Number 7, December 2012
Development Works
Bread for the World Institute
provides policy analysis on hunger
and strategies to end it. The Institute
educates opinion leaders, policy
makers and the public about hunger
in the United States and abroad.
Snapshot
Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World
• Today, one in six people around
the world is malnourished—far
too many, but only half as many
as 50 years ago. In just the past
20 years, the percentage of
people living in extreme poverty
has been cut in half.
Sandesh Rai (leaning forward), 5, and his mom Sapana Rai (in yellow) wait for a nutrition
education seminar to start in Bandarkharka, Nepal. An increasing share of Nepali children are surviving to celebrate their fifth birthdays thanks to better nutrition and basic
health care.
Development Assistance:
Where Does It Lead?
Just 50 years ago, one person in three around the world was malnourished.
Now, hunger is less common, affecting one in six people. Has there been enough
progress if “only” one-sixth of the global population is hungry? No. But it’s a big
improvement over a time—still in living memory—when twice as many people
were hungry.
In just the past two decades the global community has also made impressive
progress:
• The percentage of people living in extreme poverty (on less than $1.25/day)
has been cut in half.
• Low-income countries as well as wealthier nations are making rapid progress
against child mortality. For example, Liberia, Rwanda, and Bangladesh have
each reduced their child death rate by more than two-thirds.
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• Such dramatic progress shows
that it is now well within human
capabilities to end mass hunger
and extreme poverty within a
generation.
• The idea of “building resilience”
is simply that poor communities
can better fight hunger by
identifying potential threats to
their livelihoods and developing
workable alternatives before
they are desperately needed.
• Safety net programs are a key
part of building resilience.
Emergency feeding programs,
too, can distribute food
in exchange for work that
contributes to the community’s
future food security.
• Country-led plans to reduce
hunger help build the resilience
of the country itself. U.S.
assistance helps support these
plans. Countries with effective
governments and strong civil
societies are also more resilient.