[OPE] Some global data on magnitudes of food deprivation

19 June 2009 - The number of people on the brink of starvation is set to
reach a record high of 1.02 billion - or one-sixth of the global
population - in 2009, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) projected today. "A dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown
combined with stubbornly high food prices in many countries has pushed some
100 million more people than last year into chronic hunger and poverty,"
said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, with the lower incomes and rising
unemployment reducing access to food for the poor.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31197

According FAO data for 2003-2005, the biggest numerical concentrations of
malnourished people are in the following countries (millions):

India 230.5m (21%)
China 122.7m (9%)
DR Congo 43.0m (76%)
Bangladesh 40.1m (27%)
Indonesia 37.1m (17%)
Ethiopia 35.2m (46%)
Pakistan 35.0m (23%)
http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/food-security-statistics/en/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 35 million Americans received food stamps
in June, up 22 percent from June 2008 and a new record as the country
continued to grapple with the worst recession since the Great Depression of
the 1930s. The food stamp program, which helps cover the cost of groceries
for one in nine Americans, has grown in step with the U.S. unemployment rate
which stood at 9.4 percent in July.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5825OT20090903

About 200,000 needy Israelis [in a population of 7.4 million] are expected
to seek food aid ahead of the upcoming Jewish holidays, says the nonprofit
group Latet, despite reports of the economic crisis coming to an end. (...)
Furthermore, another food aid organization, Leket Israel, says welfare
offices across the country have made direct requests for aid - an
unprecedented move. The group, which provides food and meals for about 300
NGOs across Israel, will distribute approximately 100,000 food parcels over
the coming month, according to its calculations. "In light of the current
situation, the organization Leket Israel is concentration its efforts and
preparing to supply food ahead of Rosh Hashannah, following the huge
demand," said Gidi Kroch, the director general of the group
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1111888.html

The EU food distribution programme for the most deprived people in Europe
must continue within the CAP, be fully funded by the EU and consist purely
of food products of Community origin, says the Agriculture Committee. Since
the programme came into being in 1987, millions of needy Europeans have
received food from intervention stocks of the common agricultural policy
(CAP), distributed via charities and social services. In the mid-1990s, the
rules were changed to allow food to be bought on the open market to
supplement this source, in certain circumstances. In the 27-member EU, 80
million people (16% of the population) live below the poverty threshold,
according to Eurostat, a figure expected to rise considerably because of the
economic crisis. According to the Commission, over 13 million people benefit
from the programme, whose budget has been raised from slightly under 100
million euro in 1987 to 305 million euro in 2008 and 500 million euro in
2009. Participation in the programme is voluntary (in 2008, 19 Member
States took part, the non-participants being Germany, UK, Netherlands,
Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Cyprus and Slovakia).
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=EN&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20090216IPR49530
The European Federation of Food Banks reports that 276,400 tons of food
products, worth 608 million Euros, are distributed by 26,660 charitable
organizations to 4,600,000 persons. http://www.eurofoodbank.org/eng/1c1.htm

In 2006 Japan's food self-sufficiency rate fell to 39%, according to the
Agriculture Ministry. It was only the second time since the ministry began
keeping records in 1960 that the population derived less than 40% of its
daily calorie intake from domestically grown food.
http://business.theage.com.au/business/japans-hunger-becomes-a-dire-warning-for-other-nations-20080420-27ey.html
"There's 240,000 people here in Japan who don't have enough to eat every
day." http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050118zg.html

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Received on Fri Sep 4 16:07:14 2009