LONDON - October 30 - One in three people are going hungry in sub-Saharan Africa say latest figures from FAO’s State of Food Insecurity in the World report released today, showing that we are far from halving the number of hungry people in the world by 2015.

“Hunger is not due to scarcity – it is a question of injustice in the distribution of food and access and control of natural resources,” said Francisco Sarmento, head of ActionAid’s food rights team.

“Governments and the international financial community have shown insufficient financial and political will to address hunger and poverty eradication.”

The FAO report highlights that no sustained reduction in hunger is possible without investment in agriculture and rural development yet ActionAid’s report Hungry for Solutions reveals that global levels of official development assistance destined for agriculture have been falling steadily throughout the nineties form US$6.7 billion in 1984 to US$2.7bn in 2002.

“Addressing structural problems such as women’s access to and control over land is a fundamental factor in determining food security and rural poverty eradication,” said Sarmento.

Women in the south are at the centre of food production but inequitable laws and patriarchal inheritance systems often discriminate against them.
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Governments, international organisations and donors need to reinforce their political and financial commitment to eradicating poverty and hunger, focusing on the role of rural women in the south.

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