Berlin. In 33 countries throughout the world there is a "very serious" or "grave" hunger situation. These countries are right at the bottom of the Global Hunger Index 2008 (GHI 08), which the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) from Washington and Welthungerhilfe presented today on the occasion of the World Food Day (October 16) in Berlin. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Burundi, Niger und Sierra Leone are the worst of a total of 88 countries in the ranking, and the situation there is extremely serious. Grouped according to world regions, Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst, followed by South Asia. Altogether the number of people suffering from famine worldwide has risen from 848 to 923 million people.

For the first time the GHI also shows a long-term trend through comparing the current figures with those from 1990. Joachim von Braun, Director of the IFPRI said the result, a mixture of progress and reversals in different countries, showed stagnation at a global level: "The Global Hunger Index makes it clear that there certainly is progress in combating hunger, but unfortunately not on a broad front. We cannot accept this situation."

Ingeborg Schäuble, President of Welthungerhilfe: "Almost a billion starving people is a scandal for the world. In contrast to the banks, they themselves are not guilty for their plight. The general rethinking about the role of the state and the international community, brought about by the financial crisis, must be extended to also cover the hunger crisis. The world needs a rescue package to combat global hunger, and we therefore demand that funding for the development of agriculture in developing countries be increased by at least ten billion euros every year and that fairer trading conditions should be created."

Joachim von Braun commented on the current financial crisis: "The financial crisis contributes towards a decrease in agricultural prices, and this means short-term relief for the poor. But it also now reduces the amount of capital available for agricultural investments and for food aid programmes. This threatens to prevent the sustainable overcoming of the global food crisis."

The GHI is being published for the third time by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI, Washington DC) in cooperation with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide (Dublin). It is being calculated for 88 countries; but there is no data available for some nations, for instance, Iraq, Somalia or Afghanistan. WHI combines the three parameters "Child mortality under five years old", "Underweight children under five years old" and "Proportion of undernourished in the population".

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