World Hunger Survey Philippines Rank 5th

In the recent global survey on hunger the Philippines ranks No. 5 in the world when it comes to citizens who have had “little or no food at all” in the past year.

Gallup International, a Zurich-based international group, conducted the interviews between June and September for its World Food Survey.

Gallup International asked over 58,000 people from 55 countries this question: “Have there been times in the last 12 months when you and/or your family have not had enough to eat?”

Four in 10 Filipinos or 40 percent said they “often or sometimes” lacked food in the past year, according to Gallup International-Voice of the People 2008.

Topping the list of hungry nations was Cameroon (55 percent), followed by Pakistan (53 percent), Nigeria (48 percent) and Peru (42 percent).

Following the Philippines, and completing the top ten, were Bolivia and Guatemala (tied at 35 percent), Ghana (32 percent) Mexico and Russia (tied at 23 percent).

Worldwide, around two in ten people or 19 percent said they lacked food “often or sometimes” in the past year. Moreover, 13 percent said there were rare occasions when they had no food to eat.

On the other hand, 66 percent said the problem never affected them.

“It is shocking to see that still so many people don’t have enough to eat even in the most developed regions,” Gallup International secretary general Meril James said in a statement.

Not surprisingly, hunger was prevalent among those with low incomes (25 percent), less educational attainment (29 percent) and no employment (27 percent).

Regionally, Africa remains the most affected by hunger, with almost half the population declaring they did not have enough food to eat “often or sometimes” in the past year, with only three in ten Africans saying they did not lack food in the past year.

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer