Reaching the WFS goal is still possible. But countries must focus their energies. Leaders in a few countries have boldly put hunger reduction at the forefront of national priorities - and set ambitious targets:

		Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva has launched a Zero-Hunger Programme to end hunger within his four-year term of office. It advocates a two-pronged strategy to boost food production while providing safety nets to feed the poorest of the poor.
		In Sierra Leone, President Alhaji Dr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has promised to eliminate hunger by the year 2007.
		Like Brazil and Sierra Leone, 20 other countries have asked FAO for assistance in designing nation-wide hunger reduction strategies. These plans follow the basic concepts of the Special Programme for Food Security and the Anti-Hunger programme.

Eradicating hunger is not simply a moral imperative; it also makes economic sense. Well-fed nations grow more quickly and can provide for their people. And that is a benefit to rich and poor nations alike.

Updating National Strategies for Food Security and Agricultural Development

Following the WFS, more than 100 nations developed and formally endorsed strategies to reduce hunger. But the focus has sometimes fallen too greatly on poverty. Poverty cannot be reduced unless countries tackle hunger - itself a cause of poverty. FAO is helping nations to update those plans to make sure policies give sufficient attention to hunger and rural development. (more...)