Hunger and poor nutrition are the two faces of the food security challenge that persist in Asia and the region despite being the world’s primary economic growth engine and its recent success in reducing poverty. The region remains home to the most number of hungry people in the world with 552 million, or two-thirds of the global hungry population. Most of those who are hungry are smallholder farmers in rural areas, where people depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

At the same time, stunting among children below five years of age—a measure of chronic undernutrition among children—although drastically reduced remains a serious concern, notably in a few countries in South Asia where up to 50% of young children are stunted. On the supply side, climate change adds another challenge to the food security issue since Asia-Pacific is likely to see the biggest reductions in agricultural potential due to climate change...

— blogs.adb.org/blog