FAO recently released its 2013 State of Food Security in the World report. This annual report looks at the number and location of people suffering from chronic hunger around the globe, and provides analysis of how different policies can be used to target different regions and populations.
According to this year's report, the number of chronically hungry people for the period 2011-2013 was 842 million, down 26 million from the 2010-2012 period. This latest number means that approximately 12% of the global population suffers from chronic hunger. This percentage has fallen from 17% in 1990-1992. While developing countries as a whole have made progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015, significant differences persist across regions. Sub-Saharan Africa saw modest progress between 2011-2013; Southern Asia and North Africa showed slow progress during the same period, while Western Asia saw no progress.
The report highlights that in developing countries, unless policies specifically target poor populations, overall economic growth may not benefit the more vulnerable people. True, inclusive hunger and poverty reduction requires policies aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity and increasing food availability everywhere, as well as policies that focus on undernutrition, not just undernourishment.