In recent decades we have made considerable progress in fighting global hunger and poverty. A majority - 72 out of 129 - of the countries monitored by FAO have achieved the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the prevalence of undernourishment by 2015, with developing regions as a whole missing the target by a small margin. But progress has been uneven among countries and regions. The prevalence of hunger and poverty has fallen substantially in some regions, especially in East Asia and the Pacific as well as Southeast Asia. But in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, progress has been slow overall, despite some country success stories. This edition of The State of Food and Agriculture focusing on social protection elaborates on our unequivocal support to strengthen national capacities and capabilities to successfully develop and deliver needed programmes.