Halving global hunger still possible says Oxfam
14 September 2010

The world can halve global hunger in the next five years but only if real action is taken at this month’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit instead of letting fate take its course, says international aid agency Oxfam as it launches a new report today. The report ‘Halving World Hunger: Still Possible’ coincides with an announcement by the UN Food and Agricultural Committee (FAO) that the number of hungry people worldwide has dropped by 98 million to 925 million in the past year. However, Oxfam warns that the decline - the first in 15 years and down from a record high in 2009 - is largely down to luck, such as two years of favourable weather patterns, as opposed to concrete action from world leaders.

Phil Bloomer, Oxfam’s director of campaigns and policy said: “It is an outrage that in the 21st century men, women and children are still going to sleep with an empty stomach. There has been virtually no change in the proportion of hungry people now compared to 2000 when the MDG agreements were made. Governments have failed to tackle the underlying causes of hunger including food price volatility and decades of under investment in agriculture and climate change.

“Countries such as Vietnam and Brazil have proved that with the right policies this situation can be transformed. When global leaders get together in New York, they must put their weight behind a global action plan that will bring all countries together to tackle hunger.”

The fall in those going hungry follows two years of good harvests which had until recently led to a reduction in global food prices. However, if governments are to deliver on their promise to halve hunger by 2015 they need to both increase their investment and implement policies, which are needed to address the underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition.

Overall in the ten years since the Millennium Development Goals were agreed, the proportion of hungry people in the world has decreased by only half a per cent from 14 per cent in 2000 to 13.5 per cent today. In recent months, a wave of weather related disasters including drought and wildfires in Russia and floods in Pakistan, have raised the spectre of another global food crisis.

“Any reduction in the number of hungry people is welcome but we cannot be complacent - the food crisis has not gone away. Despite there being enough food in the world to feed everyone, 925 million people are hungry today,” said Bloomer.

Oxfam’s new report points to countries such as Vietnam and Brazil that have achieved or are on track to halve hunger levels as evidence that it is still possible. These countries have dramatically reduced hunger at home by supporting poor food producers and providing social safety nets for people who cannot produce or buy enough food.

Oxfam calls on world leaders, meeting in New York (20 – 22 September) to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals and back the development of a global action plan on hunger as part of a broader rescue package for all the MDGs. The action plan should support the development of national plans to reduce hunger, ensure these plans are properly funded through increased international aid and national investment, and develop the global policies needed to address global threats to food security.

Bloomer said: “It is shameful that ten years since world leaders vowed to halve global hunger by 2015, we are no closer towards achieving this goal. We know it is possible, we know how it can be done, but what is missing is the political will.

“Tackling hunger must not come at the expense of education, healthcare or any of the other Millennium Development Goals. We can not ask a mother to choose between feeding and educating her child.”

About the Millennium Development Goals

In September 2000, 189 world leaders met at the United Nations and promised to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. They agreed a roadmap setting out eight time-bound and measurable goals to be reached by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals are:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop global partnership for development