Thirty-eight countries meet global hunger targets ahead of schedule

Developments

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO) issued a circular at its headquarters in Rome on June 12, confirming that 38 countries around the world will achieve the set goal of fighting hunger before the 2015 deadline.

According to FAO statistics, 20 countries in the world have achieved the first of the UN Millennium Development Goals, that is, the goal of halving the proportion of hungry people established by the international community at the UN General Assembly in 2000, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Indonesia, Maldives, Uruguay, etc. At the same time, 18 other countries have achieved both the first Millennium Development Goal and the more stringent target set by the 1996 World Food Summit to halve the absolute number of undernourished people, including Azerbaijan, Cuba, Ghana, Kuwait, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela, Viet Nam and others. This proves that with strong political will, coordination and cooperation, hunger can be reduced rapidly and sustainably. In this regard, FAO urges all countries to maintain the momentum of development and commit to the total eradication of hunger, in response to the "Zero Hunger" campaign proposed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

FAO data show that the number of hungry people in the world has decreased from 0.925 billion in 2010 to 0.87 billion in 2012, mainly in developing countries, mainly in South Asia, East Asia and sub Saharan Africa. Agriculture plays a pivotal role in providing food. More than 70 per cent of the poor live in rural areas, most of whom depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. Increasing agricultural productivity is therefore an important factor in improving access to food. FAO calls on more countries to redouble their efforts to end hunger and malnutrition through sustainable agriculture and development.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45153#.Ublt4rKBSAg

(Responsible editor: Shixin)