Agriculture development, food security and nutrition A/RES/72/238 their physical and mental capacities, and underlining the need to make special efforts to meet nutritional needs, especially of women, children, older persons, indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities, as well as of those living in vulnerable situations, Taking note with appreciation of the publications entitled The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017: Building Resilience for Peace and Food Security, issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural D evelopment and the United Nations Children’s Fund, and The State of Food and Agriculture 2017: Leveraging Food Systems for Inclusive Rural Transformation, issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Remaining deeply concerned that, according to the most recent estimates of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Food Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, the number of chronically undernourished people in the world has increased to 81 5 million, from 777 million in 2015, and that global nutrition challenges are increasingly complex as multiple forms of malnutrition, including stunting, wasting, underweight, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity, may coexist within the same country or household, Remaining deeply concerned about the continuing food insecurity and malnutrition being faced by hundreds of millions of people, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa and in South and West Asia, Expressing its concern that, according to the Global Report on Food Crises 2017, the number of people facing crisis-level food insecurity or worse has increased dramatically, up from almost 80 million in 2015 to 108 million in 2016 in countries affected by, inter alia, conflict, environmental factors, including natural disasters, and excessive food price volatility, Noting that an increasing number of countries, in particular in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, are integrating food security and nutrition into their agriculture policies and investment plans and that, as a result, eradicating hunger, improving food security and ensuring adequate nutrition are being given greater prominence in regional development strategies, such as the African Union Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations food security and nutrition strategy, the Piura Declaration on Food Security, the Framework for Multi-Year Programme on Food Security and Climate Change and the Strategic Framework on Rural-Urban Development to Strengthen Food Security and Quality Growth, adopted by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 Initiative, the strategy on food security and nutrition of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries and the Arab food security initiative, all of which emphasized the importance of investing in agriculture, diversifying food production and diets and providing quality nutritional education to consumers, introducing labour-saving technologies in food production and processing, enhancing women’s access to income and strengthening capacitybuilding in improving food safety at all stages of the food chain, and also noting the establishment of the Islamic Organization for Food Security, headquartered in Astana, Reiterating the urgent need for action to address the adverse effects of cl imate change on food security, in particular for women and youth, as well as the other root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition, Noting the convening of the thirty-first session of the Regional Conference for Europe and Central Asia of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 17-23316 5/11