Sustainable development will not be achieved unless hunger and malnutrition are eradicated, the United Nations food agency warned on Thursday in a new report.

A woman purchases vegetables at a local market.?[FAO]

"We cannot call development sustainable while this situation persists, while nearly one out of every seven men, women and children are left behind, victims of undernourishment," said José Graziano da Silva, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

FAO stresses the need to address the flaws in the current food system so that hundreds of millions of people in developing countries have the means to produce or purchase the food they need for their own consumption and income.

The report – entitled Towards the future we want: end hunger and make the transition to sustainable agricultural and food systems – is also?prepared for the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20), which will be held in Brazil next month.

"The quest for food security can be the common thread that links the different challenges we face and helps build a sustainable future," Graziano da Silva said.

"At the Rio Summit we have the golden opportunity to explore the convergence between the agendas of food security and sustainability to ensure that happens."

The report urges governments to establish and protect rights to resources, incorporate incentives for sustainable consumption and production into food systems, promote fair and well-functioning agricultural and food markets, and invest public resources in public goods, especially innovation and infrastructure, among other measures.

The report also provides recommendations to help farmers who