FAO warns of record number of hungry people

The United Nations says a record 1.02 billion people, that's one in six of the global population, do not have enough to eat because of the recession and high food prices.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) general director Jacques Diouf. The UN food agency said a record one billion people are undernourished around the world.(AFP/Alberto Pizzoli)

The Food and Agriculture Organization says the number of hungry people has gone up by about 100 million since last year. And that means just over a billion people get by on less than 18-hundred calories every day.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization says almost all the world's undernourished live in developing countries.

Some 642 million are hungry in the Asia and the Pacific region, and 265 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hunger increased despite strong 2009 cereal production, and a mild retreat in food prices from the highs of mid-2008.

Average prices at the end of last year were still 24 percent higher in real terms than in 2006.

The global economic crisis has compounded the problem for people dealing with pay cuts or job losses.

FAO official Kostas G. Stamoulis says it's the first time in human history that there have been so many hungry people in the world.

Kostas G. Stamoulis, FAO Official, said, "This year we have almost the record crop globally so it's not lack of food, it's lack of access to food by those that are hungry."

The FAO says urban poor will probably be hit hardest as foreign investment declines, demand for exports drops, and millions return to the countryside. That in turn could put pressure on rural communities and resources.

Even in the developed world, undernourishment is a growing concern, with 15 million now hungry.