"The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008" presents the latest statistics on global undernourishment. It reviews the impact of high food prices and concludes that chronic hunger in the world has increased rapidly, now affecting well over 900 million people, and placing tremendous pressure on achieving hunger reduction. Governments worldwide have adopted measures to contain the negative impacts of high food prices. However, these have had limited effect, with some proving detrimental to world price levels and stability. This report also examines how high food prices present an opportunity to relaunch smallholder agriculture in the developing world. With appropriate incentives, farming households could see immediate gains, while other rural households could benefit in the longer run.