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    FAO Stands by Hunger Estimates

    By Ivy Mungcal // 20 September 2010
    A child participates at a school feeding program supported by the World Food Program and UNICEF. The Food and Agriculture Organization stands by its global hunger and undernourishment statistics. Photo by: Julien Harneis / CC BY Julien HarneisCC BY

    The Food and Agriculture Organization stands by its latest estimates of the number of undernourished people around the world but recognizes that the methodology it used to arrive at the figures can be improved, a senior economist of the organization said.

    David Dawe, leader of the FAO technical team that handles the publication of annual global hunger and undernourishment statistics, was responding to a recent blog entry by New York University professor William Easterly. In his entry, Easterly questioned the validity of FAO’s hunger figures for 2009.

    “That’s very good news, unless it didn’t happen,” Easterly wrote.

    >> William Easterly Casts Doubt on FAO’s Latest Hunger Figures

    In a letter to Easterly, which was published in “Aid Watch,” Dawe explained that it was only natural for methodologies used to construct global estimates to be “subject to many valid criticism.” 

    He added: “FAO is currently investing financial and human resources to improve our estimates of the number of undernourished people in the world. Constructive contributions to this effort are welcome.” 

      Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

      About the author

      • Ivy Mungcal

        Ivy Mungcal

        As former senior staff writer, Ivy Mungcal contributed to several Devex publications. Her focus is on breaking news, and in particular on global aid reform and trends in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Before joining Devex in 2009, Ivy produced specialized content for U.S. and U.K.-based business websites.

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