To make this vision a reality, we are challenged to take urgent action to eliminate the underlying causes of hunger worldwide-rapidly, sustainably and permanently. Ending world hunger is not simply a matter of increasing food production. In fact, many of the malnourished children around the world come from developing countries with food surpluses. Making sure that food gets to those who lack it is a major challenge because hunger is both a cause and a result of many other problems. It means turning these problems around so that the world's reality reflects the vision.
Refugees become extremely vulnerable to food insecurity.
Desertification, erosion and the loss of biodiversity threaten agricultural productivity. Within the past 10 years there has been some progress in alleviating hunger, but efforts must be multiplied to make this vision a reality. Even if the world were to attain the World Food Summit's 1996 goal of cutting world hunger in half by 2015, much more effort must be applied. If the current course of action is followed, nearly 700 million people will still suffer from chronic hunger at the end of 15 years. We must begin to change the political and economic structures that allow for widespread poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, war, gender and ethnic inequality and environmental destruction.