How we count hunger matters

Jennifer Clapp has co-written a policy brief with Frances Moore Lappé, Molly Anderson, Robin Broad, Ellen Messer, Thomas Pogge and Timothy Wise titled, How We Count Hunger Matters. The policy brief, freshly published in the Ethics and International Affairs journal, examines the FAO’s new method of measuring hunger presented in its 2012 State of Food Insecurity in the World report (SOFI 12).

In SOFI 12, the FAO revistits its data back to 1990 and present a new method of measuring hunger. Image source: http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/

From the abstract:

“Setting aside any question about the specific merits of the agency’s new methodology, the FAO’s primary measure does not capture the full extent of hunger. Additionally, SOFI 12’s overriding messages may obscure important policy lessons. We suggest that a wide range of specific government policies that were either underemphasized or completely omitted in SOFI 12 have proven successful in reducing hunger—especially those that promote more equitable access to productive resources, the right to food, a more supportive international economic and trade system, and ecological approaches to production.”

Read How We Count Hunger Matters at Cambridge Journals Online.