The current global economic slowdown, which follows - and partly overlaps with - the food and fuel crisis, is at the core of the sharp increase in world hunger. It has reduced incomes and employment opportunities of the poor and significantly lowered their access to food. Recent figures of the FAO Food Outlook indicate a strong world cereal production in 2009, which will only modestly fall short of last year¿s record output level of 2 287 million tonnes.