Nearly 50 million people in the United States -- including almost one child in four -- struggled last year to get enough to eat,  Department of Agriculture says Amy Goldstein Washington Post November 17, 2009

200 million children under the age of five in the developing world suffer from chronic undernutrition, causing one-third of deaths in children under five, the United Nations Children's Fund says  BBC News November 11, 2009  Access UNICEF report and video

Administration names agriculture official to run the  United States Agency for International Development, ending long delay  Mark Landler  New York Times November 10, 2009

Blackouts plague energy-rich Venezuela Simon Romero  New York Times November 10, 2009

A grove of huarango trees sits amid the sand dunes at the edge of Ica, Peru. The trees help balance the arid valley, capturing moisture coming from the west. Nonetheless, villagers are cutting down the last remaining trees.  Photo: Tomas Munita/New York Times

The ecosystem in Peru is losing a key ally--the huarago tree  Simon Romero New York Times November 7, 2009 Cutting down huarango forests caused the collapse of the Nazca civilization 1500 years ago Jody Bourton BBC News November 2, 2009  See Hunger Notes special report: Hunger, the environment and climate change

US unemployment rate hits 10.2%; broader unemployment measure (including discouraged workers and part-time employees who want to be full-time) reaches 17.5% David Leonhardt  New York Times November 6, 2009 Why won't the Obama administration pay people to work? Alec MacGillis Washington Post November 8, 2009 (opinion)  See Hunger Notes special report: the world financial, food and hunger crisis

Paraguay president sacks army head BBC News November 5, 2009  See Hunger Notes special report: harmful economic systems

Binding treaty no longer a realistic goal for climate summit, UN chief concedes  Ben Webster Times Online November 4, 2009 See Hunger Notes special report: Hunger, the environment and climate change

Gunman kill union leader in Mexico Elisabeth Malkin New York Times November 1, 2009 See Hunger Notes special report: harmful economic systems

Deal set to restore ousted Honduran president Ginger Thompson and Elisabeth Malkin New York Times October 25, 2009 See Hunger Notes special report: harmful economic systems

Shane Palmer, right, kisses his fiancé, Maria Maior outside the storage unit they are living in with her 12-year-old son in a northwest Chicago suburb. The family of three splits time between their storage unit and motels following a job loss and a string of bad luck. Photo: David Pierini/ ChicagoTribune

Homeless students: increasingly, families taking shelter anywhere they can Bonnie Miller Rubin Chicago Tribune October 28, 2009 See more videos and pictures on hunger and poverty in the United States.   See Hunger Notes special report: the world financial, food and hunger crisis

Food experts worry as population and hunger grow Neil MacFarquhar New York Times October 21, 2009 Economy has left 1 billion hungry, UN says Ariel David Associated Press/Boston Globe  October 15, 2009 See Hunger Notes special report: the world financial, food and hunger crisis

Clinton Anchors, 18, in Medford, Ore., has been on his own, living in the streets and camping in the woods since he was 12. Photo: Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Recession drives surge in youth runaways Ian Urbina  New York Times October 5, 2009  How teens in Medford Oregon who have left home get by (video)  See more videos and pictures on hunger and poverty in the United States.   See Hunger Notes special report: the world financial, food and hunger crisis

Fiser's mother wants him to return to school some day. Photo: BBC

Bitter lives of Bolivia's child workers  Andres Schipani  BBC News October 11, 2009  See more world hunger photos, videos and stories

What does hunger mean? (You can be  hungry and there is world hunger.  How are they related?) What percentage of the world's population is hungry? What does severe hunger feel like? Test your knowledge of hunger by taking our hunger quiz--topics vary weekly--and during October Hunger Notes will donate $.01 to Save the Children for its program in Africa  Take the quiz

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The Ogiek are traditionally forest dwellers, hunting antelope with homemade bows and harvesting honey. In the past 15 years, because of ill-planned settlement schemes (the government essentially handed out chunks of forest to cronies), 25 percent of the trees in the Mau forest have been wiped out. Photo: Tim Freccia/New York Times

Ogiek tribesman may be driven from their ancestral forest home in Kenyan plan  Jeffrey Gettleman New York Times November 14, 2009  See Hunger Notes special report: Hunger, the environment and climate change

Niger's president, Mamadou Tandja, far right, next to Alain Joyandet, France's secretary of state for cooperation.  French president Sarkozy promised “a new relationship” with Africa three years ago, saying it would be “equal, and freed of the scars of the past.” His first cooperation secretary, Jean-Marie Bockel, later reinforced the message, saying he wanted to “sign the death warrant” of the old France-Africa relationship.” But Mr. Bockel was soon out of his post after offending Gabon's President Bongo’s father with his anticorruption declarations. His replacement, Mr. Joyandet, has been careful to moderate his tone when speaking of African autocrats. Photo: Boureima Hama/Agence France-Press — Getty Images

Anger against France grows in  countries formerly part of France's colonial empire as France sides with  autocratic country rulers and not the people Adam Nossiter New York Times November 10, 2009

World cereal production is at its second-highest level ever, yet food prices remain very high. In Asia for example, prices are up 40-70 percent. Photo: Kamila Hyat/IRIN

World hunger increases despite growth in food production  IRIN News November 12, 2009 We can have food security, say two new reports  IRIN News November 12, 2009

Lakshmi H.S., 19, checked medical records at a Rural Shores outsourcing center in the Indian village of Bagepalli, where she has worked for the last six months. Photo: Lynsey Addario/New York Times  More photos

Rural Indian workers, earning $60 a month, get a chance to do work outsourced from the United States Lydia Polgreen New York Times November 12, 2009

Slowed funding threatens AIDS fight, group says--recession, other factors causing international donors to pull back Karin Brulliard Washington Post November 5, 2009

Key ways in which current farming practices harm the earth include loss of biodiversity, overuse of chemicals and pesticides, and loss of plant and animal habitat due to the expansion of farming. The loss of biodiversity as a result of current farming practices includes an estimated loss of  three-quarters of the genetic diversity in agricultural crops over the last century. Photo: Jane Some/IRIN

Feeding the world without harming it IRIN November 3, 2009 See Hunger Notes special report: Hunger, the environment and climate change  Current intellectual property rights, especially those for GMO seeds, threaten poor farmers, food security and the right to food  United Nations October 21, 2009  See Hunger Notes special report: Trade and hunger 

Energy from the Sahara plants is expected to supply Europe by 2015. Photo: BBC

Sahara sun, via a proposed huge solar project, will help power Europe  BBC News November 2, 2009

Groundbreaking birth control bill that would make family planning services more widely available to poor people has powerful enemies in the Philippines Carlos H. Conde New York Times October 25, 2009 

North Korea's military gets priority over civilians for essential supplies. It also keeps the government in power. Photo: AP

UN envoy calls North Korea's human rights record abysmal, saying one-third of the country's population was going hungry needlessly, principally because of its 'military first' policy BBC News October 22, 2009  See Hunger Notes special report: harmful economic systems

The Congo Advocacy Coalition report said disarming the Hutu rebels is a top priority - but that for every rebel who has been disarmed this year, one civilian has been killed, seven women or girls raped, and 900,000 people made homeless. Photo: AFP

UN drops Congo army unit over killings BBC News November 2, 2009 UN criticized for support of Congo offensive that caused widespread killings and rape BBC News October 13, 2009 More Congo stories