Nearly 1 billion people in the world are malnourished. This figure represents one-sixth of the world’s population, according to a report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), published on Oct. 14. The report's release was timed to coincide with World Food Day today.
The report, "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2009," says that in Asia and the Pacific, an estimated 642 million people are suffering from chronic hunger; in Sub-Saharan Africa, 265 million; in Latin America and the Caribbean, 53 million; and in the Near East and North Africa, 42 million.
In developed countries, the figure is 15 million, according FAO’s annual hunger report produced this year in collaboration with the World Food Program.
U.N. experts point to several main reasons for the increase of hunger in the world. The first is a global crisis affecting the economy of the leading countries, thereby reducing the possibility of overcoming such effects as devaluation of currency and borrowing. Official development assistance also seems less likely as a result of the faltering global economy.
According to FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, to overcome hunger and poverty, world leaders should do the same as they are doing with the economic crisis by mobilizing billions of dollars in a short period of time.
“We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear," said Diouf. "Investing in agriculture in developing countries is key, as a healthy agricultural sector is essential not only to overcome hunger and poverty, but also to ensure overall economic growth.”
In for a Penny, in for a Pounding
The second reason, experts say, is that today’s countries have become intertwined with each other financially, more so than in the past. This relationship makes them sensitive to changes in the global market, the report said.
For example, the income of Latin America’s economy amounted to $184 billion in 2007, which was which was roughly halved in 2008 to $89 billion and is expected to be halved again to $43 billion in 2009, the report says.
According to economists, this means that consumption will need to be reduced, and for some low-income food-deficit countries, adjusting consumption may mean reducing badly needed food imports and other imported items such as health care equipment and medicines.
EU Intends to Overcome Hunger
Last year, the EU allocated 1 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) to a food facility for the supply of food to countries in need. At the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, this year, the EU promised to contribute 2.7 billion euros (US$4 billion) toward this initiative, making the EU the biggest contributing partner.
“World Food Day must serve to remind each and every one of us that we must do everything we can to prevent more than a billion people from going hungry,” said Karel de Gucht, European commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, in a statement.
According to the EU, about 33 million people have already received the necessary assistance. For example, 26,000 tons of seeds and fertilizers have been procured for distribution to 176,000 vulnerable farmers in Zimbabwe—representing between 10 and 15 percent of communal farmers in the country.
