Devdiscourse 12th April 2018
Out of the 815 million people that suffered from hunger in 2016, 490 million, or 60 percent, live in Asia and the Pacific.
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today urged governments in the Asia and Pacific region to sharpen their focus on achieving Zero Hunger, and to do so by reducing rural poverty and adapting the agricultural sectors to climate change.
"Countries need to step up their efforts to bring the fight against hunger back on track," Graziano da Silva said at the opening of FAO's Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Fiji.
While the region had recorded "remarkable progress" in reducing undernourishment over the last two decades, this has slowed down and the number of people suffering hunger has increased in some areas, especially Southeast Asia, Graziano da Silva said.
Out of the 815 million people that suffered from hunger in 2016, 490 million, or 60 percent, live in Asia and the Pacific.