SOFI report hails achievement of MDG goal of halving undernourished

Bangladesh has reduced the number of chronically undernourished people by half during the last 25 years.

The number of such people around the world has dropped below the 800 million mark.

The statistics was revealed in the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 (SOFI) report, jointly published on Wednesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). 

FAO said in Bangladesh, 32.8 percent (36 million) of the population in 1990-92 did not get sufficient food to meet their nutritional needs. In 2014-16, the percentage had come down by half to 16.4 percent (26.3 million). 

The report also said the Millennium Development Goal target of reducing undernourishment by half within 2015 has been achieved by 72 of 129 countries -- and that includes Bangladesh. 

In addition, 29 of these countries have met the ‘more ambitious goal’ set in the 1996 World Food Summit that targeted bringing down by half the absolute number of undernourished people by 2015. 

The Rome-based organisation said even now, 795 million people are still undernourished, but the number is 216 million lower than that in 1990-92. 

"The near-achievement of the MDG hunger amelioration targets shows us that we can indeed eliminate the scourge of hunger in our lifetime,” said FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva. 

“We must be the Zero Hunger generation. That goal should be mainstreamed into all policy interventions and at the heart of the new sustainable development agenda to be established this year.” 

IFAD President Kanayo F Nwanze said, “If we truly wish to create a world free from poverty and hunger, then we must make it a priority to invest in the rural areas of developing countries where most of the world's poorest and hungriest people live.” 

The report also hails the drop of undernourishment in developing regions to 12.9 percent from the 23.3 percent in 1990-92. 

World Food Programme specialists attributed the success to increase in agricultural production, stable economic growth and expansion of social security net. 

But at the same time, the MDG target could not be attained in some of the countries due to slow pace of world economy, natural disasters, political conflicts and civil wars.