Access to food, restricted by conditions related to the Global Financial Crisis, has exacerbated the Global Food Crisis, says the UN Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) new estimate. The full report will be released in October.
With global food markets still recovering from the 2008 food crisis, lower incomes and unemployment have pushed more people into hunger, especially in developing countries. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf explained the problem as,
An FAO spokesman told the BBC that although the global financial crisis has affected the entire world population, the food needs of those mostly living in the developing world have been acutely affected.
The BBC cites UN data of the world’s population affected by hunger, showing that
Despite the challenges of the overall financial crisis, the FAO’s Diouf recommends avoiding “indifference” to the pervasive problem of hunger, which can be driven by conditions natural and/or economic. He says that developing countries,
“…must be given the development, economic and policy tools required to boost their agricultural production and productivity. Investment in agriculture must be increased because for the majority of poor countries a healthy agricultural sector is essential to overcome poverty and hunger and is a pre-requisite for overall economic growth.”
