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Number of World's Hungry Drops Below 1 Billion

   VOA News 14 September 2010
   A  Nigerien  woman cooks millet paste as children eat breakfast from a
   shared  bowl  in  the  village of Tamou, 60 kilometers outside Niamey,
   Niger, 26 Feb 2010.

Photo: AP

   A  Nigerien  woman cooks millet paste as children eat breakfast from a
   shared  bowl  in  the  village of Tamou, 60 kilometers outside Niamey,
   Niger, 26 Feb 2010.

   The  number  of  people suffering from chronic hunger around the world
   has dropped for the first time in 15 years, to below one billion.
   The  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization on Tuesday credited improved
   economic conditions and lower food prices for the drop.
   But  the  organization  noted  that  there  are still some 925 million
   people who are hungry, most of whom live in developing countries.
   FAO  Director-General  Jacques  Diouf  said one child continues to die
   every  six  seconds  due  to malnourishment, a number that he said was
   "absolutely unacceptable."
   He  also  warned  rising  food  prices  could  further threaten people
   suffering  from  chronic  hunger,  though he ruled out a repeat of the
   food crisis that gripped much of the world in 2007-2008.
   Prices  for  wheat,  rice and even meat have been increasing in recent
   months due in part to drought in Russia and floods in Pakistan. Â
   This  year's  food riots in Mozambique and protests in Egypt have also
   pushed  the  question  of  food  security  to  the  top  of the global
   political agenda.
   The  FAO  called on governments to increase investment in agriculture,
   expand  social  assistance programs and improve income-generating jobs
   for the rural and urban poor.
   One  year ago, the U.N. food agency estimated that 1.02 billion people
   worldwide were not getting enough food.
   The  reduction in malnourishment was mostly concentrated in Asia, with
   80 million fewer people going hungry this year. In sub-Saharan Africa,
   the drop was smaller -- about 12 million.
   Despite  the  improvements,  the  FAO  said one out of three people in
   sub-Saharan Africa would continue to be undernourished this year.
   The  report  also said two-thirds of the world's undernourished people
   live in seven countries: Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of
   Congo,  Ethiopia,  India, Indonesia and Pakistan.  It said 40 percent
   live in India and China alone.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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