World ‘off Track’ To Meet Most Sustainable Development Goals On Hunger, Food Security And Nutrition:FAO

Key parts of the global goals agenda linked to achieving zero-hunger are "off-track", the UN Food and Agriculture Organization,FAO, said on Thursday, in an appeal for much greater public investment in farming

ROME, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 19th Jul, 2019) Key parts of the global goals agenda linked to achieving zero-hunger are "off-track", the UN Food and Agriculture Organization,FAO, said on Thursday, in an appeal for much greater public investment in farming.

Four years since the international community agreed to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals - whose objectives include tackling food insecurity and poor nutrition - FAO says that a lack of progress "is the norm".

In a new report focusing on Goals 2 (Zero Hunger), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 14 (Life below Water) and 15 (Life on Land), the agency also warns of unsuccessful efforts to make farming sustainable, as well as the long-term management of land and ocean-based resources.

Key findings from the study that covers some 230 countries include data that more than 820 million people are going hungry around the world.The percentage of hungry people has also slightly increased between 2015 and 2018, to 10.8 per cent.

While there has been more success in conserving the genetic material of plants, with global stocks held in 99 countries and 17 regional and international centres totalling 5.3 million samples, FAO cautions nonetheless that crop diversity is still too limited.

"Efforts to secure crop diversity continues to be insufficient," the report states, "particularly for crop wild relatives, wild food plants and neglected and underutilized crop species."