There is no single answer to world hunger, says David Cameron

David Cameron today spoke of his hopes for a summit to tackle hunger, but admitted: “There's no one single answer to this.”

The Prime Minister will host a meeting of world leaders gathered in London for the Olympics closing ceremony and challenge them to find ways of feeding starving children.

Mr Cameron also defended the decision to spend taxpayers' money on overseas aid despite overseeing a double-dip recession in the UK.

He told ITV1's Daybreak: "I wanted to do this during the Olympic Games. We are all thinking about the next gold medal, but there are millions of children around the world who are thinking, 'Am I going to get the next meal?'

"There are 170 million children who are malnourished. In some cases it results in death, but in a lot of cases it results in stunting, it means people don't reach their full potential and have all sorts of restrictions and illnesses later on in life."

Mr Cameron added: "I think most people recognise that when there are 170 million people around the world suffering from malnutrition, when there are millions of people living on less than a dollar a day, even at a tough time in Britain, we are right to meet our aid commitments."

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the Government wanted to capitalise on the success of the Olympics by pledging to help hungry children abroad.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's an important moment to galvanise public support for something that Britain wants to be a real legacy for these Games, along with all our sporting aspirations for the future too.

"We think it's a terrible thing that 170 million children go to bed starving every night in our world, one in three of the poorest children in the world.

"It's a chance for Britain, together with the next hosts of the Olympics, the Brazilians, to put a real flag in the sand about the importance of tackling malnutrition in the future."

PA