The leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries are being accused of not putting their money where hungry mouths are. Italian prime minister and host Silvio Berlusconi will be the only G-8 leader attending the World Summit on Food Security, dubbed the "Hunger Summit," in Rome.

"It is a tragedy that the world leaders are not going to attend the summit," Daniel Berman of Doctors Without Borders told the AFP news agency.

But some world leaders will be there, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, traveling with an entourage of 60 people despite the economic and political troubles still dogging his country, was also expected to attend.

Too many with not enough

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is organizing the conference, 1.02 billion people worldwide are undernourished - the highest number since 1970. The FAO says agricultural production must increase by 70 percent to feed a growing population which is forecast to reach nine billion by 2050.

But the current empty stomachs are not the result of poor food harvests. On the contrary, the FAO noted in a recent report that cereal production this year has been strong. But it added that food prices are too high and poor countries can't afford to import what they need.

In an attempt to bring attention to the problem, FAO chief Jacques Diouf engaged in a 24-hour fast on Saturday and spent Friday night sleeping on a makeshift mattress in the FAO's unheated headquarters.

"Every six seconds a child dies of hunger," Diouf said. "This enormous tragedy is not only a moral outrage and an economic absurdity, but also it presents a serious threat to our collective peace and security."

"Hunger Century"

Out of the one billion people suffering from chronic hunger worldwide, some 200 million are children -- causing the president of the German NGO Welthungerhilfe, Baerbel Dieckmann, to warn of a "hunger century" in an interview with the German news agency dpa.

Chronic hunger can lead to other problems, according to the FAO's website. Constant malnourishment makes it difficult to study or work and weakens the immune system. Children's physical and mental development is also impaired. Chronically hungry mothers have more problems in childbirth and often give birth to underweight or weak babies.

A spokesman for the development NGO Oxfam, Frederic Mousseau, said wealthier nations were "failing to show enough interest and urgency."

"At the G-8 in Italy this summer they pledged $20 billion (13.5 billion euros) for agriculture over three years, so they believe they have done enough. They haven't - and the $20 billion is a mirage," Mousseau told AFP.

The draft declaration for the summit doesn't even mention the $44 billion per year that Diouf has requested for agriculture programs in poor countries.

A problem the world can't afford to ignore

There have been so many food emergencies this year that the World Food Program, which traditionally has relied on funding from United Nations member governments, issued its first direct appeal to individuals last week.

Agency head Josette Sheeran told Reuters in an interview that they are hoping for one billion people to donate one euro ($1.50) a week to their appeal.

Sheeran said the WFP is on track to raise only half of the $6.7 billion it needs for this year.

"The problem at the moment is that the WFP probably has ten or 12 acute emergencies on its hands, each one complex, each one with its own compelling situation and none that can really afford to be neglected," Sheeran said.

svs/AFP/AP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Michael Lawton