Ending Hunger: What would it cost?

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) estimates the public and private investment required to end hunger by 2030, defining the goal as reducing the hungry population to less than 5 per cent of a country's population.

• To end hunger by 2030, an average of USD 11 billion in additional annual public spending is required. Of this, USD 4 billion must be provided by donors, representing a 45 per cent increase over the current annual donor spending of USD 8.6 billion, while USD 7 billion is to be provided by poor countries.
• Additional public spending to combat hunger is expected to stimulate an average of USD 5 billion in additional private investment per year until 2030.
• Under a 'business-as-usual' scenario (current economic growth and donor contributions), 600 million people are estimated to remain hungry by 2030. Without any further economic growth or donor contributions, the number of hungry people could exceed 1 billion by 2030, compared to 800 million in 2015.
• The report identifies five categories of interventions to end hunger: social safety nets, farm support, rural development, enabling policies, and nutrition. The cost analysis focused on the first three—social safety nets, farm support, and rural development—because they have a measurable link to increased calorie consumption and represent 84 per cent of current donor spending.
• Analysis of seven African countries (Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) shows an average additional annual cost of USD 1 billion to end hunger, with USD 400 million coming from donors. This is expected to trigger USD 2.8 billion in private agricultural investment.
• Donor dependency varies significantly by country based on GDP per capita. For example, Malawi is projected to depend on donors for 90 per cent of its public budget in 2030, whereas Nigeria is expected to depend on donors for less than 10 per cent.
• Over 73 countries are projected to have more than 5 per cent of their population hungry by 2030 under the business-as-usual scenario. While 18 of these may have sufficient domestic resources, others—specifically in Central and South East Africa—will require high levels of support. The Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Eritrea may depend on donors for over 90 per cent of their public budgets.

APA

Laborde, D., Bizikova, L., Lallemant, T., & Smaller, C. (2016). Ending Hunger: What would it cost? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ending-hunger-what-would-it-cost.pdf

Chicago

Laborde, David, Livia Bizikova, Tess Lallemant, and Carin Smaller. Ending Hunger: What would it cost? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ending-hunger-what-would-it-cost.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Laborde |first1=David |last2=Bizikova |first2=Livia |last3=Lallemant |first3=Tess |last4=Smaller |first4=Carin |title=Ending Hunger: What would it cost? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=October 2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ending-hunger-what-would-it-cost.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{laborde2016ending, author = {Laborde, David and Bizikova, Livia and Lallemant, Tess and Smaller, Carin}, title = {{Ending Hunger: What would it cost?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ending-hunger-what-would-it-cost.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }