21/10/2009

FAO - Global platform for food security revitalized

(i)  World hunger tops one billion
As of 2009, FAO estimates that 1.02 billion people are undernourished worldwide. This is the highest number since 1970, the earliest year for which comparable statistics are available.

(ii) Even before the food and economic crises, hunger was on the rise
The World Food Summit target of halving the number of undernourished by 2015 will not be reached if the trends that prevailed before the crises continue.

(iii) Coping mechanisms severely strained
To cope with crises, poor people reduce dietary diversity and spending on education and health care. These coping mechanisms were strained during the food crisis, and the poor will now be forced to draw on their meagre assets even more deeply.

(iv) A healthy agriculture sector can provide an economic and employment buffer in times of crisis.
Experience suggests that the economic crisis may cause investment in agriculture to decline in the short-to-medium term. This outcome must be avoided so that agriculture, especially in the poorest countries, can serve as an engine of growth and poverty reduction.

(v) Safety nets must address the short-term impacts while providing long-term solutions.
Recipients should ultimately graduate from the programmes by gaining access to modern inputs and adopting new technologies.

(vi) A right-to-food approach has an important role to play in eradicating food insecurity.
To lift themselves out of hunger, the food-insecure need better control over resources, access to opportunities, and improved governance.