One in nine people still undernourished in the world (FAO). - During the second international conference on nutrition (19-21 November), the FAO explained that the cost of malnutrition in the world stood at between $2,800 and $3,500 billion. Despite progress being made in tackling hunger at a global level, the FAO estimates that there are still 805 million people who are undernourished or, in other words, one in nine during the 2012-14 period, as opposed to 1,014.5 million in the 1990-92 period. Micronutrient deficiencies (trace elements and vitamin deficiencies etc.) cause a lot of harm to health and affect around 2 billion people or 30% of the world population. Despite the non-negligible results obtained in many countries, chronic malnutrition (stunted growth) still affected 161 million children aged under five in 2013 and severe acute malnutrition (wasting disease) affected 51 million children aged under five, according to the Rome Declaration on Nutrition published at this event by the FAO. Most people suffering from malnutrition are in Asia. The majority of these are in India, where 190.7 million inhabitants in the country are undernourished, followed by China (150.8 million) and Afghanistan (39.6 million). Many African countries are also affected. Ethiopia is the country most affected, with 32.9 million people undernourished. On the American continent, two countries are affected: Haiti (5.3 million people) and Colombia (5.5 million people). The second international conference on nutrition took place in the context of a sharp reduction in food consumer prices, following two upward spikes in 2008 and 2011. After peaking at 23% and 14% during these two crises, food price inflation in Africa fell to 6% at the beginning of 2014 but experts are remaining cautious about these figures, due to climate risk and the geo-political instability persisting in the region. (IL)