World's hungry will be hardest hit in crash time

Source: Agencies  |   2008-10-17  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

MUCH of the world today is consumed by fears of recession and unemployment. But for nearly a billion people, the fear is more basic - having nothing to eat.

Experts from Africa, Europe and the United States gathering in Dublin for a conference on combating world hunger say the two are connected - the drift toward recession in the world's wealthiest countries is already increasing malnutrition in the world's poorest ones.

The conference began yesterday ?? United Nations' World Food Day.

Development experts say a global community able to commit hundreds of billions to bolstering banks should be willing to commit a fraction of that to fighting hunger.

An estimated 970 million people will go hungry in the coming year, up from about 920 million last year.

But the experts worry that donors may cite the financial meltdown as a reason not to do more. "The poor are usually neglected. I think they're going to be even more neglected right now," said American economist Jeffrey Sachs, a Third-World development expert and adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"Even during the boom years, it was impossible to get traction on this issue. So, honestly, now that we're in tougher times, you ask me: now is it hard? It's always been hard - period!" he said.

"People who have what they need to stay alive should be ready to spend 1 percent of their income to help those who don't have what they need to stay alive. But this has been impossible to achieve for decades, in good times and bad," he said.

"The reason is as unavoidable as it is depressing. People don't care about people they can't visualize, who they can't see."

Sheila Sisulu, deputy director of the UN's World Food Program, said world leaders should view the battle against malnutrition as linked to the struggle to keep the world's financial system afloat. Both, she said, promote peace and stability.