FOOD AND WATER

http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/al390e/al390e00.pdf

"FAO estimates that a total of 925 million people are undernourished in 2010 compared with 1.023 billion in 2009. That is higher than before the food and economic crises of 2008-2009 and higher than the level that existed when world leaders agreed to reduce the number of hungry by half at the World Food Summit in 1996 (Figure 1)."

Now, a graph on that document shows in 1969 about 875 million hungry, so in absolute terms, the decline in hunger is not great, though relatively, given the massive population growth since 1969 it has fallen considerably. But I think this is a key point:

"Global cereal harvests have been strong for the past several years, even as the number of undernourished people was rising. The overall improvement in food
security in 2010 is thus primarily a result of better access to food due to the improvement in economic conditions, particularly in developing countries, combined with lower food prices."

The food is there, it is access that is the issue. The millenium development goal was to half world hunger, down to 10% of the population of developing countries. That target looks set to be missed. the current total level is about 13% of the world population (in 1969 it was 26%).

The capacity to feed everyone well is there.

More Millenium Development Goals
(http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/pdf/MDG_FS_7_EN.pdf)

"Some 1.7 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water since 1990. Yet 884 million people worldwide still do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines.

"The world will meet or even exceed the drinking water target by 2015 if current trends continue. By that time, an estimated 86 per cent of the population in developing regions will have gained access to improved sources of drinking water, up from 71 per cent in 1990. Four regions — Northern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia — have already met the target.

Even though progress was made primarily in rural areas, those areas still remain at a disadvantage. Globally, eight out of 10 people who are without access to an improved drinking water source live in rural areas."

We are making progress, but the global 0.6% drop in global growth (i.e. negative growth) and the state of the crisis shows how market relations interfere with these project of trying to meet human need.
BillM