Why 'agriculture cannot wait'

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) most recent estimates the number of people suffering from chronic hunger in the world has topped one billion. A dangerous mix of global economic slowdown combined with high food prices in many countries is the immediate reason why 100 million more people have been pushed into chronic hunger and poverty. But the underlying cause of this tragic situation is that investment in developing country agriculture has been neglected for a long time. Official development assistance (ODA) going to agriculture fell drastically. International aid to farming in poor countries slumped from 17 per cent of total ODA in 1980 to 4 per cent in 2006. Fragile food system The FAO has warned for years of the dangers of under-investment in food production.