This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Development Report.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says hungerkills millions of people each year — especially children. The U-Norganization says millions more people will die unless more money isinvested to fight against hunger.
This is based on the results of anew U-N study called “The State of Food Insecurity in the World,Two-Thousand-Two.” It found that more than nine-million people dieeach year from hunger. Six-million of them are children younger thanage five. Researchers also found that the number of starving peopleis growing in some parts of the world.
The report says that about eight-hundred-forty-million peoplearound the world are not getting enough food to eat. Ninety-fivepercent of these people are in developing countries.
The number of hungry people in developing countries has beenreduced by only about two-million people a year in the last tenyears. At this rate, the total reduction will be less than tenpercent by the year two-thousand-fifteen. This is far less than thefifty percent decrease in hunger called for by the World Food Summitin nineteen-ninety-six.
Researchers say that any small gains against hunger were theresult of progress in large countries. China, for example, reducedits number of hungry people by seventy-four- million. Six othercountries also reduced their numbers of hungry people. They areIndonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Nigeria, Ghana and Peru. However, thesituation worsened in forty-seven other countries.
Nick Parsons is a spokesman for the U-N Food and AgricultureOrganization in Rome, Italy. He says the study shows that progressin the fight against world hunger has been slowed to almost a halt.As a result, the U-N food agency is calling on industrial anddeveloping counties to increase public investment in agriculture.About seventy percent of people suffering from severe hunger live infarming areas of developing countries. But the report saysgovernment and international investment in agricultural developmenthas been decreasing.
The U-N Food and Agriculture Organization says investment inhunger reduction can have important economic effects for both richand poor countries. It says that people who live longer and moreproductive lives can help improve the economy of their countries.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.