Eradicating hunger and poverty are two faces of the same coin. While meeting the basic needs of the poor means ensuring their food security, improving their nutrition helps increase productivity and incomes.

Yet, about 767 million people continue to live in extreme poverty and inequalities are still pervasive. Hunger is also on the rise. In 2016 there were 815 million chronically food-insecure and malnourished people in the world, up from 777 million in 2015 (FAO 2017). Poor people are the ones who go to bed on an empty stomach.

Because hunger and poverty are concentrated in rural areas, agriculture and the off-farm sector offer an opportunity to provide jobs, food and income to the 767 million people living in extreme poverty. 

The event "End poverty, build prosperity - Stories from Zambia and Paraguay" will discuss how to make agriculture and the rural economy more inclusive to eradicate hunger and poverty and achieve SDG 1 and 2. Representatives from the Government of Zambia and Paraguay will share their successful experience on reducing poverty and hunger in rural areas, highlighting challenges and opportunities to achieving SDG 1 and 2.

Follow the event at: www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/4559/icode/