Food Security Assessment, 2010-20

by Shahla Shapouri, Stacey Rosen, May Peters, Felix G Baquedano, and Summer Allen

Food security in 70 developing countries is estimated to have improved between 2009 and 2010, in part due to economic recovery in many of these countries. The number of food-insecure people in the developing countries analyzed by ERS researchers is estimated to decrease about 7.5 percent from 2009 to 882 million in 2010. The number of food-insecure people at the aggregate level will not improve much over the next decade, declining by only 1 percent. While there will be notable improvements in Asia and Latin America, the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to deteriorate after 2010. Food-insecure people are defined as those consuming less than the nutritional target of 2,100 calories per day per person.

Keywords: Food security, prices, production, commercial imports, export earnings, capital inflows, remittances, foreign direct investment, food aid, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Commonwealth of Independent States

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