World hunger is expected to reach a record high in 2009 of 1,020 million people going hungry every day, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The UN agency defines hunger as the consumption of less than 1,800 calories per day.

FAO says that the global economic crisis is contributing heavily towards hunger, with incomes decreasing and unemployment rising, thus limiting access to food for the poor.

“A dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food prices in many countries has pushed some 100 million more people than last year into chronic hunger and poverty,” said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. “The silent hunger crisis — affecting one sixth of all of humanity — poses a serious risk for world peace and security. We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world and to take the necessary actions.”

Hunger has been on the rise since the mid-1990s, according to FAO statistics. Globally there are now about 1.02 billion people hungry, up 11 percent from last year’s 915 million, the agency said. It based its estimate on an analysis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Related news articles:

1. Food becoming unaffordable due to crisis
2. Financial crisis affects food crisis
3. Financial crisis pushes more of world’s poor into hunger, warns UN body
4. World Bank predicts devastating global poverty
5. 40 million Americans rely on food stamps, new record