Thumbnail Image

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004

Monitoring progress towards the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goals

Year of publication 2004

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Product type Book (series)

ISBN 925105178X

Series title The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI)

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) The sixth edition of The State of Food Insecurity in the World reports that the number of chronically hungry people in the developing world has fallen by only 9 million since the World Food Summit baseline period of 1990–1992. The conclusion is inescapable – we must do better. Looking at the impressive progress that more than 30 countries in all developing regions have made in reducing hunger, the report highlights another clear and compelling lesson – we can do better. And for the f irst time, The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004 presents provisional estimates of the staggering costs that hunger inflicts on households and nations – the millions of lives ravaged by premature death and disability, the billions of dollars in lost productivity and earnings. On both moral and pragmatic grounds, these estimates lead to one more unavoidable conclusion – we cannot afford not to do better. The report also includes a special feature examining the impact that the rapid growth of cities and incomes in developing countries and the globalization of the food industry have had on hunger, food security and nutrition. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004 concludes with an urgent appeal to scale up action, resources and commitment in order to achieve the World Food Summit goal. That goal of cutting the number of hungry people in half by the year 2015 can still be reached if we just focus our efforts over the next ten years on simple, low-cost, targete d actions that will improve food security quickly for very large numbers of people. Hunger cannot wait.

Language English

Also available in:

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (stand-alone)
    Stories from Africa
    Changing lives through diversified healthy foods
    2021
    Also available in:
    A healthy diet of fresh vegetables, proteins and fruit is a key ingredient for eliminating hunger and all forms of malnutrition and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger by 2030. Unfortunately, a healthy diet has become an unaffordable luxury for close to 1 billion Africans, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 report. Globally, the cost of a healthy diet is above the international poverty line, meaning that people earning less than US$1.90 per day cannot afford to eat adequate calories and nutrients from diverse food groups. Compared to other regions, this affordability crisis poses the greatest challenge in Africa. COVID-19 has compounded the problem by disrupting food supply chains and livelihoods, to different extents across the continent. Ultimately, it has meant some households are facing increased difficulties in accessing nutritious foods. That’s not all. At the height of the pandemic, movement restrictions meant fewer customers at fruit and vegetable markets in some urban centres, causing fresh produce to go to waste. Fishmongers faced similar problems. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa had the highest prevalence of undernourishment - more than twice the global average - and the fastest growth in the number of hungry people compared to other regions. If recent trends persist, Africa will overtake Asia to become the region with the highest number of undernourished people, accounting for half of the total in 2030. Bold actions – in communities, parliaments and internationally – are needed to transform food systems, make healthy diets affordable and drive progress towards the realization of SDG 2. FAO’s work in Africa is driven by these aims, and there are a lot of winning interventions that are bringing hope and better nutrition to many communities. Stories from Africa: Nutrition highlights FAO’s cross-cutting work on nutrition: from micro-gardens in Senegal to innovative farming techniques in Eritrea, and from raising chickens in Cameroon to promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture in Rwanda. These hope-filled stories show that through hard work, innovation and partnerships, ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition is still possible despite the global challenges
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 1999
    Food insecurity: when people must live with hunger and fear starvation
    1999
    Also available in:
    In the developing world, 790 million people do not have enough to eat, according to the most recent estimates (1995/97). That represents a decline of 40 million compared to 1990/92. At the World Food Summit in 1996, world leaders pledged to reduce the number of hungry people to around 400 million by 2015. At the current rate of progress, a reduction of 8 million undernourished people a year, there is no hope of meeting that goal. According to The State of Food Insecurity in the W orld 1999, the current reduction does not indicate uniform progress throughout the world. Indeed the data reveal that, in the first half of this decade, just 37 countries achieved a reduction in the number of undernourished, totalling 100 million people. Across the rest of the developing world, the number of hungry people actually increased by almost 60 million. This first edition of The State of Food Insecurity in the World also points out that hunger is not limited to the devel oping nations. It presents the first assessment of the number of undernourished people in the developed world, finding 8 million in the industrialized countries and 26 million in the countries in transition.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008
    High food prices and food security – threats and opportunities
    2008
    Also available in:
     Show more
    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 represents FAO’s ninth progress report on world hunger since the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS). In previous editions, FAO has expressed deep concern over the lack of progress in reducing the number of hungry people in the world, which has remained persistently high. This year’s report focuses on high food prices, which are having a serious impact on the poorest populations in the world,drastically reducing their already low purchasing power. High foo d prices have increased levels of food deprivation, while placing tremendous pressure on achieving internationally agreed goals on hunger by 2015. This report also examines how high food prices present an opportunity to relaunch smallholder agriculture in the developing world.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.