United Nations Radio

Another 40 million people have been pushed into hunger this year primarily due to higher food prices.

That according to preliminary estimates published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in its latest hunger report "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008.

It says this brings the overall number of undernourished people in the world to 963 million.
And it warns that the ongoing financial and economic crises could tip even more people into hunger and poverty.

FAO's Assistant Director general Hafez Ghanem says "world food prices have dropped since early 2008, but lower prices have not ended the food crisis in many poor countries."
He says "for millions in developing countries, eating the minimum amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream."

Ghanem adds that the structural problems of hunger, like the lack of access to land, credit and employment, combined with high food prices remain a dire reality."

He warns that "if lower prices and the credit crunch associated with the economic crisis force farmers to plant less food, another round of dramatic food prices could be unleashed next year."

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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