And of course, for people hit by natural disasters or man-made crises, survival supersedes other considerations, and food assistance provides the only hope. Hunger is found even amidst affluence, and in cities as well as in rural areas. Nevertheless, hunger is more prevalent and intense in poor societies, and among less affluent people. Africa and South Asia are host to most of them. However, to the extent that they neither show the widespread incidence of malnutrition other than chronic undernutrition, nor the prevalence of seasonal or temporary food inadequacy, as well as emergency-related malnutrition, they underestimate the true scale of the task ahead.
World hunger is a local problem.
National governments have the ultimate responsibility of ensuring that all their citizens are food secure. In many developed countries, even larger sums are spent on national food assistance programmes. Even in countries where external food aid accounts for a sizeable proportion of total food assistance, national resources are usually the first to be amassed to save lives of those caught up in emergency situations. In both developed and developing countries, national food assistance programmes generally suffered reductions during the 1980s and 1990s. Policies associated with macro-economic stabilisation in many developing countries have resulted in higher food prices due to exchange rate realignments and reduction in food subsidies.