“The bottom line is that we are still far from achieving the goal of eliminating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in the world by 2030,Maximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Food and Agriculture Organization), Related to Sustainable development goals (Sustainable Development Goals) and specifically Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.
Mr Torero noted that if current trends continue, some 582 million people will still face hunger by 2030, half of them in Africa.
Despite progress in combating stunting and promoting breastfeeding, global hunger levels have remained unchanged for the third year in a row.
According to the report, a joint publication of FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (International Fund for Rural Development (IFAD)), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations World Food Programme (World food program), and the World Health Organization of the United Nations (WHO).
Africa, Asia, Latin America in sight
Regional trends show stark contrasts, with hunger continuing to rise in Africa, affecting 20.4 percent of the population, while it remains stable in Asia at 8.1 percent. This is a significant concern, as the region is home to more than half of the world’s hungry people. Latin America has shown some progress, with 6.2 percent of its population facing hunger. However, hunger is expected to increase in West Asia, the Caribbean, and most African subregions from 2022 to 2023.
FAO’s Torero stressed that Africa is facing a particular challenge because it is the only region where hunger is increasing due to all three main causes: conflict, extreme climate and economic downturn.
Among them, he stressed that war remains the “main driver” of famine, exacerbating food crises across countries.
Getting enough food is impossible.
Other key findings of the report include: Access to adequate food remains out of reach for billions of people. In 2023, there will be an estimated 2.33 billion people globally who are moderately or severely food insecure, roughly the same number as during the COVID pandemic.
More than 864 million people are severely food insecure, meaning they go through periods of time without food. While Latin America has seen some improvements in food security, in Africa, 58 percent of the continent’s population is moderately or severely food insecure.
The economic reasons for the global problem remain a major one: the report found that 2.8 billion people will not be able to afford a healthy diet by 2022. The contrast between high-income and low-income countries is stark, with just 6.3 percent of people in the former countries not being able to afford a healthy diet, compared to 71.5 percent in poorer countries. And while Asia, North America and Europe have seen improvements, the situation in Africa has worsened.
Coronavirus linked to hunger
COVID-19 remains a key marker in the fight against global hunger, with the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet falling below pre-pandemic levels in upper-middle and high-income countries by 2022.
On the other hand, In low-income countries by 2022, the number of people unable to afford enough healthy food highest level since 2017. In 2020, 1.68 billion people globally could not afford a healthy diet, with a 59 percent increase in lower-middle-income countries. Mr. Torero said this disparity was due to “a significant increase in inequality between countries and regions caused by COVID-19.”
Target hit and miss
UN report finds progress in child nutrition uneven.
Although exclusive breastfeeding rates have increased to 48%, low birth weight remains stagnant at around 15% and undernutrition among children under five has fallen to 22.3% – still short of the target.
There has been little action to combat wasting and anaemia in women, while adult obesity continues to rise, reaching 15.8 per cent in 2022, with projections that there will be more than 1.2 billion obese adults by 2030.
These figures demonstrate the complexity of malnutrition in all its forms and the need for targeted interventions, the report’s authors assert, in the context of persistent food price inflation, conflict, climate change and economic recession This makes food insecurity and malnutrition worse globally.
Digging Deep to End Hunger
In line with the theme of this year’s report – “Financing to End Hunger, Food Insecurity and All Forms of Malnutrition” – the recommendations focus on a comprehensive approach to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. This includes transforming agricultural systems, tackling inequality and making healthy diets affordable and accessible.
The report calls for cost-effective financing and a standardized approach to food and nutrition security.
“One of the key recommendations is to come up with a common definition so that we understand what we are funding and the key elements that should be included in that definition. This will improve accountability for donors and provide a clearer picture of the flow of money,” Mr. Torero explained.
The heads of UN agencies, including FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, stressed the importance of closing the financing gap. They stressed that significant investment is needed to end hunger and malnutrition, seeing it as both an investment in the future and a fundamental obligation.
Of the 119 low- and middle-income countries covered in the report, 63 percent have limited access to finance. These countries are also affected by multiple factors that contribute to food insecurity. The report asserts that better data coordination, increased risk tolerance, and greater transparency are key to closing the financing gap and strengthening efforts to ensure global food security.
“We need to understand that Our agri-food systems are increasingly exposed to risks and uncertainties due to climate change…donors must accept higher risks to enable effective finance“, said Mr. Torero.
