China's Fight Against Hunger over the Past 3 Decades
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October 16, marks "World Food Day". The United Nations estimates that more than 1 billion people around the world are undernourished. In its new report, the UN said the world has made little progress in reducing hunger since 1990, pointing to 29 counties with alarming levels of malnutrition, mainly in Africa and South Asia. Then how about China's fight against hunger over the past three decades?
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has released a report which says that the combination of the food and economic crises has pushed the number of hungry people to an unwelcome record. More than 1 billion people are now undernourished. And nearly all of them live in developing countries.
China, as the world's largest developing country, has been helping in the fight against hunger. When China began co-operating with the World Food Program thirty years ago, it depended on the organization's aid to feed 400 million people. After years of effort, that number has almost been erased.
As a result, the WFP ended aid to China in 2005. It said ending hunger within a generation is a major achievement and sets an example for the world.
Since 2006, China has turned from dependant to donor, providing help in fighting hunger. So far, the country has offered food aid worth US$20 million via the WFP, benefiting people in dozens of developing countries. The WFP hopes that other countries will learn from China's experience to help make the fight against hunger more effective.
(CCTV October 16, 2009)