"The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012": FAO releases report on global hunger

The FAO has released a new hunger report, "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012", and reveals that global hunger is declining. But 870 million people in the world are still chronically undernourished and Asia is home to the greatest number of the world's hungry people. The FAO has reported the distribution of global hunger as follows:

578 million in Asia and the Pacific
239 million in Sub-Saharan Africa
53 million in Latin America and the Caribbean
37 million in the Near East and North Africa

19 million in developed countries

Given the fact that hunger is on the decline, the report asserts that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of cutting the prevalence of undernourishment in the developing world in half by 2015 is both possible and plausible. This goal can be reached, it further states, through sustained, responsible growth in agricultural output, accompanied by enhanced social protection for those in food and financial insecurity.  The FAO has stated that it must continue to improve its methodology and must find better, more accurate sources of data for its estimates of global hunger.

Global Food News: World Water Week 2012

This Monday marked the opening of the 2012 World Water Week (WWW), held in Stockholm. The  Sweden International Water Institute (SIWI) holds this conference each year, and the theme for 2012 is "Water and Food Security". The WWW seminars for this year focus on topics that include innovations in water conservation and sustainable use, the impact of agricultural practices on drinking water, and the need to bring environmentally sound irrigation technologies to smallholder farmers.

On the opening day of of the conference, the FAO introduced a water management framework, a document that sets out guidelines created to "encourage practices that will improve water management, such as modernizing irrigation schemes, recycling and re-using wastewater, implementing mechanisms to reduce water pollution, and storing rainwater at farms to reduce drought-related risks, among others." The report states,

Of all economic sectors, agriculture is the sector where water scarcity has the greatest relevance. Currently, agriculture accounts for 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals, and more than 90 percent of its consumptive use. Under the joint pressure of population growth and changes in dietary habits, food consumption is increasing in most regions of the world. It is expected that by 2050 an additional 1 billion tonne of cereals and 200 million tonne of meat will need to be produced annually to satisfy growing food demand.

The FAO further stated that "drought in some parts of the world has hurt global grain production and contributed to a spike in food prices nearly every other year since 2007, making it essential to focus on the way water is managed throughout the entire food chain," the validity of which is evidenced by the current persistance of the drought in the U.S., and the consequent worries about grain shortages and food price hikes.

Global Food News: FAO releases 2012 State of the World's Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report

Jack fish Vanua Levu Fiji (c) Brent Stirton Getty Images WWF

In Rome on Monday, the FAO released its 2012 State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture report (SOFIA). The report states that, in 2009, 57% of marine fisheries were fully exploited, while 30% of all marine stocks were overexploited. Environmental advocacy groups such as World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, and Oceana have urged for governmental enforcement of sustainable fishing practices and concurrent reduction of fishing fleets via the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which is to be amended this year.

Alfred Schumm, leader of WWF’s global Smart Fishing Initiative, stated, “With such dependency on fish meeting a rapidly growing population, we simply cannot sustain a situation where 87 per cent of global marine fisheries are at or above full exploitation…Using the precautionary approach, a holistic suite of ecosystem- and science based measures must be adopted if we are to realise the clear economic, environmental and social benefits of sustainably managed fisheries.” Here are a few additional key takeaways from the 2012 SOFIA report (statistics from pages cited):

Global Food News: the UN dubs 2013 the International Year of Quinoa

Quinoa is versatile, nutrient-dense, and delicious

Uncooked quinoa

Cultivating quinoa

Yesterday in Rome, at the opening of FAO 's governing Council, Bolivian president Evo Morales was named the Special Ambassador to FAO for 2013: the International Year of Quinoa. Quinoa, widely regarded as a "superfood," is seeing a surge in popularity worldwide; and the UN is now encouraging its further cultivation and consumption, as a means to alleviate global hunger, as stated in the FAO press release:

Quinoa is a highly nutritious, cereal-like crop that is rich in protein and micronutrients. It was of great nutritional importance to pre-Colombian Andean civilizations, second only to the potato. The International Year of Quinoa aims to attract global attention to the role of this crop in support of food security, nutrition and poverty eradication.

Here's a quick snapshot of quinoa's history and health benefits: