Nearly 1 Billion In World Are Hungry Every Night Growing Global Population, Declining Food Reserves Blamed

Nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry or severely malnourished every night as a result of population increases and declining world food reserves, a top State Department official said Thursday.

Beyond these factors, the world’s poorest people increasingly are unable to meet their food needs because a more prosperous China is driving up world food prices through sharply expanded imports, Undersecretary of State Timothy Wirth said.

Wirth said it is “absolutely imperative” that nations cooperate in developing another agricultural breakthrough similar to the one 30 years ago that resulted in dramatically higher yields of rice and helped feed Asia’s burgeoning population.

“The ‘Green Revolution’ is now leveling off and dying out,” Wirth said, briefing reporters. “In our opinion, we would be very fortunate if we had another Green Revolution.”

He gave no figure on the number of Americans afflicted with hunger but said 20 million U.S. citizens rely on food assistance programs for nourishment.

Wirth, who heads the State Department’s Global Affairs Office, said the current expansion in both population and food needs “is going to demand a very significant input of science, technology and training.”

Moreover, he said, nations undergoing food shortages need policies that enable them to develop a strong agricultural base.

He cited North Korea as an example of a country with short-term emergency food needs and longer term development needs.

North Korea’s food production, he said, has been destroyed by a combination of “very, very bad public policies” and unfavorable weather. Considerable outside help will be needed to assist the government of North Korea - “whatever that government ends up being,” he said.

The United States so far has given or committed $16 million worth of food to North Korea through the U.N. World Food program. South Korea has given or committed $9 million. The Eugene Bell Centennial Foundation, a Korean American group, announced Thursday that it was providing $100,000.