Millennium goal: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Target: Reduce by half the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day, and reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger Where are the world’s poorest? Worldwide, poverty is decreasing. There were at least 261 million fewer people living on less than $1 a day in 2004 than in 1990. If this continues, 265 million more will escape extreme poverty by 2015. But in some regions, like sub-Saharan Africa, chronic poverty persists. This area accounts for 30 percent of the world’s extreme poor, and about half of its population lack any means of improving their lives. Poverty and hunger are inextricably linked. In a world with more than enough food, the problem is not supply, but access. Food production in developing countries has actually tripled since the early 1970s, exceeding population growth. Yet about 854 million people still go hungry every day. Canadians recognize that sustainable development depends on people who are nourished and healthy. In addition to supplying food, Canada has become the leading provider of lifesaving vitamin A supplements to developing countries. UNICEF estimates that since 1997 these vital supplements have prevented more than 2 million deaths—at an annual cost of less than 5 cents per person. © CIDA PHOTO: NANCY DURRELL MCKENNA Did you know? In 2004 an estimated 2.5 billion people were living on less than $2 a day—that's nearly half the people in the developing world. Source: World Bank In sub-Saharan Africa, one out of every three people is undernourished, and this number is increasing. Source: FAO The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was founded on October 16, 1945 in Quebec City, at a meeting chaired by Lester B. Pearson, who later became Canada’s fourteenth Prime Minister. Each year, since 1981, the FAO has held a World Food Day on October 16 to raise awareness of the need to find a lasting solution to global hunger and malnutrition. The theme for 2008 is world food security and the challenges of climate change. Source: WFD Beyond causing tremendous human suffering, hunger and malnutrition kill more than five million children per year, and cost developing countries billions of dollars in lost productivity and national income. Source: FAO Find out more about world hunger Mapping hunger Downloadable humanitarian video game WFP interactive hunger map You may notice some inconsistencies when comparing the statistics presented here with those in the reference links. Although we update this site regularly, linked sites may be using older or newer data. photos: 1-Stephanie Colvey; 2-Patricio Baeza; 3, 4-Roger Lemoyne