The State of Food Insecurity in the World: Economic Crises - Impacts and Lessons Learned

Book excerpt: The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2009 presents the latest statistics on global undernourishment and concludes that structural problems of uderinvestment have impeded progress toward the World Food Summit goal and the first Millennium Development Goal hunger reduction target. This disappointing state of affairs has been exacerbated by first the food crisis and now the global economic crisis that, together, have increased the number of undernourished people in the world to more that one billion for the first time since 1970. This crisis is different from the crisis developing countries have experienced in the past, because it is affecting the entire world simultaneously and because developing countries today are more integrated into the global economy than in the past. In the context of the enormous financial pressures faced by governments, the twin-track approach remains an effective way to address growing levels of hunger in the world. Investments in the agriculture sector, especially for public goods, will be critical if hunger is to be eradicated. Also published in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish.