The United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that the worldwide share of undernourished people decreased from about 65 percent in 1950 to 25 percent by 1970, and to about 15 percent by the year 2000. Continued improvements (with fluctuations caused by temporary national or regional setbacks due to natural disasters or armed conflicts) lowered the rate to 8.9 percent by 2019—which means that rising food production reduced the malnutrition rate from 2 in 3 people in 1950 to 1 in 11 by 2019.[4]
