world bank: gloomy prospects for world hunger

COVER STORY:
Gloomy Outlook for Malnourished Children
New report projects slowing progress against world hunger

September 4, 2001--Unless more aggressive measures are taken, progress
against
child malnutrition is likely to slow over the next two decades, according to
a
new report from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
issued
last week. The report, 2020 Global Food Outlook: Trends, Alternatives, and
Choices, projects that child malnutrition will decline by only 20 percent
over
the next 20 years.

"Progress in reducing child malnutrition is unconscionably slow. It leaves
132
million children malnourished in 2020," said Per Pinstrup-Andersen, director
general of IFPRI and recipient of the 2001 World Food Prize. "Yet we have
the
power to change that. With modest alterations to policies and priorities,
the
rate of progress against child malnutrition could be more than doubled."

The report uses IFPRI's state-of-the-art computer modeling to develop
projections for food production, consumption, and demand for 16 major food
commodities through 2020 and beyond. It also assesses the impact of various
policy actions (including trade liberalization and expanded investment in
agricultural research, health care, and education) on food security and
nutrition.

The report projects that Latin America will virtually eliminate child
malnutrition and China will cut it in half. However, not all regions will
fare
as well. India will remain home to one-third of all malnourished children.
In
Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of malnourished children will actually
increase
by 18 percent, unless new action is taken.

Alternative scenarios in this report show that decisions made now can have
wide-reaching effects on food security and nutrition. In fact, our
optimistic
scenario?a 42% reduction in child malnutrition worldwide?is achievable with
only
an additional $10 billion per year in investments. That's equal to less than
one
week of global military spending," noted Mark Rosegrant, senior research
fellow
at IFPRI and the lead author on the report.

The report is a focal point of the Conference on Sustainable Food Security
for
All that started today in Bonn, Germany. The conference is organized by
IFPRI,
in cooperation with the German government. Over 1,000 world leaders, policy
makers, researchers, journalists, and advocates will attend the conference,
an
event designed to break the complacency that condemns millions of children
to
die each year from hunger and poverty.

The CGIAR, an informal association of 58 public and private members,
supports a
system of 16 international agricultural research centers around the world,
including IFPRI, known as Future Harvest Centers. The World Bank is a
founder
and co-sponsor of the CGIAR.

For more information and use ful links, click here for the online version of
this article:
http://www.worldbank.org/developmentnews/stories/html/090401a.htm