German Agro Action and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have published a so-called Global Hunger Index for the second time. The index shows how much progress individual countries have made at "half-time" in terms of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as halving extreme poverty and hunger, or reducing child mortality, by 2015.

The president of German Agro Action, Ingeborg Schäuble, said that the 2007 Global Hunger Index showed hunger was on the increasing in 36 countries. "25 of them are in sub-Saharan Africa, nine in Asia, one in the Middle East, and one in Latin America. Hunger is inherited so to speak from one generation to the next."

The Global Hunger Index shows, however, that some progress has been made in the past few years. According to Doris Wiesman, a food scientist from the IFPRI, approximately one third of the 91 developing countries is on the "right track" to achieving the MDGs to halve hunger and poverty. Another third is making some progress, but too slowly. And in 25 percent of the countries, the situation has actually worsened.

Some progress but not enough

Wiesman said that in all the South Asian countries where trends were being measured according to the Global Hunger Index there had been progress. However, not enough for the goals to be met by 2015. In many countries, especially in India, fast economic growth has led to positive changes. But the poorest social classes are not benefiting from the economic boom as much as the richer classes.

"In countries such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, more people get their caloric intake than, for example, in sub-Saharan Africa, and child mortality rates are also lower," Wiesman explained. "But cultural traditions and the low social status of women have led to record rates of child malnutrition. 44 percent of all children under five are undernourished -- more than in any other region of the world."

According to the Global Hunger Index results, the only regions which are "on the right track" to halving hunger and decreasing child mortality are East Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Falling poverty rates

In East Asia, particularly in China, poverty rates have dropped considerably, mainly due to measures aiming to eradicate malnutrition, and to promote agriculture. Only North Korea does not comply with the region’s positive trend. It is the only country in the world where hunger has become more acute, due to the country’s extreme isolation, mismanagement and high military expenditure.

Doris Wiesman and her colleagues have come to the conclusion that the policies for eradicating hunger should be implemented at a regional level. Since two-thirds of the wrold's poor live in the countryside, German Agro Action has set up a project entitled "Millennium Villages" in 15 selected villages on three continents.

The local people decide on the priorities for the development of their village, before the development actually gets underway. The villages are mostly located in remote regions but the neighbouring towns and villages can also be drawn into the project activities and eventually the whole region benefits.

German Agro Action plans to focus on its "Help the Poor Help Themselves" project in the Millennium Villages until 2010. Since last year, the first successes have proven that the approach is an appropriate one.

German Agro Action thinks governments should also be made more responsible for successfully fighting hunger and malnutrition. It says developing countries must take responsibility for their populations, and increase their investments into infrastructure, education and healthcare. It also calls on the world's industrialised nations to redress their gross neglect of the planet's poorest people.