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General Analysis on Hunger
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World Hunger
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The Voluntary Guidelines on Right to Food (November 2004)
FAO members unanimously adopted the voluntary guidelines “to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.” Although not legally binding, they provide guidance for governments on how to implement existing obligations, for example under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The General Assembly adopted this resolution in 2000 following the Millennium Summit. The document sets out the Millennium Development Goals, including halving the proportion of people living in hunger by 2015.
At the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996, governments adopted the Rome Declaration along with the Plan of Action to achieve world food security.
At the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996, governments adopted the Rome Declaration along with the Plan of Action to achieve world food security.
The UN General Assembly adopted the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1966. The covenant’s article 11 asserts the right to “adequate food.” The ICESCR entered into force in 1976.Overview: World Hunger Series 2006: Hunger and Learning (July 2006)
This overview of the World Food Programme’s new annual publication focuses on the important relationship between hunger and learning. The first part examines how the two impact each other at different stages of people’s lives, and how they jointly affect individual as well as national development. The second part lays out options for policy makers to set off a “virtuous cycle of good nutrition and learning through the generations.” Successful action requires far-sighted national leaders and the full support of the international community.The State of Food Insecurity in the World (2006)
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s annual report evaluates progress towards the World Food Summit goal to halve the number of hungry people by 2015, a more ambitious goal than the Millennium Development Goal to halve the proportion of hungry people.The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005 (November 22, 2005)
This report from the Food and Agriculture Organization states that the number of malnourished people in sub-Saharan Africa has increased over the last decade. The Millennium Development Goals still appear distant for most poor countries, with the exception of those in South America and the Caribbean. The report proposes a “twin-track approach” which focuses on the development of rural areas and providing direct access to food and social safety nets.Progress in Reducing Hunger Has Virtually Halted (October 15, 2002)
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) annual report "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2002" says that in the last ten years, “the number of undernourished people decreased by barely 2.5 million per year and in most regions the number of undernourished people may be actually growing.”World Agriculture: Towards 2015/2030 (August 2002)
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that hunger will still be a big problem in 2030. Despite slower population growth and lower demand for food, environmental problems and food insecurity need urgent attention. (Food and Agriculture Organization)Further Slowdown in Hunger Reduction (October 15, 2001)
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization fears that malnutrition can worsen due to various preventable factors. The report stresses the importance of high investments and productivity in agriculture in order to reduce undernourishement. (Food and Agriculture Organization)
Articles and Documents
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1990
Global Policy Forum’s Katarina Wahlberg warns that for the “first time in decades, worldwide scarcity of food is becoming a problem.” Increasing demand of cereals for food consumption, cattle feeding and in particular biofuel production, is driving food prices to record levels. Especially the poor, who spend a majority of their income on food, will suffer. To make matters worse, the food price hike is also affecting the amount of food aid available, as governments have not increased funding for the UN’s World Food Programme. (World Economy & Development in Brief)
2008
UN Sets Up Food Crisis Task Force (April 29, 2008)
In the face of “widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest on an unprecedented scale,” the United Nations is setting up a task force. The task force, chaired by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and made up of heads of UN agencies and the World Bank, aims to financially support farmers and assist countries with a food deficit in buying seeds. The World Bank pledges to double lending for agriculture in Africa and to provide quicker and more flexible financing to poor countries. It is not clear how, and if, this task force will address long-term threats to international food security such as the distorting EU agricultural subsidies or climate change. (BBC)The World’s Food Insecurity (April 24, 2008)
In comparing the world food crisis of 2008 to that of 1973-74, the author finds many similarities, “despite all the supposed progress of the globalized world economy.” Governments never implemented many of the proposals for ending hunger offered in the early seventies, such as a World Food Bank and an International Fund for Agricultural Development. According to the author, the fact that a food crisis can reoccur over three decades later, reflects badly on the global governance institutions. In addition, the author points to two elements that can worsen 2008’s food crisis: climate change and the effect of financial speculation on food prices. (openDemocracy)Face It, We All Aren't Going to Become Vegetarians (April 18, 2008)
Biofuel production and livestock are important causes of the global food crisis. Both divert huge amounts of grain away from human mouths: 100 million and 760 million tons, respectively. The author states that consumers should eat as little meat as possible. The author concludes that it seems surreal that while half the world might not have anything to eat at all, those in rich countries have endless choices and barely notice the global food crisis. “It is hard to understand how two such different food economies could occupy the same planet, until you realize that they feed off each other.” (AlterNet)Our Global Warming Rage Lets Global Hunger Grow (April 14, 2008)
This article accuses world leaders of being “asleep at the wheel.” While policymakers subsidized biofuels in an effort to counter global warming, enormous food price increases and a consequential food crisis swept in under their “radar screens.” Millions of people cannot afford essential foodstuffs, especially in countries such as Eritrea and Sierra Leone, where 85 to 88 percent of income, goes to food. (Truthout)Food Prices Threaten Global Security – UN (April 9, 2008)
John Holmes, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, warns that rising food prices threaten global security and political stability. Violent food riots and protests against steep price rises of staple foods are already happening around the world. In Egypt, a doubling of basic food prices led to two days of violent rioting in April 2008. (Guardian)A Challenge of Economic Statecraft (April 2, 2008)
In this speech, World Bank President Robert Zoellick proposes a “New Deal for Global Food Policy,” which should not only focus on malnutrition and access to food, but also take into account broader development issues. Zoellick says the World Bank could push for a “Green Revolution” in sub-Saharan Africa or boost investment in agribusinesses. His plans reflect an endless trust in global market solutions, without acknowledging how these forces may be responsible for the global food crisis the World Bank proposes to solve. (World Bank)USA 2008: The Great Depression (April 1, 2008)
This Independent article notes that a record high number of US citizens – 28 million – rely on food stamps to feed themselves and their families. According to the author, this constitutes a “sure sign the world’s richest country faces economic crisis.” Though the global hike in food prices disproportionately affects poor countries, this article shows that rich countries, such as the US, are not immune.A Perfect Storm of Hunger (April 1, 2008)
A “perfect storm” of causes – rising food and oil prices, poor harvests, the falling dollar and an increased demand for biofuels – dramatically increases the World Food Programme’s (WFP) operating costs. The WFP already struggles to feed the millions of people that rely on food aid. The new caseload of people no longer able to afford food will put additional strains on the WFP budget. These mostly urban populations in for instance Central America and Afghanistan cannot afford the nearly doubled prices for basic foodstuffs. (Los Angeles Times)Rising Food Prices, What Should Be Done? (April 2008)
Joachim von Braun, director general of the International Food Policy Institute, calls for policy action in three areas to address the massive rise in food prices. Firstly, he proposes the implementation of social safety nets to help the poor who can no longer afford essential foodstuffs. Secondly, he calls for increased investment in agriculture. Finally, stating that export restrictions and import subsidies only add to global trade distortions that harm poor countries, he calls for other trade policy reforms, such as the removal of trade barriers by rich countries.The New Face of Hunger (March 12, 2008)
In this article for the Washington Post, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addresses the problem of high food prices. He identifies climate change and the increasing use of biofuels as the main causes. Ban also offers solutions to the food crisis, insisting that UN members increase funding for the World Food Programme and strengthen other UN agencies that work on hunger. As a longterm solution to world hunger he points out that “we must boost agricultural production.”The Cost of Food: Facts and Figures (March 10, 2008)
This BBC compilation points out various reasons for a rapid increase in food prices, such as population growth, increased meat consumption and biofuel production. In the course of 2007, the price of wheat increased by 130 percent. Price rises will continue to pose problems to food security. The world population is set to increase from 6 billion to nine billion over the next 50 years, and scarcity will further drive up food prices.High Food and Oil Prices Swelling Ranks of Hungry: WFP (March 6, 2008)
Due to a 40 percent price increase in the price of fuel and grain since mid-2007, the World Food Programme (WFP) has a $500 million budget shortfall. Josette Sheeran, head of the WFP, points to increases in oil and food commodity prices, the booming economies of China and India, bad harvests and droughts, and a shift to biofuels as the main causes of the budget deficit. She argues that governments must take swift action before the crisis leads to social unrest and malnutrition, pointing out that there have already been food riots in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Morocco. (Associated Press)Feed the World? We Are Fighting a Losing Battle, UN Admits (February 26, 2008)
Global food prices have surged upwards, creating a “new face of hunger” in 2008. The World Food Programme (WFP) will not have enough funds to meet existing needs, let alone meet new demands arising because of the price hike. Joachim von Braun, head of the International Food Policy Research Institute points to rising incomes as the main cause of the food crisis. WFP officials identify two further causes of the crisis: climate change and the use of agricultural produce for biofuels instead of food. (Guardian)Crop Prospects and Food Situation (February 2008)
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) predicts that even though global cereal production will increase in 2008, prices will remain at record high levels. Production is not growing fast enough to match the strong demand so countries’ cereal stocks will keep falling. Most of the production increase will take place in the US, EU, China and India. The majority of poor countries will experience a decline in production, making them even more dependent on imports and vulnerable to higher grain prices.Who Benefits from GM Crops? (January 2008)
Friends of the Earth opposes the way in which GM crops are widely promoted as “good for consumers, farmers and the environment.” In this report, the authors systematically assess the impact of GM crops around the world. The organization concludes that based on the available evidence in 2007, GM crops have had “neutral or negative environmental, social and economic impacts.”Women and the Right to Food: International Law and State Practice (2008)
This report concludes that there is a lack of clarity on women’s rights and women’s right to food. For instance, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the main legal instrument for protecting women’s rights, yet it omits the issue of food security for women. Overall, many governments have improved the legal framework to uphold women’s Right to Food, but they have failed to translate this formal legal provision into real, substantive results. The report argues that Millennium Development Goals one (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger) and two (promote gender equality and empower women) go hand in hand. (Food and Agriculture Organization)2007
The World Food Situation: New Driving Forces and Required Actions (December 2007)
In this report, Joachim von Braun evaluates the world food situation. According to von Braun, economic growth in poor countries contributes to an increased demand for “food, feed and fuel” which the slow-growing supply cannot meet. The author argues for the immediate elimination of trade barriers by rich countries, so that poor countries can access the market and even benefit from the rising food prices. In addition, poor countries need social safety nets with a specific focus on early childhood malnutrition to help avert a crisis of general malnutrition. (International Food Policy Research Institute)Scarcity Amid Abundance (October 16, 2007)
This Inter Press Service article investigates the links between economic growth and inequality in Latin America. While Latin American countries are among the world’s largest food producers, poverty and hunger are huge problems in the continent. The article looks in detail at the various projects and policies that have been implemented by governments in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay to reduce hunger and concludes that they have been relatively successful.United Nations: No Progress in Reducing Global Hunger (June 14, 2007)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, expressed anger at the fact that global hunger has grown, despite many promises made by governments to reduce it. In his report to the Human Rights Council, Ziegler argues that although the world is richer than ever, hunger has increased unacceptably. But he highly praises the efforts by some countries like Bolivia to combat hunger by implementing a law on the redistribution of land. Ziegler also considers some alarming cases of poverty, famine and inequality “caused by the hypocritical policies of developed countries on agriculture and climate change”.(Social Watch)Hunger Exacerbating Child Mortality (May 24, 2007)
Inter Press Service highlights the link between extreme poverty and rising infant mortality in Zimbabwe. The country’s economic decline has led to “the breakdown of the health delivery system,” putting Zimbabwe’s under-five mortality rate at 129 per 1,000 live births – a more than 50 percent increase since 1990. Health care workers have called for increased international aid to provide basic food and necessities to “vulnerable groups such as newborn babies.”2006
World’s Hungry Swell to 852 Million Despite Promises to Eradicate Hunger: UN Expert (October 26, 2006)
The number of hungry across the world continues to increase, reports UN News. UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler blames the rising hunger levels on degraded lands, “massive underfunding” of UN feeding programs, and EU and US agricultural subsidizing and dumping. With 80 percent of the world’s hungry living in the countryside, governments and UN agencies must invest in small-scale agriculture and irrigation, Ziegler argues. He further highlights that people must have “access to justice” when their right to food is violated, and recommends that “Israel be held responsible under international law” for the extensive damage that its bombings did to Lebanese livelihoods.A World Addicted to Hunger: Part 1 (May 3, 2006)
850 million people suffer from chronic hunger and five to six million have lost the capacity to produce or buy enough food, even under normal weather and market conditions. As most poor countries actually produce enough food to feed all of their people, Inter Press Service sees unequal distribution and limited physical and economic access to food as the main causes of famines. Furthermore, man-made crises, such as wars, have more than doubled the number of famines since 1992.Malnutrition Kills 10 Children Every Minute (May 3, 2006)
A report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reveals that 146 million children worldwide suffer seriously from underweight, with 73% of them living in only 10 countries. In South Asia, almost every second child suffers from malnutrition – with 57 million living only in India. As China and most Latin American countries are “on track” to achieve the Millennium Goals related to children’s malnutrition, Africa and the Middle East show insufficient or no progress at all. Sad but true – in a world where 170 million children suffer of obesity, rich countries fail to provide enough aid to feed the world’s poor children. (Independent)2005
How Does Food Aid Work? (September 16, 2005)
The UN World Food Programme is the main channel for food aid delivery worldwide. Other UN agencies, NGOs and governments also play an important role in emergency relief by donating money or food. This factsheet from AlertNet provides basic information about the global food aid system, including where food aid comes from, who the largest donors are, and how various agencies function.Why Is Famine so Hard to Define? (September 16, 2005)
There is no universal definition of "famine" among “food aid professionals.” The debate over the definition has not only a semantic and academic value, but also, and especially, a political value. Using the word “famine” implies that governments, donors and aid agencies have failed in taking effective action to prevent a hunger crisis. (AlertNet)Rich Countries' Years of Neglect Have Led to West Africa Food Crisis (August 9, 2005)
Rich countries prefer to give aid "on the basis of news headlines and political priorities instead of need," and West Africans are paying the price, contends this Oxfam International press release. While Iraq receives on average $91 per person in aid per year, Niger, a much poorer country, gets just $12 per person. As a result, African nations are extremely vulnerable to hunger crises.Hunger Is Spreading in Africa (August 1, 2005)
After shocking images of starving children once again appeared on Western viewers’ television screens, food aid is finally beginning to flow into the African nation of Niger. But the 2.9 million hungry people in Niger are only the tip of the iceberg. Over 31 million Africans suffer from famine because the troubled continent’s food production cannot keep pace with population growth. Reforming the international famine response system could save lives, but the long-term solution lies in improving infrastructure and curbing population growth. (Christian Science Monitor)State of the World 2005 Trends and Facts — Cultivating Food Security (January 2005)
This excerpt from a World Watch Institute report warns that despite technological advancements, food insecurity is on the rise. In the second half of the 1990s the number of hungry people increased to nearly two billion people. Not only do “obvious” factors such as conflicts and diseases worsen the situation, but environmental degradation caused by pollution and large scale farming do as well. The report argues that if farmers rely on their environmental knowledge and consumers buy locally produced goods, they can make progress on food security.2004
Number of Hungry Rising, UN Says (December 8, 2004)
A report from the Food and Agriculture Organization reveals disturbing data: in spite of overall world wealth and sufficient amount of food, an increasing proportion of people suffer from starvation. This report follows an equally dire report from the International Labour Organization, which stated that half of the world’s workers earn less than $2 a day. (New York Times)World Hunger Summit 2004 (September 25, 2004)
This ZNet article calls the World Hunger Summit 2004 the top “un-reported story” of the past few months. Preoccupied with the war in Iraq, major media sources and US delegates completely omitted this United Nations conference, where Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva argued that “peace will never rise from poverty and hunger.”2003
How the World Is Getting Hungrier Each Year (November 26, 2003)
According to a Food and Agriculture Organization report, hunger is on the rise again, adding about 5 million hungry people every year. The report concludes that "the problem is not so much a lack of food as a lack of political will." (Independent)2002
War on Hunger More Smoke Than Roast (March 2002)
Though significant progress has been made in halving the number of hungry people in the world, numbers are declining at too slow a rate to meet the World Food Summit target. The basic technical tools to achieve the Summit objective are in place, says Jacques Diouf, director-general of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, but political will and resources have so far been lacking. (Inter Press Service)2001
Safety of Modified Food Taken Up by UN (July 8, 2001)
The 165 member states of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the top UN food standards body, agree to draft global guidelines to guarantee the safety of genetically modified food in supermarkets. (Associated Press)2000
ECOSOC Meets on Ways of Battling World Hunger (October 30, 2000)
More investment in agricultural development is needed to ensure that future generations will be able to feed themselves. (UN News)1990
Public Action to Remedy Hunger (August 2, 1990)
Nobel Laureate and development economist Amartya Sen attacks the defeatist notion that “nothing can be done” about world hunger. Democratic processes and uncensored press can hold governments accountable for failing to prevent starvation. Also, Sen argues, economic institutions and social movements must be part of any integrated approach to end hunger. Rather than seeing the public as “the long-suffering patient,” Sen argues that public action can eradicate large-scale starvation. (Hunger Project)
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