Food insecurity remains a major problem
in almost all continents, especially in most Third World countries.
In 2009, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
estimated that there were over 1 billion hungry people in the world,
most of them in the Asia Pacific.
The FAO says that hunger was on the
rise even before the global food and economic crises. It blames the
increase of hunger on high domestic food prices, lower incomes and
increasing unemployment due to the economic meltdown.
But in the eyes of many, hunger and and
food security is the result of centuries of colonial and neo-colonial
exploitation of Third World countries. This has continued to
intensify during the past few decades through oppressive and
exploitative programs of institutions such as the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
