Nineteen countries have
alarming levels of hunger, with
Burundi being the worst affected
for the second year in a row,
followed by Comoros and Eritrea,
according to this year's Global
Hunger Index.
Despite progress in combating
global hunger - two years ago,
the index had tallied 26 countries
with "alarming" or "extremely
alarming" hunger levels - 870
million people around the world
still go hungry every day.
Building the resilience of
communities to withstand the
worst effects of extreme
weather, surging food prices or
prolonged political unrest was
crucial in helping to prevent the
most vulnerable from being
exposed to deeper poverty and
malnutrition, said the report
released on Monday, ahead of
World Food Day on Oct. 16.
"Firefighting with emergency aid
is not enough," said Dominic
MacSorley, chief executive of
Concern, which compiled the
report along with the
International Food Policy
Research Institute
and Welthungerhilfe.
"Aid agencies, governments and
international organisations need
to learn lessons from the past
and boost future protection
measures to reduce the impact
of extreme weather events and
other hazards on the world's
poorest and most vulnerable
people," he said in a statement.
"We can't predict every possible
terrible event, but we need to
break the endless cycle of
disaster-respond, disaster-
respond where we can."
As in previous years, South Asia
and Sub-Saharan Africa were
identified as regions facing the
highest levels of hunger.
The report said conflict and
political instability in Burundi,
where years of civil war killed
300,000 people, and Comoros,
which has experienced around
20 coups or coup attempts since
independence in 1975, were
partly to blame for increased
hunger in the two African
countries since 1990.
Eritrea has also faced its own
problems stemming from its
increasing isolation under the
two-decade rule of President
Isaias Afewerki, a former
guerrilla who led the Red Sea
state to independence in 1993
after a 30-year war with Ethiopia.
The index, now in its eighth year,
combines three indicators - the
proportion of the population that
is undernourished, the
proportion of young children
who are underweight and the
mortality rate for under-fives.