Just ten years ago leaders of 192 nations thought that this was do-able: Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and halve hunger by 2015. With the UN MDG Summit to review progress to meeting the 8 MDGs taking place next week, is it still?

Well, in Oxfam’s new report, ‘Halving hunger: Still possible’ the good news is that according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, last year the number of hungry people fell by 98 million. However, before we get too excited, there are a couple of important things to note. That still leaves 925 million people hungry - nearly one in six people around the world don’t get enough food. That is more than the combined population of the European Union, Canada and the United States of America.

The other depressing observation is that the actual drop is more down to luck (good harvest for the previous two years) then any great efforts. Then there are a number of weather events that seem to be bringing this luck to a devastating end. Wild fires in Russia (the 4th biggest exporter of wheat) have led to the government banning the export of wheat grain until the end of 2011. The Pakistan floods mean that Pakistan will have to import food over the next year as the Punjab, one of the areas devastated, produces 80% of Pakistan’s grain. With these (and other events) the global food market is becoming jittery. Price rises and price volatility seems inevitable. See Duncan Green’s blog for more.

Before we get too despondent, there are examples of countries that have been able to tackle hunger effectively in the past decade. In Vietnam and Brazil the governments supported poor food producers (farmers, fishermen etc) financially and provided social safety nets for people who cannot produce or buy enough food. In this way both countries have dramatically cut hunger at home. The report also cites Malawi, where they launched a subsidy programme in 2005 that improved poor farmers’ access to fertilisers and seeds. Maize production doubled in just two years. Malawi is no longer dependent on food aid and has even become an exporter, even providing food aid to earthquake-hit Haiti

So, against this backdrop, what do we need politicians to agree next week in New York?

Firstly, poor people need more than promises. As the report states "If promises could feed people, there would not be one single hungry person left on Earth." We need coordinated and decisive action from international agencies, developing and donor governments. Individual countries need to follow the examples above and develop their own plans to reduce hunger. The UN and rich countries should support these efforts by sticking to their aid commitments and providing other forms of investment, like the Robin Hood Tax. At this month’s UN Review Summit it is time to put a series of decisive and bold measures on the table that will halve hunger and speed up the fulfilment of all the MDGs. Read the full report: Halving Hunger: Still possible