Goal 1: Causes of hunger

1.    Poverty

Poverty is the fundamental cause of hunger. According to World Bank estimates in 2008 around 982 million people lived with just 1.25$ a day or even less. This number strictly corresponds with the number of hungry/under nourished people – 1 billion in 2009 (FAO estimate)
Progress in poverty reduction has been concentrated in Asia, and especially, East Asia, with the major improvement occurring in China. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people in extreme poverty has increased.

2.    Autocratic political (economic) systems.

Actions taken by many governments of African and Asian countries are marked by ineffectiveness and corruption. Essentially control over resources and income is based on military, political and economic power that typically ends up in the hands of a minority, who live well, while those at the bottom barely survive, if they do. Corruption added on top of that causes further unproductive allocation of resources. 

3.    Conflicts.

Conflict is one of the main reasons for poverty, which in consequence causes hunger. The conflicts nowadays are becoming more protracted and more damaging to the civilians than before. They primarily break out between or within the poor states. Last three years have witnessed a significant increase in refugee numbers, due primarily to the violence taking place in Iraq and Somalia. By the end of 2008, the total number of refugees under UNHCR’s mandate exceeded 10 million. The number of conflict-induced internally displaced persons (IDPs) reached some 26 million worldwide at the end of the year. 

4.    Climate change

Climate changes are affecting millions of already struggling farmers. It is seen as a future major cause of hunger and poverty. Inability to grow food will increase dependence of the poor countries on the rich ones.  Rice and maize, two of the world's most important crops, on which hundreds of millions of people depend, face significant drops in yields. Maize yields are forecast to drop by 15% or more by 2020 in much of sub-Saharan Africa and in most of India (OXFAM News).
Climate changes will also increase the number of diseases and their reach. Many diseases are already migrating as temperatures rise. Malaria, dengue fever, river blindness and yellow fever are all considered highly likely to increase their distribution (The Guardian).
Scarcity of fertile land is also likely to cause more conflicts.

Source: WorldHunger.org