Business Discussion 1

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger | 21

Marked differences in hunger prevalence persist across regions

Proportion of undernourished people, 1990¬1992 and 2014¬2016 (percentage)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Developing regions

Caucasus and Central Asia

Western Asia

South-Eastern Asia

Eastern Asia

Oceania

Southern Asia

Caribbean

Sub-Saharan Africa

Latin America

Northern Africa

1990¬92 2014¬16 projection

2015 target

33

23

23

23

14

14

14

10

88

7

6

16

16

24

27

31

20

10

<5

<5

<5

13

The rate of hunger reduction varies widely by region. The Caucasus and Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Latin America and South-Eastern Asia have reached the hunger target, due mainly to rapid economic growth in the past two decades. China alone accounts for almost two thirds of the total reduction in the number of undernourished people in the developing regions since 1990. Northern Africa is close to eradicating severe food insecurity, having attained an overall level below 5 per cent.

In contrast, the pace of reduction in the Caribbean, Oceania, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa has been too slow to achieve the target. Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished people. Progress in Oceania has been slow because of heavy dependence on food imports by the small islands that constitute the majority of countries in that region. Food security in this region is also hampered by natural and human-caused disasters, which often result in volatile prices and sudden and unpredictable changes in the availability of important staple foods.

In sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the 2014–2016 period indicate a rate of undernourishment of almost 23 per cent. While the hunger rate has fallen, the number of undernourished people has increased by 44 million since 1990, reflecting the region’s high population growth rate. The situation varies widely across the subregions. Northern, Southern and Western Africa have already met or are close to meeting the target. But in Central Africa progress has been hampered by rapid population growth and environmental fragility as well as economic and political upheaval. The number of undernourished people in the subregion has doubled since 1990.

In Western Asia, a starkly different pattern emerges. Despite a relatively low number of undernourished people and fast progress in reducing food insecurity in several countries, projections indicate that the prevalence of undernourishment will rise by 32 per cent between 1990–1992 and 2014–2016 due to war, civil unrest and a rapidly growing number of refugees.