Everyone has the right to be free from hunger, and this right is perhaps the most fundamental of all. Without food, no one can have life or health.
There is twice as much food as we need to feed the world, yet over 850 million people go hungry every day and their numbers are increasing*.
There is twice as much food as we need to feed the world, yet over 850 million people go hungry every day and their numbers are increasing*.
Recently ActionAid has launched a five-year campaign - HungerFREE - to get governments around the world to honour their promises to halve global hunger by 2015.
About 70% of the world’s hungry live in rural areas and depend on land, water and seeds for a living. They go hungry because they do not have enough access to these resources.
Often they only have small plots of land that are not secure, or have no land at all, they can’t afford the seeds and fertilisers they need to farm or don’t have access to water for irrigation.
Land grabbing and inheritance practices discriminate against women. Unfair trade rules, subsidies and food dumping undermine local agriculture and food security. The increasing market power of agrifood corporations further threatens small farmers.
Global warming
Climate change caused by excessive fossil fuel consumption in rich countries is hitting the poor hardest, subjecting small farmers to more frequent and serious floods and droughts. By 2010, the UN estimates, over 50 million people will become ‘environmental refugees’ swelling the growth of cities in Africa and Asia.
*FAO: The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2006
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