FACES OF THE HUNGRY

Ten million people die every year of hunger and hunger-related diseases. Only eight percent are the victims of high-profile earthquakes, floods, droughts and wars. The rest are often forgotten. Who are they?

Ask about the hungry and most people will talk about the victims of Ethiopia's famine in 1984-85, homeless families marooned by Bangladeshi floods or refugees fleeing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They probably won't know that in total there are over 800 million hungry people in developing countries who don't make the headlines -- more than the combined populations of the United States, Canada and the European Union.

They come at all ages, from babies whose mothers cannot produce enough milk to the elderly with no relatives to care for them. They are the unemployed inhabitants of urban slums, the landless farmers tilling other peoples' fields, the orphans of AIDS and the sick, who need special or increased food intake to survive.

The scales are tipped against the vast majority of the world's hungry from birth. Over 20 million low birthweight (LBW) babies are born in developing countries every year - 30 percent of them in India and Bangladesh. Even if they survive infancy, LBW babies face stunted physical and cognitive growth in childhood. As adults, this translates into reduced work capacity and earnings.

Hunger's vicious cycle not only extends throughout the victim's lifetime but also into the next generation. Malnourished mothers give birth to LBW babies.

RURAL RISK

Three-quarters of all hungry people live in rural areas, mainly in the villages of Asia and Africa. Overwhelmingly dependent on agriculture for their food, these populations have no alternative source of income or employment and, as a result, are particularly vulnerable to crises.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) calculates that of the developing countries' 815 million hungry, half are farming families, surviving off marginal lands prone to natural disasters like drought or flood, and one in five belong to landless families dependent on farming. About 10 percent live in communities whose livelihoods depend on herding, fishing or forest resources.

The remaining 20 percent live in the ever expanding shanty towns on the periphery of the biggest cities in developing countries. But the numbers of poor and hungry city dwellers are rising rapidly along with the world's total urban population.

A study of 14 developing countries by the International Food Policy Research Institute showed that, from 1985-1996, the number of underweight children living in urban areas rose at a more rapid rate than in rural areas.

CHILD HUNGER

An estimated 167 million children under five years of age in the world are underweight - the result of acute or chronic hunger. This means that 20 percent of all hungry people are children.

Chronic hunger delays or stops physical and mental growth of children. Poor or insufficient nutrition over time means some 226 million children are too small for their age.

Undernourished infants lose their curiosity, motivation and even the will to play. Millions leave school prematurely.

Most tragically, diseases such as measles or dysentery, can kill undernourished children. According to the FAO, every year that hunger continues at present levels costs five million children their lives.

All too often, child hunger is inherited: up to 17 million children are born underweight annually, the result of inadequate nutrition before and during pregnancy.

In adult life, child hunger gnaws away at the productivity of entire countries' workforces. Economists estimate hunger is responsible for reducing the GNP of some developing countries by two to four percent.

WOMEN

Women are the world's primary food producers, yet cultural traditions and social structures often mean women are much more affected by hunger and poverty than men. Seven out of 10 of the world's hungry are women and girls.

While around 25 percent of men in developing countries suffer from anaemia caused by an iron deficiency, 45 percent of women are affected. Lack of iron means 300 women die during childbirth every day. As a result, women, in particular, expectant and nursing mothers, often need special or increased intake of food.

Maternal stunting and underweight are also among the most prevalent causes of giving birth to a low birthweight child.