The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the number of chronically malnourished people in the world will fall from 776 million to 440 million in 2030. Good news -- except when compared with targets agreed at the 1996 World Food Summit.
At the 1996 summit, members pledged to cut the number of hungry people worldwide in half by 2015. According to the FAO, the number will shrink by only 11 percent. By 2030, the number of hungry people will be cut by several hundred million, but that still will not reach the 2015 goal laid out seven years ago. In some regions, such as South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of hungry will only shrink marginally by 2030 -- from 194 million to 183 million people.
As the FAO predicts that growth in food production will exceed population growth, the failure to feed the poor has become more of a political issue than an agricultural one. The U.N. agency says the amount of land being utilized can be increased by 20 percent by 2030, and more intensive production techniques will also help. The FAO believes that the targets can be reached without relying on genetically modified foods, but such food production remains an option.
Other forecasts are not as optimistic. Annual growth in grain production has been cut in half since the 1980s, prompting speculation that maximum productivity has been reached.
It is obscene that hunger exists in the developing world at a time when farmers in wealthy nations are paid not to produce crops and mountains of produce are wasted in government storage. Markets must be used to stimulate production and ensure that food gets to those that need it. Economic reform is one key to attacking world hunger; common sense and compassion are two others. There is no excuse for chronic hunger in a world of plenty.