WORLD FOOD DAY - 2011

"FOOD PRICES -- FROM CRISIS TO STABILITY" has been chosen as this year's World Food Day theme to shed some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.

As events around the world get underway to mark World Food Day the 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report was recently released. This report, prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) presents a multidimensional of global, regional and national hunger, calls for action to build resilience and mitigate the effects of volatility, particularly in countries where hunger is most severe. Hunger has emerged as the world's number one health risk with one in seven people not receiving sufficient food to lead a healthy, active life.

The Global Hunger Index operates on a 100-point scale basis, in which zero represents the best score (no hunger) and 100 the worst.

Of the 59 countries with serious, alarming and extremely alarming GHI scores, around 28 are characterized by mountainous territory. According to the report, since 1990 a dramatic increase in hunger has occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (moved from a GHI score of 24 in 1990 to 39 at present a GHI of 39). Moreover, mountainous countries such as Djibouti, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Yemen are concerned by an alarming level of hunger (GHI between 20 and 29.9). The GHI report also reveals a serious hunger (GHI between 10 and 19.9) situation in Bolivia, Cameroon, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. The full report is available online at http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ghi11.pdf.

Price swings, upswings in particular, represent a major threat to food security in developing countries. Hardest hit are the poor. According to the World Bank, in 2010-2011 rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty. At the World Food Day celebrations held today (17 October) in Rome at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Headquarters, in closing Jacques Diouf, Director-General FAO said, “On World Food Day 2011, let us reflect seriously at what causes swings in food prices, and articulate alternatives on what needs to be done at national, regional and global levels to reduce the impact on almost a billion people who do not have enough to eat.”

In his message for World Food Day 2011,Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations stated that “There is more than enough food on the planet to feed everyone, yet today nearly 1 billion people will go hungry. I urge world leaders in rich and poor countries alike to invest the energy and resources necessary to win the battle against hunger. This year’s World Food Day highlights the issue of price volatility. For the world’s poorest people, many of whom spend up to 80 per cent of their income on food, this can be devastating. In 2007-2008, food price inflation pushed some 80 million people into hunger. Recent food price hikes have propelled another 70 million people into extreme poverty. The world has the knowledge and the resources to end hunger; we have the tools to ensure that the poorest are buffered from the impact of rising prices. Let us use them — now — to conquer hunger.”

Find out more about World FoodDay 2011 at http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/