The 2012 edition of The State of Food Insecurity in the World focuses on the importance of economic growth in overcoming poverty, hunger and malnutrition. We are pleased to note that many, though not all, developing countries have enjoyed remarkable rates of growth during recent decades. High growth rates of GDP per capita are a key factor in reducing food insecurity and malnutrition. However, economic growth per se does not guarantee success. As Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen stated recently, it "requires active public policies to ensure that the fruits of economic growth are widely shared, and also requires - and this is very important - making good use of the public revenue generated by fast economic growth for social services, especially for public healthcare and public education." This report provides convincing evidence that poor, hungry and malnourished people use some of their additional income either to produce or purchase more food, aiming to increase their dietary energy intake and to diversify their diets. Against this background, we are glad to note significant improvements in food security and nutrition outcomes worldwide. The trend in the prevalence of undernourishment has been declining, and we have seen some progress in key anthropometric indicators of child underweight, stunting and nutrition-related child mortality. There has also been progressing in overcoming some types of micronutrient deficiencies or 'hidden hunger' in a number of countries. These encouraging developments are made possible by the combined effects of increased attention to world hunger, overall economic and agricultural growth, and targeted policy interventions.