World hunger on the rise again: UN

The number of hungry people in the world is rising again after years of decline, as millions suffer from the combined effects of conflict and climate change, the head of the UN food agency said yesterday.

"Preliminary data available for this year indicates that the number of undernourished people in the world has (started to) rise again," said Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

He didn't provide an exact figure, saying final data would be available in September. "Unfortunately this is not good news," Graziano da Silva added, speaking at the FAO's biennial conference in Rome.