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Esayas, Book Review   33 
 

Book Review 

 

The End of Hunger: Renewed Hope for Feeding the World  
Eds: Jenny Eaton Dyer and Cathleen Falsani 

 
Reviewed by Yacob Esayas 

 
 

  
 

Downers Gove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019. $16.99 

 

 

By taking an eclectic approach that includes 

inspiring and interconnected stories interwoven 

throughout the book, The End of Hunger aims to 

illustrate that chronic food insecurity has potentially 

debilitating impacts on society as a whole. The book is 

divided into three parts: “An Overview of the Problem 

of Hunger;” “The First One Thousand Days: Young 

Women, Mothers, and Children;” and “The Way 

Forward.” It provides a startling description of hunger 

and the physical, psychological, and spiritual impacts of 

malnutrition and food insecurity. The vehemently clear 

message is that the lack/shortage of food stunts people 

today, and also affects future generations.  

A telling depiction of hunger is presented to the 

reader. Mike McHargue states that “more than 700 

million people worldwide are hungry, starving, or 

malnourished” (10). He continues, “we already grow 

enough food to feed every person living on Earth. What 

we are lacking is not the capacity to produce food, but 

the will to make sure the food we grow makes it into 

hungry bellies everywhere” (10). What we lack is not 

food, but rather the heart to give. 

Editors Dyer and Falsani believe that it behooves 

everyone in society to think of the hundreds of millions 

of people who go to bed hungry. The stories included 

throughout the book aim to put a human face on 

statistics. These stories are very personal and often 

heart-wrenching. William Frist narrates a story of a 

mother who was too weak to carry both of her children, 

which forced her to make the heart-breaking decision 

to leave one behind in hopes of saving the other (22).  

Part Two of the book expounds on the importance 

of feeding children for the first one thousand days of 

their lives and all the multifaceted impacts food security 

has on their growth. The inhumane and demoralizing 

effects of lack of food are made real through selected 

stories from around the world. Vasco, from Malawi, was 

born to poor parents who were not able to sustain him. 

Both his parents died before Vasco was five. Nighty is a 

poor mother from Uganda. Abandoned by two 

husbands, she struggles mightily to feed her five 

children, a struggle that continues to this day. Her story 

highlights the family’s experience of such terrible 

hunger that they all vomit when they finally get 

something to eat. 

Beyond these individual stories, the book also 

zooms out to a macro-level, persuasively explaining 

how hunger affects the peace and stability of nations. It 

argues that most countries that have fallen into social 

and political conflicts already suffer from severe food 

insecurity. The authors make a case that the centrality 

of food security in stabilizing a country is unequivocal. 

As David Beasley states, “working toward the global 

goal of zero hunger truly is the best defense for the 

nations of the world, because it creates stability that 

reduces the risk of conflict” (62). In addressing the 

problem of hunger, Beasley argues that food could be 

used as a “weapon of peace” (60). 

Helene Gayle explains that, while the quantity of 

food is essential, the nutritional quality of the food is 

equally important. Contributors Helene Gayle, 

Cathleen Falsani and Mark K. Shriver emphasize the 

need to give special attention to women, particularly 

mothers. The nutritional status of mothers impacts the 

child's well-being since the nutrition cycle crosses 

generations. The mother’s malnourishment impacts 

her child's physical and cognitive development before 

and after birth. Ultimately, child malnourishment at 

early stages of life leads to poor school performance, 

negatively influences people’s income-earning 

potential, and traps individuals in a vicious poverty 

cycle. Therefore, focusing on child and maternal 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 2(1),  Summer 2020 

Esayas, Book Review   34 
 

nutrition can break the link between intergenerational 

poverty and malnutrition (121-122). 

One of the main purposes of the book is to argue 

that the problem of access to food is undoubtedly 

solvable, if there is enough social and political will. Dyer 

and Falsani marshal some striking success stories that 

encourage people to support organizations that ensure 

food provision, combat malnutrition, and work to 

overcome poverty. Indeed, if we can change the 

mindset of all people, young and old, global hunger 

could end. As evidence, Will Moore highlights work 

over the last 25 years to end extreme poverty. 

Organized efforts have resulted in lifting over one 

billion people out of poverty, and cutting hunger in half. 

According to Moore, the progress made thus far is 

reason to hope for a better future in dealing with 

hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Jonathan Martin 

makes a compelling argument that Christians should be 

at the forefront of leadership in feeding the hungry, who 

are clearly among “the least of these.”  

Unfortunately, The End of Hunger is silent in its 

critique of the aid industry. It would have been 

worthwhile to discuss some of the failures of 

humanitarian organizations, despite their good 

intentions. The editors could have addressed the 

impacts of various strategies and investment of billions 

of dollars to solve hunger throughout the world as the 

results of this massive investment have been mixed.  

This book is meant to inspire people to join the 

cause of eradicating hunger, but it lacks scientific 

analysis and does not include much of the existing 

academic literature to support this cause. Even so, Dyer 

and Falsani have assembled some profound success 

stories of individuals and shown us a way forward. The 

book consistently echoes a clear message:  it is possible 

to end hunger. Though the current COVID pandemic 

increases the probability of a rise in global food 

insecurity, we can turn to decades-long humanitarian 

efforts that exemplify the possibility of ending world 

hunger, and sooner than we once thought possible. 

In sum, the human stories in The End of Hunger 
make the reader feel emotionally connected to the issue 

and provoke a heartfelt call to action. This is a book 

that will inspire Christian readers to do more for the 

poor and vulnerable. It challenges an often-complacent 

church to live up to the Scripture's central theme to help 

“the least of these.”  It also rouses those who are silent 

in the face of the misery of millions, if not billions, and 

seeks to inspire us to engage in the noble cause of 

creating a better future for all. 
 

 

 

 

 

Yacob Esayas is a Regional Director of Program 

Support for Compassion International, Africa Region. 

His academic background includes engineering, 

environmental sciences and project management. He 

has a diverse work experience in food security, WaSH, 

engineering, and climate change response in several 

African countries. 

 

Author email:  yesayas@et.ci.org  
 

 

mailto:yesayas@et.ci.org

