MDG 1: Extreme poverty and hunger
A child from Niger drinks millet. © CARE / Kathryn Richards.Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Where Are We?
In the 1990-1992 period, 20 per cent of the world’s population was hungry. While that figure dropped to 15 per cent for 2005-2007, the world’s population is growing. So is the number of hungry people. In the last twenty years, the number of hungry people has risen from approximately 845 million to over one billion.
There is a long way to go, and at the same time, climate change and the negative impact it will have on agricultural productivity, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, threaten to push even more people into hunger and malnutrition.
How Do We Achieve Success?
CARE’s policy recommendations include:
A comprehensive approach that focuses on the root causes of hunger, including:
- Investment by national governments in social protection systems that protect dignified access to food;
- Focused investment on smallholders, the rural poor, marginal groups and women, including enhancing their access to markets and credit;
- Inclusion of the urban poor, in light of the impact of higher prices on their food security;
- Expanding the scope of nutrition beyond treatment and feeding programs, targeting mothers and children under two years of age and recognizing the linkage between health, food security and agriculture;
- Integration of a rights-based approach, including right to food, water, land and resources.
MDG Goal 7: Environmental Sustainability
Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
Where Are We?
Climate change is a threat to social justice and undermines the fight against extreme poverty. The world’s poorest people are least responsible for causing climate change. Yet, they will bear the brunt of its negative consequences.
The severity of those consequences and the effort required to adapt to them
depends on what we do now. If we are to achieve the MDGs by 2015 – and maintain the development progress that has been made – economic growth and development must be environmentally sustainable.
How Do We Achieve Success?
Achieving Target 1 of MDG 7 requires a strong commitment among all nations to tackle the climate change crisis we now face.
This requires:
- A global emissions target in line with what science says is necessary to keep the increase in average global temperatures as far below 2º C as possible, and
- Commitments by all countries to mitigation actions to meet the global emissions target, including legally binding emissions reduction commitments by developed countries in accordance with their historic responsibility and capability and actions by developing countries, especially major emitters, to reduce their emissions growth trajectories below business as usual and move toward low carbon development.
Voice from the expert:
CARE International UK Climate Change and Hunger Team Leader, Karl Deering.CARE International UK Climate Change and Hunger Team Leader, Karl Deering says:“With the number of hungry people in the world at a record high of over 1 billion, MDG one remains seriously off track. Global hunger, one of the most disgraceful manifestations of poverty, has been exacerbated by the food price and financial crises and it is unacceptable that one in six people is going to bed hungry in the twenty first century. Malnutrition contributes to at least 3.5 million maternal and child deaths each year and any parent in the world would testify in favour of radical measures to address this.
“Tackling hunger is vital to the achievement of all the MDGs; yet hunger reduction is not a priority agenda item at the Summit. We urge heads of state, governments and UN agencies not to forget the needs of the hungry and malnourished.
“Recognising the crucial role and rights of women as food producers and carers, and prioritising and improving the availability and affordability of nutritious foods is imperative. Finally, considering that droughts are the most serious cause of food shortages, causing 60% of food emergencies, it is critical that political leadership is demonstrated in seeking a comprehensive and binding agreement to address the threat of climate change.”
