GLOBAL HUNGER: THE METHODOLOGIES UNDERLYING THE OFFICIAL ESTIMATES

Abstract

The methodologies employed by FAD, the World Bank, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to quantify the extent of global hunger during the past 50 years are examined. The methodologies are shown to be less than perfect and to contain built-in biases favoring exaggeration. They have also proved amenable to manipulation by those with a political agenda to pursue. Other approaches to measuring world hunger should therefore be sought.