Economic crisis adds 100 million to South Asia's hungry: UNICEF
02 Jun 2009
South Asia has added a 100 million people to the world's hungry list over the past two years as food and fuel prices zoomed with the global economic slowdown, a UNICEF report said.
The number of chronically hungry people have increased to over 400 million in South Asia, the highest in 40 years for the region, the report said.
Despite rising per capita incomes, the calorie intake per capita remained stagnant or has fallen in many countries, the report noted.
More than 1.18 billion people – about three quarters of the region's population - survive on less than $2 a day while nearly half of the children under five are malnourished, the report said.
The report, covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, said millions of jobs have been lost since the start of the financial crisis, especially in the export sector as global demand fell.
The downturn has affected the poor most as the high prices force them to cut back on food and other essential items, including health and education, the report said.
"The potential loss of capacity and productivity amongst a generation of children and young adults should be of major concern to countries dependent on an able energetic and young population to fuel economic growth and future prosperity," the report said.
The slowdown has also hit industries such as tourism and affected inward remittances in most South Asian countries.