EuropaWorld 19/10/2001 Doubt Over World Hunger Targets As Latest Statistics Show Slowdown

The United Nation Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned this week that not only were hunger reduction rates around the world slowing down but, alarmingly, most developing countries were even experiencing increases in the number of hungry people.

FAO's annual State of Food Insecurity report (SOFI 2001) is released to coincide with World Food Day on 16 October. The facts it presents are stark. In the 1990's, it says, the number of the world's hungry people declined by an average of 6 million a year. At that rate, says the 2001 report, it would take 60 more years to reduce the number of hungry people in the world to 400 million, the target set for 2015 by the 1996 World Food Summit.

The report estimates that there are 777 million hungry people in developing countries representing 17 per cent of the population. This is clearly an improvement on the late 1960's when 37 per cent of the population were reckoned to be malnourished. However, population growth means that this large percentage fall has had relatively little effect on the total numbers of the hungry which have fallen by less than 20 per cent in this period.

Moreover, even this overall decline in the number of undernourished in the developing regions hides contrasting trends in different countries, the report says. 32 countries, out of 99 studied, recorded falls in their malnourished populations. The remaining 77 either showed an increase in their numbers of hungry people or remained static.

According to the report, to achieve the World Food Summit goal of halving the number undernourished in developing countries by 2015, the average annual decrease required would need to increase from 20 million to 22 million - but both figures are more than three times the current level of performance.

FAO's latest estimates indicate that, in 1997-99, there were 815 million undernourished people in the world: 777 million in developing countries, 27 million in countries transitioning to market economies and 11 million in industrialised countries.

Included in this 777 million figure are at least 180 million chronically undernourished children under 10 years of age. "FAO is particularly concerned that under nutrition among children could worsen due to various factors, including poor economic prospects and HIV/AIDS," said Assistant Director-General, Hartwig de Haen.

Among developing countries two extremes in performance emerge. China, a country that achieved stunning economic and agricultural growth in the 1990's reduced its number of hungry people by 76 million. On the other hand, the Democratic Republic of Congo, a potentially very rich country, saw its number of undernourished grow by 17 million between 1990-92 and 1997-99. However, the report cautions that China is still home to the world's second largest number of undernourished people after India.

The report notes that a relatively small increase in overall food production would suffice to meet the hunger targets if its growth were accompanied by more equitable access to food. This could be achieved either through redistribution of the food itself, or of the means of producing it or of the purchasing power needed to buy it, the report suggests. "The target can be met ……with increased political will," argued Mr de Haen.

In this connection the European Parliament have organised a round-table with FAO to evaluate the results of global initiatives, including progress towards the World Food Summit goals. The talks will also look at food security issues, as well as initiatives undertaken by the agency's specialised services in the field of animal diseases.