The United Nations food agency says nearly 870 million people around the world are chronically undernourished.

The Food and Agriculture agency said in a report released Tuesday that one in eight people, or 12.5 percent of the global population, are suffering with hunger.

The food agency says the new figure is lower than the recent estimates that put the number of hungry people at 925 million in 2010 and one billion in 2009.

FAO Director Jose Graziano da Silva says “In today's world of unprecedented technical and economic opportunities, we find it entirely unacceptable that more than 100 million children under five are underweight, and therefore unable to realize their full human and socio-economic potential.”

The report calls for a “twin-track” approach to tackling hunger, which includes support for broad-based economic growth and “safety nets” for the most vulnerable.