12 | The Millennium Development Goals Report 2014
Target 1.C Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Hunger continues to decline, but major efforts are needed to achieve the hunger target globally by 2015
Progress in reducing undernourishment is uneven across regions and countries Proportion of undernourished people, 1990–1992 and 2011–2013 (Percentage)
Proportion of undernourished people in developing regions, 1990–2013 (Percentage)
Sub-Saharan Africa 33
25
25 23.6
Southern Asia
22.2
20
26 17
19.7
18.7
Oceania
18.1 15
14
16.7
12
15.5 14.3 10
Eastern Asia 11.8
22 11 South-Eastern Asia 31
5
11 Western Asia 7
0
15 20
3 ¬1
0 ¬1
11 20
08
20
05
¬0 7
04
Prevalence of undernourishment
20
02 ¬
20
¬0
1
8 ¬9
99 19
95
96 19
93 ¬
19
19
90
¬9 2
10 Latin America and the Caribbean 15
MDG target
A total of 842 million people, or about one in eight people in the world, were estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger in 2011–2013. The vast majority of those people (827 million) resided in developing regions. Since 1990–1992, significant progress towards the MDG hunger target has been recorded in those regions. The proportion of undernourished people—those individuals not being able to obtain enough food regularly to conduct an active and healthy life—decreased from 23.6 per cent in 1990–1992 to 14.3 per cent in 2011–2013. However, progress during the past decade was slower compared to that recorded in the 1990s. Should the average annual decline of the past 21 years continue on to 2015, the prevalence of undernourishment would barely exceed the target by about 1 percentage point. Meeting the target, therefore, will require considerable— and immediate—additional effort, especially in countries which have showed little headway.
8 Caucasus and Central Asia 14 7 Northern Africa <5 <5 Developed regions <5 <5 Developing regions 24 14 0
10 1990–1992
20 2011–2013
30
40 2015 target
50