Several drives supported by various governments have been launched to improve world nutrition. The United Nations set up the goal of reducing the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by at least 50 percent between the period of 1990 and 2015. Apart from the United Nations, other supporters of the goal included the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
A report, which bears the title "The State of Food Insecurity in the World," shows that a progress has been achieved to reduce hunger and malnutrition at the global level. However, there is still a lot of work needed to fight food insecurity.
"Access to food has improved fast and significantly in countries that have experienced rapid overall economic progress, notably in eastern and south-eastern Asia," said by the UN's Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO). "Access is still a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, where income growth has been sluggish, poverty rates have remained high and rural infrastructure remains limited."
The world's total population is now recorded to have reached more than 7.2 billion. People belonging to around 11.3 percent of the population still live in hunger. This has been decreased from the 12.1 percent recorded from 2008-2010 and the 18.7 percent recorded from 1990-1992.
The number of hungry people in the world has fallen by over 100 million during the past decade. It was also reduced by around 209 million from 1990-1992.
FAO officials distinguish how hunger is different from undernourishment. One feels hunger when there are stomach pangs and the person gets fatigued. Undernourishment, on the other hand, is labeled as a chronic physical condition which can cause the person to be underweight for his age. Other results would be a growth slowdown or lack of having a normal height and vitamins and minerals deficiency. This condition usually affects large communities and maybe even a whole country where enough quality food is unavailable.
"The problem is getting smaller," says Josef Schmidhuber, an economist with the FAO. "It's good news, but we have always had a more ambitious target."
Africa has been noted as the continent with the highest rate of undernourishment as one in five people has very minimal access to nutritious food. Asia has the highest total number of people that are undernourished. This is led by India with 191 million. The FAO and WFP cited low income, poor agricultural development, and limited social safety nets as the culprits.
Haiti accounts for the highest rate of undernourished in the world at 52 percent. The WFP attributed this record as a result of the natural calamities that the country has endured. These include the 2010 earthquake, the several hurricanes in 2012, and the 2014 drought.
As long as world leaders stick to their commitments and the international community continues to help, the world can win the war against hunger.
