9 December 2008, Rome - Another 40 million
people have been pushed into hunger this year primarily due to higher food
prices, according to preliminary estimates published by FAO today. This
brings the overall number of undernourished people in the world to 963
million, compared to 923 million in 2007 and the ongoing financial and
economic crisis could tip even more people into hunger and poverty, FAO
warned.
"World food prices have dropped since early 2008, but lower prices have
not ended the food crisis in many poor countries," said FAO Assistant
Director-General Hafez Ghanem, presenting the new edition of FAO's hunger
report, The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008.
"For millions of people in developing countries, eating the minimum
amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant
dream. The structural problems of hunger, like the lack of access to land,
credit and employment, combined with high food prices remain a dire
reality," he stressed.
Prices of major cereals have fallen by over 50 percent from their peaks
earlier in 2008 but they remain high compared to previous years. Despite its
sharp decline in recent months, the FAO Food Price Index was still 28 percent
higher in October 2008 compared to October 2006. With prices for seeds and
fertilizers (and other inputs) more than doubling since 2006, poor farmers
could not increase production. But richer farmers, particularly those in
developed countries, could afford the higher input costs and expand
plantings. As a result, cereal production in developed countries is likely to
rise by at least 10 percent in 2008. The increase in developing countries may
not exceed even one percent.
"If lower prices and the credit crunch associated with the economic
crisis force farmers to plant less food, another round of dramatic food
prices could be unleashed next year," Ghanem added. "The 1996 World
Food Summit target, to reduce the number of hungry by half by 2015, requires
a strong political commitment and investment in poor countries of at least
$30 billion per year for agriculture and social protection of the poor,"
Ghanem said.
Where the hungry live
The vast majority of the world's undernourished people - 907 million -
live in developing countries, according to the 2007 data reported by the State
of Food Insecurity in the World. Of these, 65 percent live in only seven
countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. Progress in these countries with large
populations would have an important impact on global hunger reduction.
With a very large population and relatively slow progress in hunger
reduction, nearly two-thirds of the world's hungry live in Asia (583 million
in 2007). On the positive side, some countries in Southeast Asia like
Thailand and Viet Nam have made good progress towards achieving the WFS
target, while South Asia and Central Asia have suffered setbacks in hunger
reduction.
In sub-Saharan Africa, one in three people - or 236 million (2007) - are
chronically hungry, the highest proportion of undernourished people in the
total population, according to the report. Most of the increase in the number
of hungry occurred in a single country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, as
a result of widespread and persistent conflict, from 11 million to 43 million
(in 2003-05) and the proportion of undernourished rose from 29 to 76 percent.
Overall, sub-Saharan Africa has made some progress in reducing the proportion
of people suffering from chronic hunger, down from 34 (1995-97) to 30 percent
(2003-2005). Ghana, Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique and Malawi have achieved the
steepest reductions in the proportion of undernourished. Ghana is the only
country that has reached both the hunger reduction target of the World Food
Summit and the Millennium Development Goals. Growth in agricultural
production was key in this success.
Latin America and the Caribbean were most successful in reducing hunger
before the surge in food prices. High food prices have increased the number
of hungry people in the sub-region to 51 million in 2007.
Countries in the Near East and North Africa generally experience the lowest
levels of undernourishment in the world. But conflicts (in Afghanistan and
Iraq) and high food prices have pushed the numbers up from 15 million in
1990-92 to 37 million in 2007.
Almost out of reach
Some countries were well on track towards reaching the summit's target,
before food prices skyrocketed but "Even these countries may have
suffered setbacks - some of the progress has been cancelled due to high food
prices. The crisis has mainly affected the poorest, landless and households
run by women," Ghanem said. "It will require an enormous and
resolute global effort and concrete actions to reduce the number of hungry by
500 million by 2015."
Exporters under threat
The world hunger situation may further deteriorate as the financial
crisis hits the real economies of more and more countries. Reduced demand in
developed countries threatens incomes in developing countries via exports.
Remittances, investments and other capital flows including development aid
are also at risk. Emerging economies in particular are subject to lasting
impacts from the credit crunch even if the crisis itself is short-lived.
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