The UN says the number of people suffering from chronic hunger has declined for the first time in fifteen years. But unveiling the figures in Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization director Jacques Diouf said hunger levels remain unacceptably high.

Jacques Diouf: “FAO’s latest estimates indicate that 925 million people will be hungry and malnourished in 2010. While this figure marks an improvement compared to last year’s spike in world hunger of one billion persons, there is no cause for complacency. Close to the one billion hungry is and remains unacceptable.”

The FAO has called for an emergency meeting later this month to discuss global food security. Josette Sheeran, the executive director of the UN’s World Food Programme, said the global food crisis of 2008 is still affecting poor areas of the world.

Josette Sheeran: “Just because the numbers are being reversed does not mean that the effects of the shock of the food crisis, that there are many not still in play, and this was part of what the research discovered. In fact, the resiliency of people is weaker than before. Many have lost their livestock. Many had to sell off their assets. And the nutritional status, particularly of children, is still very precarious.”