It goes a little way to stave off starvation (4)
I believe the answer is:
bite
'stave off starvation' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'it goes a little way to' is the wordplay.
'it' becomes 'bi' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'goes' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'went' mean this ('go' can mean move)).
'a little' means to remove the last letter (the word is not quite complete).
'way' becomes 'e' (Compass direction - East).
'e'+'to'='eto'
'eto' with its last letter removed is 'et'.
'et' with letters rearranged gives 'te'.
'bi'+'te'='BITE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bite that I've seen before include "Get teeth into" , "(Of fish) take the bait" , "Light meal" , "Grip with teeth" , "champ" .)