The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008: High food prices and food security - threats and opportunities

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 represents FAO's ninth progress report on world hunger since the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS). In previous editions, FAO has expressed deep concern over the lack of progress in reducing the number of hungry people in the world, which has remained persistently high.

This year's report focuses on high food prices, which are having a serious impact on the poorest populations in the world, drastically reducing their already low purchasing power. High food prices have increased levels of food deprivation, while placing tremendous pressure on achieving internationally agreed goals on hunger by 2015. This report also examines how high food prices present an opportunity to relaunch smallholder agriculture in the developing world.

As discussed in the report, FAO's undernourishment estimates for the period 1990-92 to 2003-05 have been revised on the basis of new standards for human energy requirements established by the United Nations (UN) and 2006 revisions of UN population data.

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