Malnutrition in the world is progressing. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than one billion people will suffer from malnutrition in 2009, against 963 million at the end of 2008. There would be a need for 30 billion euros per year to fight hunger and boost family agriculture. Just a year ago, images of food riots in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean flooded television news. A year later, food security remains to be an unsolved dilemma.

In a report prepared for the G8 meeting on agriculture scheduled for April 18 to 20, it says food crisis will have “serious consequences not only on trade relations but also on social and international relations, which have a direct impact on safety and stability of international politics.” Nothing structural has been done to solve the problem.

It has been both a fact and an obvious reality that the need for agricultural raw materials is increasing and that global warming will increase the dangers of shortages and soaring prices. Yet, rich countries continue to ignore the issue of agriculture. Sadly, this issue was not a priority at the G-20 summit in London. It was just a summit corollary that the United States pledged it would double its aid to food production in poor areas.

Food shortage and malnutrition on the planet have been recurring issues for the past thirty years.

Image

Via xinhua