World's hungry rising by 5 million per year, says U.N. report

Published: 2003-11-25

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- About 842 million people worldwide are undernourished, with the number of chronically hungry people growing at a rate of nearly 5 million a year, according to a report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The report, released Nov. 25, said the fight against world hunger was being lost and that countries would not meet the goal stated at the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome to reduce by 50 percent the number of undernourished people by 2015. "FAO's latest estimates signal a setback in the war against hunger," the report said. Data compiled from 1995-1997 and from 1999-2001 showed an increase of 18 million undernourished people, wiping out decreases attained in the early 1990s. "Unless significant gains are made in large countries where progress has stalled, it will be difficult to reverse this negative trend," the FAO report said. The report said there were 798 million undernourished people in developing nations, with the number of hungry continuing to rise in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East.

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