Even this information, however, showed that 16 per cent of the region’s total population, or some 542 million people, were consuming less than the dietary minimum (FAO 2008). The picture for underweight children is even more troubling. The problem was that although food was plentiful and available, millions of people, particularly agricultural labourers who had lost wages because of severe flooding, could not afford to buy it and suddenly faced starvation (Sen 1999). It undermines the health of adults and reduces their capacity to live and work to their full potential.