The many faces of global hunger – in pictures

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Lack of proper nutrition affects more than 150 million children worldwide, contributing to 3m deaths each year. In a series of images from Central African Republic, South Sudan and Liberia, part of a new exhibition in London, a trio of award-winning photographers set out to depict the issue in their own way

  • Some names have been changed

Chris de Bode, Abbie Trayler-Smith and Nora Lorek

Main image: Amaranth leaves, a pot of termite wood, a hymn book and a hoe adorn a table in Central African Republic. Photograph: Chris de Bode/Concern/Panos Pictures

  • Householders in Central African Republic were asked to pick items from their daily diet and lives that were important to them. Each tableau tells its owner’s story. Seen here is a table in the home of Amina Alhadji, a motorcycle taxi driver in Bossembélé, Ombella-M’Poko prefecture. It holds mangoes, groundnuts, kola nuts, a nut grinder and a ‘waraga’. The last of these, a talisman the photographer was not allowed to touch, could only be placed on the table by Amina himself. He says it protects him from bullets and accidents
    A table in Amina Alhadji’s home holds mangoes, groundnuts, kola nuts, a nut grinder and a ‘waraga’ (talisman)

  • A table in the home of Natalie Wato, a 35-year-old mother of seven, in Bossembélé. On it are a machete, radio, chicken foot talisman, box of matches, squash leaves and a bag of ground nuts. Natalie and her husband Beni, 39, received seeds, tools and training from the charity Concern Worldwide after they fled their village during conflict. The groundnuts and squash leaves are produce from the seeds. ‘It’s made a big difference,’ says Natalie. ‘Things have changed. The seeds have grown, and we sold part of the harvest and kept the rest for the family. I’m hopeful for the future’
    A table in Natalie Wato’s home in Bossembélé with a machete, radio, chicken foot talisman, box of matches, squash leaves and bag of ground nuts

  • Oliver Mbesse, from Bossembélé, is chairman of a Concern-supported group and grows all the crops shown here – corn, lemongrass, sweet potatoes and mango – on a small plot of land. He is also the leader of the village marching band and owns three trumpets. This one is his favourite. The money reflects his role as chair of the group, while the empty pill packet is left over from his malaria treatment
    A table in Oliver Mbesse's home holding corn, lemongrass, sweet potatoes, mango, a trumpet, money and an empty malaria pill packet

  • Amaranth leaves, a pot full of ‘termite’ wood, a hymn book and a hoe adorn a table in Marie Mbendu’s house in Bossembélé. Marie chose the hymn book to represent her faith. The wood is used as a traditional cure for stomach ache. Amaranth leaves are one of the most widely eaten green vegetables in sub-Saharan Africa. They are fast growing, drought tolerant and can be grown without the need to buy expensive seeds. Marie, 40, has 15-month-old twins Moise and Dorcas. Dorcas recovered from severe malnutrition after admission to a clinic, but now Moise is being treated for malnutrition and diarrhoea
    A table in Marie Mbendu’s house, Bossembélé, with amaranth leaves, a pot full of ‘termite’ wood, a hymn book and a hoe

  • A table in Nadine Doko’s house with food grown on her own plot of land – corn cob, bananas, thinly-sliced squash leaves, ground nuts. Also seen are handmade bracelets and a ‘gris-gris’ talisman to ward off evil. Nadine is an NGO-designated ‘mama lumière’, a lead mother in her community. She passes on her skills and knowledge to other women and encourages mothers to take their children to the nearby health facility at the first sign of malnutrition or sickness
    Table in Nadine Doko’s house with food grown on her own plot of land – corn cob, bananas, thinly-sliced squash leaves, ground nuts – and handmade bracelets and a ‘gris-gris’ talisman to ward off evil.

  • Dukan has lived with her children in a protection of civilians camp (PoC) in Juba, South Sudan since 2015. Her husband died in the crisis. Life in the camp is very difficult, with few opportunities to earn money and a lack of nutritious food and clean water. Dukan’s nine-month-old daughter, Yasmin, has been on a therapeutic feeding programme since April and is getting better
    Dukan in a protection of civilians camp in Juba, South Sudan. Also seen is a bowl of Dukan's food

  • Calaso, 15, and her nine-month-old niece Yasmiin in South Sudan. Yasmiin has been attending Concern’s targeted feeding programme in Juba since April. Both their families are supported through food distribution
    Calaso, 15, and her nine-month-old niece Yasmiin in South Sudan

  • Brothers Nasil and Gatlit live together with their nine children in a small house made of sticks, mud and a few bricks. Nasil’s wife died three years ago and Gatlit’s wife left two years ago. Together, the brothers are doing everything they can to look after their children. But with no way of earning an income, they have to beg at the butchers for animal skin. They then scrape off the remnants of meat to eat
    A man holds a bowl of food that he would typically eat

  • Uba, 23, left her abusive husband last year while she was pregnant and has lived in Aweil East, northern South Sudan, ever since. Currently, Uba earns the equivalent of £1.80 a day working on people’s farms, but says they can go three weeks without being able to buy food, during which her neighbours give her any they have spare. Today, all Uba has had to eat is sorghum – and she is breastfeeding her youngest child, Bilan. ‘If I cannot breastfeed, my baby cries,’ she says. ‘Sometimes I can get a lot of dizziness. There is not enough milk if I have not had enough to eat’
    Uba, 23, with her youngest child, Bilan

  • Idil, 26, has lived with her three children in a PoC camp in South Sudan since 2014. They do not have ration cards and mainly survive off food given to them by their neighbours. Idil likes cooking but does not have enough food. Her 18-month-old baby, Nyadiu, has been in and out of Concern’s nutrition programme since she was six months old
    Idil, 26, who has lived with her three children in a PoC camp in South Sudan since 2014

  • Eunice and her husband have five children and live in Aweil, South Sudan. Food and shelter are a big worry for Eunice – her two oldest children live with their grandparents since Eunice’s house is too small for all her children
    Eunice, in South Sudan, shows an empty bowl

  • Esther Glah, a 69-year-old grandmother, is chairwoman of a mothers’ group in Grand Bassa county, Liberia. She is a trained traditional midwife and also refers women to the local health facility, as well as being a member of the local savings and loan association
    Grandmother Esther Glah, 69, in Grand Bassa county, Liberia

  • Mother-of-four Hannah Barchue, 40, lives in Morris Town, Rivercess county, Liberia. ‘I have learned how to prepare food in the home and to include fruit and vegetables to make a stable diet, rather than just relying on starchy foods like rice and cassava. Concern has taught us how to cultivate and grow vegetables. I’ve already started to plant green vegetables and will give them to the children. Things are better now than before’
    Hannah Barchue in Morris Town, Rivercess county, Liberia

  • Tomar Joe, 27, also lives in Morris Town. ‘The Concern mothers’ group has helped me. The thing that’s benefitted me the most is training on how food should be allocated in the home. Before, the best was given to husbands. Now, it is shared out. My husband agrees with the changes. My children are healthy’
    Tomar Joe, 27, in Morris Town, Rivercess county, Liberia

  • ‘I have learned new things with my friends this year’, says seven-month pregnant Patience Darway, a 35-year-old mother-of-five. ‘The most important is how to breastfeed my newborn properly. And to include vegetables in the family diet. My vegetable garden is really useful. I used to have to buy them. Now I just take from the garden. It means I can spend money on other needs’
    Patience Darway, 35 in Morris Town, Rivercess county, Liberia.

  • Mary, 46, is a member of the Concern-supported savings and loan association and mothers’ group. Thanks to the training she has received in the mothers’ group, she is able to demonstrate to other mums how to cook a meal for a sick or malnourished child. These cookery demonstrations show how to prepare nutritious meals and diversify diets with vegetables and locally-available fruit, such as papaya, banana and pineapple
    Mary in Morris Town, Rivercess county, Liberia
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