Today, one in nine people in the world (815 million people) are undernourished The vast majority of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9% of the population is undernourished.
Asia is the continent with the most hungry people – two thirds of the total. The percentage in southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in western Asia it has increased slightly. Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished people.
In sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the 2014-2016 period indicate a rate of undernourishment of almost 23 per cent. Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children each year.
One in four of the world’s children suffer stunted growth. In developing countries the proportion can rise to one in three. 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.