FAO AND WFP SAY ONE BILLION HUNGRY

FAO AND WFP SAY ONE BILLION HUNGRY

(ANSA) - Rome, October 14 - The global recession has pushed the number of hungry people in the world to over one billion, according to a report released Wednesday by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Food Programme.

Falling exports and diminishing foreign aid have hit developing countries hardest, according to the report, plunging 100 million people into the ranks of the world's hungry, an increase of over 9%, over the past year to the highest levels since 1970.

The report said this year's surge culminates a decade-long trend, which has seen the fight against poverty steadily losing ground.

Rising levels of poverty and hunger during both the economic boom of the 1990s and the current recession ''reveal a fragile world food system in urgent need of reform,'' concluded the report.

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf declared on Wednesday that 'the rising number of hungry people is intolerable.''

''We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear, what is missing is a stronger political will to eradicate hunger forever''.

''World leaders have reacted forcefully to the economic crisis in mobilizing billions of dollars in a short time period''.

''The same strong action is needed now to combat hunger and poverty''.

The report estimated that 642 million people in Asia and the Pacific account for most of the world's hungry, followed by 265 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, 53 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, 42 million in the Middle East and over 15 million in developed countries.

The report followed a high-level expert forum in Rome this week on how to feed the world in 2050 where food-security experts said global food production would have to increase by 70% in order to avoid widespread famine over the next 40 years.

From November 16-18, world leaders will reconvene in Rome for the World Summit on Food Security in order to address the impact of the global economic crisis on the world's ability to feed itself.