African small holders best placed to end hunger

IF PROOF were needed that the global economic slowdown is hitting the poorest and most vulnerable hardest, it has been borne out by latest figures from the UN which show that more than one billion people face hunger and starvation this year.

A combination of economic recession and food prices which remain much too high for the poorest people of the developing world will take the number on the brink of starvation to a record high of 1.02 billion people – or one-sixth of the world’s population this year, according to new projections published by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

In response to these figures it is heartening that the FAO’s director-general should identify the need to strengthen policies and investment in agricultural production as the key to economic growth in most developing countries.