Progress and setbacks in developing countries According to the most recent data available, the number of undernourished people in the developing world has been reduced to 790 million, 40 million less than the number estimated at the time of the World Food Summit in 1996. The decline in the percentage of people who are undernourished is also significant - from 20 percent in the 1990/92 reference period used at the Summit to slightly less than 18 percent in 1995/97. These gains do not appear to be either transitory or anomalous. In fact, they are consistent with a steady downward trend, as confirmed by a look at the figures for 1979/81, when almost 920 million people went hungry, amounting to around 30 percent of the population of the developing world. But the pace of progress has not been fast enough to reach the goal of around 400 million by 2015 set by the Summit. In fact, if the present trend continues, with reductions of approximately 8 million a year in the ranks of the undernourished, the total in 2015 will be 638 million. That figure would represent no more than the "business-as-usual" outcome that was branded as unacceptable by the Summit. Progress in combating hunger has also been very uneven. Between 1991 and 1996, the proportion of the population going hungry increased in 27 countries, including many of those where the problem was already most severe. In another 32 countries, the proportion either remained steady or shrank too slowly to offset growth in the total population. Only 37 countries succeeded in bringing down the proportion rapidly enough to reduce the absolute number. Because this group included several large countries, its reduction of 97 million outweighed the increase of 59 million among the other countries, resulting in a net reduction of about 40 million for the developing world as a whole. Over the longer period, between 1980 and 1996, only 40 countries reduced hunger quickly and steadily enough to meet the Summit target. Several of these already had very low or insignificant levels of chronic hunger to begin with. But past performance has not been sufficient in 56 countries. The prospects are not all bleak, however. Many countries, including several of the large countries that dominate global totals, have registered steady improvements. And some have scored remarkable gains. Led by five countries from West Africa, 13 countries decreased the proportion of hungry people in their populations by more than one percentage point a year over the 16-year period. Valuable lessons can be learned from their experiences as well as from the hardships that have beset countries where the proportion of undernourished soared over the same period. Counting and locating hungry people Undernourishment in developed countries Survey finds severe hunger in 800 000 US households