Seventy-two countries achieve the MDG target to halve proportion of hungry people
Award ceremony recognizes global efforts towards eradicating hunger
Rome - An international awards ceremony today recognized the great effort made by countries around the world which has led to the near achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to halve the proportion of hungry people by a 2015 deadline, or bringing it below the 5 percent threshold.
A majority - 72 out of 129 - of the countries monitored by FAO have achieved the MDG target, with developing regions as a whole missing it by a small margin. Out of the total 72 countries, 29 have also met the more stringent goal to halve the number of hungry people as laid out by governments when they met in Rome at the World Food Summit (WFS) in 1996.
And another 12 of the total 72 countries have maintained their hunger rates below 5 percent dating back to at least 1990.
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva paid tribute to these achievements at the ceremony which was held at the Organization's headquarters.
"Since 1990, 216 million people have been freed from hunger," he said.