Viet Nam News José Graziano DaSilva* All United Nations member countries have committed themselves to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. This was a bold and ambitious move but it seemed achievable after decades of declines in the number of hungry people worldwide. Here in the Asia-Pacific region we saw some of the most impressive declines until just recently. Yet, today, there are still nearly half-a-billion undernourished people in this region – some 490 million – far more than any other part of the world. Countries of Asia and the Pacific can still reach that target of Zero Hunger by 2030, but the road ahead will be littered with obstacles. That means countries, UN Organizations and other partners must prepare now for the roadworks and detours that we know are just around the next bend. So let’s face up to these challenges now. Let’s name the obstacles and then let’s take action to overcome them. First, we know the region’s population will continue to grow, leading to increased demand for food. Most of that population growth in Asia will be in the least developed countries. Urbanization, which infringes on agricultural land and encourages people to adopt different diets and lifestyles, is another challenge to meet. It requires investments in improved rural infrastructure to better link food producers with urban areas in terms of both transportation and communication. But the challenge is not only about producing more food – the type of food also matters too. In… [Read full story]
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