FAO: Achieving "Zero Hunger" by combining social protection with pro-poor investments

An additional US$160 per year for each person living in extreme poverty will end chronic hunger over the next 15 years period, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) reported Friday in Rome on achieving ‘Zero Hunger’.

Eradicating world hunger sustainably by 2030 will require an estimated additional US$267 billion per year on average for investments in rural and urban areas and in social protection, so poor people have access to food and can improve their livelihoods, the report says.

"If we adopt a "business as usual" approach, by 2030, we would still have more than 650 million people suffering from hunger. This is why we are championing an approach that combines social protection with additional targeted investments in rural development, agriculture and urban areas that will chiefly benefit the poor," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

“Given that US$267 billion is more or less equivalent to 0.3 percent of the global GDP, I personally think it is a relatively small price to pay to end hunger," Graziano da Silva added.

"This report helps us to see the magnitude of the challenge ahead of us, but we believe that we won't see gains in reducing poverty and hunger unless we seriously invest in rural people," said IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze.

"Given the right kind of tools and resources, small-scale agricultural producers and rural entrepreneurs can transform struggling communities into thriving places," the IFAD President added.

"We need a dramatic shift in thinking to help the world's poorest break the cycle of hunger and poverty by 2030. We cannot allow them to be left behind. And we must invest in the most vulnerable and ensure that they have the tools they need not only to overcome hunger, but to enhance their resources and capabilities." said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.

The report noted how the international community needs to build on the successful experiences of some countries that have effectively used a combination of investment and social protection to combat hunger and poverty in rural and urban areas.

In an advocacy note accompanying the report, the FAO, IFAD and WFP chiefs also noted that the third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 13 - 16 July 2015 seeks to ensure that all countries, especially developing countries, have the means to implement national policies and programmes to achieve their development objectives, including the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Enditem