More than one billion people go to bed hungry everyday
More than one billion people go to bed hungry everyday as the deadly
combination of a severe food shortage and one of the worst global
financial crises in living memory has shrunk food aid to an all-time
low, a UN body said today.
"The combination of food and economic crises has pushed the number of hungry people worldwide to historic levels--more than one billion people are undernourished," Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated in its annual hunger report-2009, produced in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP).
Bulk of the starving population belong to the developing world, with Asia and the Pacific region estimated to have about 642 million hungry people in 2009, Sub-Saharan Africa 265 million, Latin America and the Caribbean 53 million while the Near East and North Africa 42 million, the report said.
On the other hand, the world's rich country have 15 million people who are suffering from chronic hunger, the report released on the eve of World Food Day on October 16 said.
"World leaders have reacted forcefully to the financial and economic crisis and succeeded in mobilising billions of dollars in a short time period. The same strong action is needed now to combat hunger and poverty," FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said.
"The rising number of hungry people is intolerable. We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear, what is missing is a stronger political will to eradicate hunger forever," he noted.
"The combination of food and economic crises has pushed the number of hungry people worldwide to historic levels--more than one billion people are undernourished," Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated in its annual hunger report-2009, produced in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP).
Bulk of the starving population belong to the developing world, with Asia and the Pacific region estimated to have about 642 million hungry people in 2009, Sub-Saharan Africa 265 million, Latin America and the Caribbean 53 million while the Near East and North Africa 42 million, the report said.
On the other hand, the world's rich country have 15 million people who are suffering from chronic hunger, the report released on the eve of World Food Day on October 16 said.
"World leaders have reacted forcefully to the financial and economic crisis and succeeded in mobilising billions of dollars in a short time period. The same strong action is needed now to combat hunger and poverty," FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said.
"The rising number of hungry people is intolerable. We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear, what is missing is a stronger political will to eradicate hunger forever," he noted.
The
report pointed out that several factors have conspired to make the
current crisis particularly devastating for poor households in
developing countries.
The financial crisis affected a large part of the world at the same time, reducing the scope for traditional coping mechanisms such as currency devaluation, borrowing or increased use of official development assistance, it said.
In addition, the economic crisis came on top of a food crisis that had already strained the coping strategies of the poor, hitting those most vulnerable to food insecurity when they were down, it said.
Another factor that differentiates this crisis from those in the past is that developing countries have become more integrated, both financially and commercially, into the world economy than they were 20 years ago, making them more vulnerable to changes in international markets, the report added.
"At a time when there are more hungry people in the world than ever before, there is less food aid than we have seen in living memory. We know what is needed to meet urgent hunger needs — we just need the resources and the international commitment to do the job."
The financial crisis affected a large part of the world at the same time, reducing the scope for traditional coping mechanisms such as currency devaluation, borrowing or increased use of official development assistance, it said.
In addition, the economic crisis came on top of a food crisis that had already strained the coping strategies of the poor, hitting those most vulnerable to food insecurity when they were down, it said.
Another factor that differentiates this crisis from those in the past is that developing countries have become more integrated, both financially and commercially, into the world economy than they were 20 years ago, making them more vulnerable to changes in international markets, the report added.
"At a time when there are more hungry people in the world than ever before, there is less food aid than we have seen in living memory. We know what is needed to meet urgent hunger needs — we just need the resources and the international commitment to do the job."
