Reaction to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Rio+20 report

In response to the FAO's report "Towards The Future We Want: End Hunger And Make The Transition to Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems", which argues that eradicating hunger should be at the heart of sustainable development, Oxfam's Chief Executive Barbara Stocking said:

"We welcome the FAO report which rightly places the need to address the scandal of global hunger if we are to develop in a sustainable way. Despite there being enough food for everyone, more than 18 million people are going hungry in West Africa right now and one in seven people in the world go hungry every day.

"Leaders meeting at Rio +20 in three weeks time must recognize the urgency needed to overhaul the way we grow and distribute food, especially in the face of constrained natural resources like land, water and energy, and the gathering pace of climate change. Improving access to land and investing in small holder farmers - especially women who are often the main producers - is vital if we are to produce food in a sustainable way for us all to have enough to eat now and in the future."