2011 Global Hunger Index Report Highlights Price Volatility as Threat to Food Security

Improving global food security and ending hunger worldwide are daunting tasks, and policymakers striving toward these goals face many obstacles, from changing climate conditions to increasing financial speculation to highly concentrated export markets. These factors and more can contribute to high, and highly volatile, food prices, threatening global food security and causing widespread human suffering.

The 2011 Global Hunger Index report , entitled The Challenge of Hunger: Taming Price Spikes and Excessive Food Price Volatility, highlights the need for researchers and policymakers to address the many causes behind high and volatile food prices. To do so, the report recommends a series of steps, including building up international food stocks and improving information-sharing regarding stocks and production.

The Global Hunger Index, now in its sixth edition, is an annual report produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide. The GHI scores countries based on three indicators: proportion of people who are undernourished, proportion of children under five years of age who are underweight, and child mortality rate. According to the 2011 report, 26 countries have hunger levels that are alarming or extremely alarming.

Download the full report .

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