United Nations: Proportion of undernourished falls by half
July 08, 2015 |09:10 PM
The proportion of undernourished people in the world’s developing regions has fallen by almost half since 1990, the United Nations said this week in its final report on the Millenium Development Goals.
The proportion has decreased from 23.3 percent in 1990–1992 to 12.9 percent in 2014–2016, the report said.
“This is very close to the MDG hunger target,” the report says. “Rapid progress during the 1990s was followed by a slower decline in hunger in the first five years of the new millennium and then a rebound starting around 2008. The projections for the most recent period mark a new phase of slower progress.”
The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to hold a summit beginning September 24 in New York City to adopt the next set of development goals through 2030. U.N. officials have said that “eradicating poverty and hunger remains at the core of the post-2015 development agenda.”
Noting that “the rate of hunger reduction varies widely by region,” the report provides the following regional global analysis:
“The Caucasus and Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Latin America and Southeastern Asia have reached the hunger target, due mainly to rapid economic growth in the past two decades.
“China alone accounts for almost two thirds of the total reduction in the number of undernourished people in the developing regions since 1990.
“Northern Africa is close to eradicating severe food insecurity, having attained an overall level below 5 percent.
“In contrast, the pace of reduction in the Caribbean, Oceania, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa has been too slow to achieve the target.
“Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished people. Progress in Oceania has been slow because of heavy dependence on food imports by the small islands that constitute the majority of countries in that region.
“Food security in this region is also hampered by natural and human-caused disasters, which often result in volatile prices and sudden and unpredictable changes in the availability of important staple foods.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the 2014–2016 period indicate a rate of undernourishment of almost 23 percent. While the hunger rate has fallen, the number of undernourished people has increased by 44 million since 1990, reflecting the region’s high population growth rate.”
The report cites extreme weather conditions and conflicts, violence and forced removal from homes as the biggest causes of continuing hunger. It notes that one in seven children worldwide is underweight.
The proportion has decreased from 23.3 percent in 1990–1992 to 12.9 percent in 2014–2016, the report said.
“This is very close to the MDG hunger target,” the report says. “Rapid progress during the 1990s was followed by a slower decline in hunger in the first five years of the new millennium and then a rebound starting around 2008. The projections for the most recent period mark a new phase of slower progress.”
The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to hold a summit beginning September 24 in New York City to adopt the next set of development goals through 2030. U.N. officials have said that “eradicating poverty and hunger remains at the core of the post-2015 development agenda.”
Noting that “the rate of hunger reduction varies widely by region,” the report provides the following regional global analysis:
“The Caucasus and Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Latin America and Southeastern Asia have reached the hunger target, due mainly to rapid economic growth in the past two decades.
“China alone accounts for almost two thirds of the total reduction in the number of undernourished people in the developing regions since 1990.
“Northern Africa is close to eradicating severe food insecurity, having attained an overall level below 5 percent.
“In contrast, the pace of reduction in the Caribbean, Oceania, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa has been too slow to achieve the target.
“Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished people. Progress in Oceania has been slow because of heavy dependence on food imports by the small islands that constitute the majority of countries in that region.
“Food security in this region is also hampered by natural and human-caused disasters, which often result in volatile prices and sudden and unpredictable changes in the availability of important staple foods.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the 2014–2016 period indicate a rate of undernourishment of almost 23 percent. While the hunger rate has fallen, the number of undernourished people has increased by 44 million since 1990, reflecting the region’s high population growth rate.”
The report cites extreme weather conditions and conflicts, violence and forced removal from homes as the biggest causes of continuing hunger. It notes that one in seven children worldwide is underweight.
