A report published by UNICEF has said that nearly 200 million children in poor countries have stunted growth due to malnutrition or insufficient nutrition.

The U.N. Children’s Fund published a report saying that nearly 200 million children under five in poor countries were stunted by a lack of nutrients in their food.

According to the report 90% of those children live in Africa or Asia and more then 30% of the deaths amongst young children in these continents are related to undernutrition.

The stunt in growth has droped in Asia compared with the past where 44% of children had groth problems in 1990. The drop is not as significant in Africa where in 1990 the stunted growth rate for young children was 38%, last year the rate was at 34%

South Asia is a particular hotspot for the problem, with just Afghanistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan accounting for 83 million hungry children under five.

UNICEF executive director Ann M. Veneman said in a statement.”Unless attention is paid to addressing the causes of child and maternal undernutrition today, the costs will be considerably higher tomorrow,”

FAO says global food output will have to increase by 70 percent to feed a projected population of 9.1 billion in 2050.

To achieve that, poor countries will need $44 billion in annual agricultural aid, compared with the current $7.9 billion, to increase access to irrigation systems, modern machinery, seeds and fertilizer as well as build roads and train farmers.