I'll bet many families wish they had the option to offer their children, like that, to get them out of starving while they try to grow up. It seems the best available option, with much less foreign aid coming in.
If my family were in a similar situation they'd probably just try on their own until the kid dies tbh.
Agreed. But, I'm going to guess that you come from a culture and ethnic heritage that valued people as individuals with some agency, and worthy of agency. Christianity had that habit, in a big way. In most of the Middle East and North Africa, much of India, and much of China, family exists to be exploited, but it's better to be exploited by family than strangers.
If my family were in a similar situation they'd probably just try on their own until the kid dies tbh.
Agreed. But, I'm going to guess that you come from a culture and ethnic heritage that valued people as individuals with some agency, and worthy of agency. Christianity had that habit, in a big way. In most of the Middle East and North Africa, much of India, and much of China, family exists to be exploited, but it's better to be exploited by family than strangers.