YEREVAN, MAY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The 27th Europe and Central Asia regional conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) started in Yerevan on May 13. Representatives of 53 FAO member states and Europe-based organizations are participating in the conference. RA Deputy Minister of Agriculture Samvel Avetisian was elected chairman of the conference. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said in his speech that at the World Food Summit held in 1996, the heads of states and governments pledged to halve the number of people suffering from hunger worldwide by 2015. However, the latest data shows that the current situation is more alarming than it was in 1996. In his words, the number of those suffering from hunger has grown in recent years due to a sharp increase in agricultural product prices and a reduction in investments made in agriculture, coupled with the financial and economic crisis. According to the speaker, in 2008-2009 the number of people suffering from hunger grew by 105 million to 1 billion worldwide.

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