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1 billion people are starving says UN

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African family, World news, Marie Claire

Nearly 1 billion people worldwide are starving every day, following rising food costs which have pushed 40 million more people into situations of chronic hunger this year, according to a UN food agency.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has reported that despite halving food costs earlier this year from their highest peak, basic staples are still 25% higher on average than two years ago.

The soar in prices has lead to a significant increase in the number of people who cannot afford a sufficient number of calories to lead a normal, healthy life.

The exact figure of people starving stands at 963 million – 14% of the world's population and an increase of 40 million from last year's figures.

The FAO report revealed that the majority of starving people live in the developing world, with 65% in just seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.

FAO's assistant director general, Hafez Ghanem commented: 'For millions of people in developing countries, eating the minimum amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream.'

'The structural problems of hunger, like the lack of access to land, credit and employment, combined with high food prices remain a dire reality.'

Food and Agriculture Organisation Director-General Jacques Diouf has already requested wealthier countries to invest $30 billion (£20 billion) a year in agriculture.

'Thirty billion dollars is nothing compared to subsidies and support in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, ... nothing compared to the billions of dollars being spent in all developing countries to face the (ongoing global) financial crisis,' he said.

'I don't think that (30 billion dollars) is asking too much.'

He added: 'We must ask, 'What is the priority? Is it the 963 million who don't have the basic human right to eat?''

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Wednesday 10 December 2008