Rome , Italy ( CNN ) -- Somewhere in the world , a child dies of hunger every five seconds -- even though the planet has more than enough food for all . U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon laid out this sobering statistic as he kicked off a three-day summit on world food security Monday in Rome . `` Today , more than 1 billion people are hungry , '' he told the assembled leaders . Six million children die of hunger every year -- 17,000 every day , he said . The summit opened with the leaders adopting a declaration to renew their commitment to eradicating hunger . They promised to do so by promoting investment , reversing the decline in funding for agriculture and tackling the effect of global warming on food security . Urgent action is critical , Ban said . In 2050 , the world will need to feed 2 billion more mouths -- 9.1 billion in all . The steps Ban proposed included providing farmers with seeds and land and offering them access to better markets and fairer trade . `` These small-holder farmers are the heart and soul of food security and poverty reduction , '' he said . `` Our job is not just to feed the hungry but to empower the hungry to feed themselves . '' The summit came under criticism even before it began , with some aid groups skeptical that it would accomplish much . The United Nations hopes that donors will go beyond affirming their support to end hunger and fulfill a promise they made during a Group of Eight meeting in July to increase food aid significantly . Though more than 60 world leaders are at the summit , all but one of the G-8 leaders were absent . Italian Prime Minister Silvio Belusconi is hosting the gathering . The United States sent the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development , and Britain sent two ministers . During his speech , Ban also tied the global warming crisis to hunger eradication . The melting of Himalayan glaciers will affect the livelihood of 300 million people in China and up to 1 billion throughout Asia , he said . And African farmers might see harvests drop by 50 percent by 2020 . The United Nations has scheduled a climate summit next month in Copenhagen , Denmark . `` There can be no food security without climate security , '' Ban said . `` They must produce results . `` The world is impatient for us to make a difference . I , too , am impatient . And I am committed . '' The United Nations also seeks commitment from the public , making an online appeal for individual donations to fight hunger . The U.N. World Food Program 's `` Billion for a Billion '' campaign aims to reach 1 billion individuals . `` If a billion Internet users donate a dollar or a euro a week , we can literally transform the lives of a billion hungry people across the world , '' said Josette Sheeran , the World Food Program 's executive director . Small donations can make a big difference , Sheeran said . `` Year in , year out , governments have supported WFP in its mission to feed the world 's hungriest people , but they can not be expected to do it alone , '' Sheeran said . `` It 's time for members of the public to act . ''
More than 60 hungry , the U.S. Agency for International Development official says at summit for world food security . Sheeran : `` Small-holder farmers are the heart and soul of ... poverty reduction '' Some aid groups express skepticism about summit . More than 1 billion leaders attend summit , but only one Group of More than 60 leader .