But for many of the millions going hungry, it is not war or natural disaster that prevents them from having enough to eat but simply not having sufficient money in their pockets.
Worldwide food prices have been high since 2006, when speculation by traders caused staples such as rice to rise by up to 320 per cent in a year. From 2005 to 2008, the worldwide average price of food went up by 80 per cent - and it is still rising. For those whose income was only ever enough to fund their subsistence, it has meant being priced out of life. A study of worldwide food insecurity by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), published last week, estimated that a total of 925 million people were undernourished in 2010, two-thirds of whom lived in just seven countries - Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.
The reports make it quite clear that rising food prices, stock market speculation in crop futures, conflict, climate change and corrupt, repressive regimes are the reasons why so many people go hungry - and not due to humanity's inability to grow enough crops. The findings come three months after the declaration of a major famine in the Horn of Africa, a glaring instance of several of these dreaded factors working at once. Few countries in East Africa are unaffected by the terrible drought in the region, but it is only in Somalia that persistent conflict and a lack of an effective central government have tipped the situation into a full-scale famine. Money has poured in from governments, agencies and individuals, all wanting to help, specially each of the 13 million people at risk of starvation. A lack of proper planning and prevention has once again created a crisis in East Africa, despite many thwarted attempts to break the cycle of famine. Kostas Stamoulis, director of agricultural development economics for the UN, said: "The long-term problem, with nearly a billion people going hungry across the globe, continues to be ignored. Emergencies affect hundreds of thousands of people every year but chronic hunger is a huge problem.". "We can't mobilise food aid to feed nearly one billion - it just isn't feasible."
The UN believes part of the reason for food shortages is a lack of investment in agriculture. In countries in protracted crisis, the FAO report says that only 3-4 per cent of funds for development and humanitarian assistance go towards agriculture. Mr Stamoulis said: "Some 75 per cent of those going hungry are rural people who derive most of their living from agriculture. We have neglected agriculture for too long. For years, people felt the way out of economic difficulties was to industrialise, but that meant agriculture was neglected in terms of research and in terms of rural infrastructure ... If we don't do something now we're going to face even more of these food security crises in the future. If you add in climate change and the fact that natural resources to produce food are declining, we'll be in pretty bad shape."
In Yemen, rising food prices and political instability have put 3.5 million people at risk of starvation. In Afghanistan, three decades of war and instability have had a similar effect. Almost one-third of the population do not have access to enough food to stay healthy. In many countries, humanitarian relief is complicated by politics. The Obama administration was last week accused of dithering over sending food aid to North Korea. A third of all children under five in the Communist country are chronically malnourished but the US says it will not give aid until the state guarantees it will reach the most needy and until there is an improvement in relations with South Korea.
