World Hunger

#food - The number of undernourished people in the world rose to 963 million in 2008, compared to 923 million in 2007 according to preliminary estimates published by FAO in December 2008. 40 million people have been pushed into hunger in 2008 primarily due to higher food prices and the ongoing financial and economic crisis could tip even more people into hunger and poverty during 2009.

Prices of major cereals have fallen by over 50 percent from their peaks earlier in 2008 but they remain high compared to previous years. With prices for seeds and fertilizers (and other inputs) more than doubling since 2006, poor farmers could not increase production. As a result, cereal production in developed countries is likely to rise by at least 10 percent in 2008. The increase in developing countries may not exceed even one percent.

The vast majority of the world's undernourished people - 907 million - live in developing countries, according to the 2007 data reported by the State of Food Insecurity in the World. Of these, 65 percent live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. In sub-Saharan Africa, one in three people - or 236 million (2007) - are chronically hungry, the highest proportion of undernourished people in the total population.

Source: Food & Agriculture Organisation