Today, more food is being produced than ever before, increasing more quickly than the growth in the world's population. But there are over 800 million people who do not have enough to eat.

"There can be no peace until people have enough to eat � hungry people are not peaceful people"
Jimmy Carter, US President 1976-1980.

Useful websites on food and farming:
The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for information, data and news items: www.fao.org/
For specific FAO data on different crops, livestock, etc in individual countries: http://apps.fao.org/page/collections?subset=agriculture
Food and Farming partnership: www.foodandfarming.org.uk
The Hunger Project (looking at sustainable ways to end hunger with individual pages on different regions): www.thp.org/
The World Food Summit: www.fao.org/wfs/homepage.htm

Make YOUR contribution to help the hungry by visiting www.thehungersite.com.
Every time you click on the screen, the website's sponsors will donate food on your behalf.
Last year, there were 95,604,534 donations.
The website also links to other sites which help people living with HIV/AIDS, victims of landmines and to save forests.



Success at a price

� Bruce Paton/Panos Pictures.

Using modern technology to grow white beans in Zimbabwe.

Globally, food production has undergone a transformation in the last 50 years. With greater mechanisation, improved irrigation, the use of chemicals and the discovery of new plant breeding techniques, the amount of food per person available has increased by 15%. But modern farming methods have placed the natural environment under enormous stress, and food shortages remain a problem in many areas.

Shortages in times of plenty
Click on the globe to see a world map to show areas with severe food shortages.
Food shortages are rarely a result of one single cause. In 2001, armed conflicts and three years of drought have left seven million people in sub-Saharan Africa facing starvation.

People also go hungry in countries that enjoy food surpluses. In India, 250 million people are malnourished or hungry yet the country's granaries are full. But if the poor don't have enough money to buy food, increased production is not going to help them. Instead, the problem frequently lies in food distribution and the poverty that prevents people from earning enough to buy the food they need.

for a spreadsheet of data on countries with food shortages.

for help on how to use the spreadsheet (this will open a word document which you can save or print)

Use the spreadsheet data to answer these questions:

1. What is the relationship (or "correlation") between:

a) GNP per capita and daily calorie intake per capita?

b) Daily calorie intake per capita and infant mortality?

c) Daily calorie intake per capita and food aid in cereals?

2. Which country appears to be the odd one out when you compare daily calorie intake per capita and food aid in cereals? Why do you think this is?

3. What other data not included on the spreadsheet might help you get a clearer picture of why there are food shortages in some areas?

The Struggle for Small Farmers

� Ron Giling/Still Pictures. Small farmers like these Aymara Indians in the Bolivian Andes make up the majority of the developing world's food producers. Farming families with landholdings of up to one hectare are usually amongst the poorest and least nourished. Unlike large landowners, small farmers cannot afford to buy fertilisers in bulk, invest in modern irrigation systems, or hold out for the best price for their crops. Technology that could help them may not be accessible either. Many small farmers are women. They produce 60-80% of the food in the developing world, yet women are often denied the right to own land at all.

A Millennium free of Hunger?
The 21st century promises even more changes in the way we produce food. The scientific techniques that use living organisms to make or modify a product or improve plants or animals collectively called, 'biotechnology' may lead to a very different future in food production. But hi-tech solutions alone are unlikely to eliminate food shortages. There is also a need to tackle the underlying poverty that leads to hunger in the first place. Go to the case study on the Gene Revolution to find out more about the role of biotechnology in improving food production.

The Evergreen Revolution
A growing number of people believe that the answer lies in 'sustainable agriculture'. This can take many forms depending on local conditions and people's needs, but it is particularly suitable for small farmers who cannot afford to take risks and have to use their land efficiently as a matter of survival. Building on farmers' existing knowledge and priorities, sustainable farming projects use cheap, easily available technology to boost harvests in ways that give farmers more self-reliance and stability, and conserve their natural resources. Click on the icon below to see some sustainable forms of farming:

Already, nine million farmers in fifty developing countries have adopted sustainable farming techniques. Some farmers have experienced 150% improvements in their harvests, but sustainable agriculture is unlikely to lead to massive leaps in farm productivity everywhere. Nevertheless, by mixing modern science with traditional knowledge, sustainable agriculture could help to meet the long-term food needs of people without damaging the natural environment.