, half of families with children find it difficult to afford the basic cost for food, health, and education,” UNICEF explained. Argentine dairy consumption fell 17% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year.
On the 2nd, Argentina’s National Statistical Office (INDEC) released “shocking” statistics showing that in the first quarter of this year, 25.5 million people, or 54.8% of the population, were poor, and the child poverty rate soared to 69.7%. This means that 7 out of 10 children under age 14 grow up in poor families.
Ilda (86-year-old), who lives in Recolleta, a middle-class residential area, said, “I can’t believe the news that as many as 1 million children are starving in Argentina, which owns Pampas, the world’s three largest granaries,” but then said, “I think it might be because even I find it difficult to buy food in the current situation where utility bills are soaring.”
Argentina’s ‘Pampas’ plain is known as one of the world’s top three granaries, along with Ukraine’s ‘Chernozem’ and the US ‘Prairie’. Belen (46), asked back, “I know Argentina is a country that produces food that can feed 400 million people, therefore wondering if the statistics of so many children starving is correct?”
President Javier Milay, who took office in December last year, implemented a radical tightening economy and has achieved short-term fiscal and trade surpluses. However, Argentina’s poverty rate jumped to 54.8% from 44% at the end of last year due to a sharp drop in consumption and falling purchasing power of salaries, which experts predict will not recover soon. (Source: Yonhap News)
To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. (Psalms 33:19-20)
God, please have mercy on Argentina, one of the world’s three largest granaries, experiencing hunger due to the ongoing economic crisis. Help the rulers of this land to seek God’s wisdom humbly and escape this crisis. Through physical poverty, let the people who are poor in spirit seek the Lord and help them experience the Lord who saves them. May You give them a heart that longs for the kingdom of eternal God. Thus, may they meet Jesus Christ who delivers them from death and gives them true satisfaction, and that they man receive eternal life and enjoy the abundant kingdom of God.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
