Global hunger has continued to decline, gradually, to an estimated 795 million undernourished people, or a reduction of 167 million hungry people over the last ten years according to the latest edition of the annual UN hunger report (The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 - SOFI). This decline has been most pronounced in developing countries, despite significant population growth.

The year 2015 is a milestone, marking the end of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) monitoring period. For the developing regions as a whole, the target to reduce the proportion of the world’s hungry by 50 percent by 2015 was missed by a small margin.

In the developing regions, the prevalence of undernourishment - which measures the proportion of people who are unable to consume enough food for an active and healthy life – has declined to 12.9 percent of the population, down from 23.3 percent a quarter of a century ago reports SOFI 2015, published today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Out of the countries monitored by FAO, 72 out of 129 have achieved the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the prevalence of undernourishment by 2015, with developing regions as a whole missing the target by a small margin. In addition, 29 countries have met the more ambitious goal laid out at the World Food Summit in 1996, when governments committed to halving the absolute number of undernourished people by 2015.

 "The near-achievement of the MDG hunger targets shows us that we can indeed eliminate the scourge of hunger in our lifetime. We must be the Zero Hunger generation. That goal should be mainstreamed into all policy interventions and at the heart of the new sustainable development agenda to be established this year," said FAO Director General, José Graziano da Silva.

Economic growth is a key success factor for reducing undernourishment, but it has to be inclusive and provide opportunities for improving the livelihoods of the poor. Enhancing the productivity and incomes of smallholder family farmers is key to progress.

“The world today produces enough food for everybody to have food security, if only it were shared equally. From an economic perspective, hunger and food insecurity are, in most cases, not a supply problem, but rather an access problem caused by lack of purchasing power, lack of physical access or lack of social protection schemes. said Ms. Beth Crawford, FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and Maldives.

“The challenge, therefore, is not only increasing food production and availability to meet the growing demand in the future, but also ensuring continual access to nutritious and diverse food and its fullest utilization by the body for a healthy and productive life” she further added.

 Sri Lanka, having ended the 3 decade long war in 2009 and more recently having elevated to a lower middle income country, is focusing on many aspects to eliminate food insecurity in the country. Increasing food production being the most crucial and vital for food security, more focus is placed in establishing effective safety nets for those deprived of food needs is an essential requirement for ensuring food security for all households. A strong economy and public finances would enable the country to provide safety nets for those whose incomes are too low to access their food needs.

 Other requirements being Increasing agricultural production which is vital for improving food security, Research and extension- which is one of the key pre-conditions for agricultural development, Marketing - of agricultural produce which is a perennial problem. The development of rural infrastructure by the repair and maintenance of rural roads, bridges and irrigation works also are important determinants of productivity in agriculture, Increase of Food production potential.

 Although food self-sufficiency is not an attainable goal for Sri Lanka, as there are food items that we cannot grow in the country such as wheat and dhal, and there are others we produce very little, it is possible to increase production of many food crops whose increased production could improve food security.

The food needs of the country cannot be met by local production alone. Increased domestic production supplemented by an increase in export earnings from agricultural, industrial and services exports are needed to achieve food security. Therefore, it is vital that all sectors of the economy should develop rather than think narrowly about agricultural production alone meeting the food needs of the country.

The challenge of ensuring food security can only be met if all stakeholders work together. FAO is therefore committed to working together with its member countries and partners around the region and the globe towards eradicating hunger, ensuring future generations of farmers and consumers are well-nourished and prosperous, and achieving a world with equity, peace, stability and sustainable development.