What is the position on food insecurity in the world?
We are moving in the wrong direction. There are more food-insecure people in the world today than 10 years ago. According to the latest report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the US, 303 million people in South Asia are food insecure, that is, they lack sustainable access to sufficient food to lead healthy and productive lives. This is an increase from 1991, when the number was 288 million. Barring China, which has made significant progress in this area, the number has gone up in all other parts of the world. However, we have made projections that show that by 2020, the number of food insecure in the rest of the world will fall significantly. The fall will be the result of economic reforms and of negotiations in the World Trade Organisation, which will open up markets for food insecure people. But this is not a foregone conclusion. It will depend on the nature of policy changes undertaken. Developing countries are unable to export their agricultural products to the develo
