MDG target to halve proportion of world’s hungry still within reach by end of 2015
Rome—About 805 million people in
the world, or one in nine, suffer from hunger, according to a new UN report
released Sept. 16.
The State
of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI 2014) confirmed a
positive trend which has seen the number of hungry people decline globally by
more than 100 million over the last decade and by more than 200 million since
1990-92. The report is published annually by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
and the World Food Program (WFP).
The
overall trend in hunger reduction in developing countries means that the
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving
the proportion of undernourished people by 2015 is within reach, "if
appropriate and immediate efforts are stepped up," the report said. To
date, 63 developing countries have reached the MDG target, and six more are on
track to reach it by 2015.
"This
is proof that we can win the war against hunger and should inspire countries to
move forward, with the assistance of the international community as
needed," the heads of FAO, IFAD and WFP,
José Graziano da Silva, Kanayo F. Nwanze and Ertharin Cousin, wrote in their
foreword to the report.
They
stressed that "accelerated, substantial and sustainable hunger reduction
is possible with the requisite political commitment," and that "this
has to be well informed by sound understanding of national challenges, relevant
policy options, broad participation and lessons from other
experiences."
SOFI
2014 noted how access to food has improved rapidly and significantly in
countries that have experienced overall economic progress, notably in Eastern
and South-Eastern Asia. Access to food has also improved in Southern Asia and
Latin America, but mainly in countries with adequate safety nets and other forms
of social protection including for the rural poor.
Hunger
reduction has accelerated, but some lag behind
Despite significant progress overall, several regions and sub-regions
continue to lag behind. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than one in four people
remain chronically undernourished, while Asia, the world's most populous
region, is also home to the majority of the hungry—526 million people.
Latin
America and the Caribbean have made the greatest overall strides in increasing
food security. Meanwhile Oceania has accomplished only a modest improvement
(1.7 percent decline) in the prevalence of undernourishment, which stood at
14.0 percent in 2012-14, and has actually seen the number of its hungry
increase since 1990-92.
The
agency heads noted that of the 63 countries which have reached the MDG target,
25 have also achieved the more ambitious World Food Summit (WFS) target of
halving the number of undernourished people by 2015. However,
the report indicated that time has run out on reaching the WFS target at the
global level.
Creating
an enabling environment through coordinated actions
With the number of undernourished people remaining
"unacceptably high", the agency heads stressed the need to renew the
political commitment to tackle hunger and to transform it into concrete
actions. In this context, the heads of FAO, IFAD and WFP welcomed the pledge at
the 2014 African Union summit in June to end hunger on the continent by 2025.
"Food
insecurity and malnutrition are complex problems that cannot be solved by one
sector or stakeholder alone, but need to be tackled in a coordinated way,"
they added, calling on governments to work closely with the private sector and
civil society.
The
FAO, IFAD and WFP report specifies that hunger eradication requires
establishing an enabling environment and an integrated
approach. Such an approach includes public and private investments to increase
agricultural productivity; access to land, services, technologies and markets;
and measures to promote rural development and social protection for the most
vulnerable, including strengthening their resilience to conflicts and natural
disasters. The report also emphasizes the importance of specific nutrition
programs, particularly to address micronutrient deficiencies of mothers and
children under five.
Case
studies
This year's report includes seven case studies—Bolivia, Brazil,
Haiti, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malawi and Yemen—that highlight some of the ways
that countries tackle hunger and how external events may influence their
capacity to deliver on achieving food security and nutrition objectives. The
countries were chosen because of their political, economic - particularly in
the agricultural sector - diversities, and cultural differences.
Bolivia, for example, has created institutions to involve a range of
stakeholders, particularly previously marginalized indigenous people.
Brazil's Zero Hunger program, which placed achievement of food
security at the center of the government's agenda, is at the heart of progress
that led the country to achieve both the MDG and WFS targets. Current programs
to eradicate extreme poverty in the country build on the approach of linking
policies for family farming with social protection in a highly inclusive
manner.
Haiti, where more than half the population is chronically
undernourished, is still struggling to recover from the effects of the
devastating 2010 earthquake. The report notes how the country has adopted a national
program to strengthen livelihoods and improve agricultural productivity by
supporting small family farmers' access to inputs and services.
Indonesia has adopted legal frameworks and established institutions
to improve food security and nutrition. Its policy coordination mechanism
involves ministries, NGOs and community leaders. Measures address a wide range
of challenges from agricultural productivity growth to nutritious and safe
diets.
Madagascar is emerging from a political
crisis and is resuming relationships with international development partners
aimed at tackling poverty and malnutrition. It is also working in partnership
to build resilience to shocks and climate hazards, including cyclones, droughts
and locust invasions, which often afflict the island nation.
Malawi has reached the MDG hunger target, thanks to a strong and
persistent commitment to boost maize production. However, malnutrition remains
a challenge - 50 percent of children under five are stunted and 12.8 percent
are underweight. To address the issue, the government is promoting
community-based nutrition interventions to diversify production to include
legumes, milk, fisheries and aquaculture, for healthier diets, and to improve incomes
at the household level.
Conflict,
economic downturn, low agricultural productivity and poverty have made Yemen one of the most
food-insecure countries in the world. Besides restoring political security and
economic stability, the government aims to reduce hunger by one-third by 2015
and to make 90 percent of the population food-secure by 2020. It also aims to
reduce the current critical rates of child malnutrition by at least one
percentage point per year.
The
findings and recommendations of SOFI 2014 will be discussed by governments,
civil society, and private sector representatives at the 13-18 October meeting
of the Committee on World Food Security, at FAO headquarters in Rome.
The
report will also be a focus of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) in
Rome from 19-21 November, which FAO is jointly organizing with the World Health
Organization. This high-level intergovernmental meeting seeks, at a global
level, renewed political commitment to combat malnutrition with the overall
goal of improving diets and raising nutrition levels.
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