One of the targets of the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is to reduce the proportion of people
who suffer from hunger by half between 1990 and 2015, with hunger measured as the proportion of the
population who are undernourished and the prevalence of children under five who are underweight. Many
countries remain far from reaching this target, and much of the progress made has been eroded by the
recent global food price and economic crises. As we enter the final five years to achieve the MDGs, we look
upon one of the greatest challenges of our time with one billion people hungry, 129 million and 195 million
children underweight and stunted respectively and more than 2 billion people deficient in micronutrients.
In light of these global trends, this report charts progress on the hunger component of the MDG 1
commitment, by reviewing country programs and policies and drawing attention to key lessons and future
directions for the coming period. Case studies of programs and interventions within countries were
reviewed, where the implementation and operational systems required to support reductions in hunger
and undernutrition have the potential to shed light on what success and scale might look like.