D) THE EARTH CAN FEED ALL ITS INHABITANTS

The great progress made by humanity

19. Despite the enormous errors mentioned above, it should not be forgotten that no less spectacular progress has been responsible for increasing the world population from 3 to 5.3 billion over 30 years (1960-1990)(²⁹). In the developing countries, "... life expectancy at birth [has risen] from 46 years in 1960 to 62 years in 1987. They halved the mortality rates for children under five and immunised two-thirds of all one-year-olds against major childhood diseases... The per capita average calorie supply increased by 20 per cent between 1965 and 1985"(³⁰).

Between 1950 and 1980 total world food production doubled and at the present time "globally there is enough food for all"(³¹). The fact that people continue to starve despite this shows that the problem is structural, and that "inequitable access is the main problem"(³²). It is a mistake to gauge the actual food consumption of households merely by the statistical parameter of per capita cereals availability. Hunger is not a problem of availability, but of meeting demand. It is an issue of poverty. It should also be noted that the survival of a multitude of individuals is guaranteed by the informal economy; by definition this is undeclared, difficult to quantify and unreliable.