Global Hunger Rates Are Improving, But 1 In 9 Still Go Hungry

Health officials have made continuous strides over the years to curb world hunger. However, the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has found that despite enormous growth at improving this issue, one in nine people throughout the world still remain undernourished.

"The problem is getting smaller," said Josef Schmidhuber, an economist with the FAO who compiled part of the report, via National Geographic. "It's good news, but we have always had a more ambitious target."

The UN, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Program's (WFP) goal was to reduce the global hunger rate by one-half from 1990 to 2015. Since 1990, the number of global hunger cases fell by more than 200 million. Despite numerous efforts, officials note that "food insecurity is still a challenge to be conquered," according to FOX News.

"This is proof that we can win the war against hunger and should inspire countries to move forward, with the assistance of the international community as needed," added reporters from CNN Money.

Fortunately, the report shows that food accessibility in some eastern and southern regions of Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean has improved. For instance, in India, the number of people who went undernourished fell by more than 20 million since 1990. In Indonesia, the number of undernourished people fell by more than 50 percent since 1990.

Unfortunately, despite improvements, the report singled out certain countries that need still improvements. In Africa, one in five people go hungry. And in Haiti, as much as 52 percent of the population is undernourished.

Findings show that in order to improve food security in many countries, governments must properly address issues such as poor infrastructure and political instability before it's too late.
More information regarding the report can be found here.