The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, jointly published by five United Nations specialized agencies, has disclosed that the number of people facing hunger has risen by over 122 million since 2019.
This increase can be attributed to the pandemic, repeated weather shocks, and conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.
The report warned that if current trends persisted, the Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger by 2030 would not be achieved.
According to the 2023 edition of the report, between 691 and 783 million people experienced hunger in 2022, with a mid-range estimate of 735 million.
This, it said, marked a significant rise compared to the pre-pandemic figure of 2019.
It said that while global hunger numbers remained stagnant between 2021 and 2022, several regions worldwide faced deepening food crises.
“Although progress in reducing hunger was observed in Asia and Latin America, Western Asia, the Caribbean, and all subregions of Africa experienced an increase in hunger in 2022.
“Africa remains the most severely affected region, with one in five people facing hunger, which is more than double the global average.
“During the launch of the report at the UN Headquarters in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the urgent need for a global effort to address the crises and shocks driving food insecurity, from conflict to climate.
“The heads of the five UN agencies echoed this sentiment in the report’s Foreword, stating that achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target of Zero Hunger by 2030 presents a formidable challenge. It is projected that nearly 600 million people will still face hunger in 2030.
“They stressed the necessity of redoubling efforts to transform agrifood systems and achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2).
“The report paints a grim picture of the global food security and nutrition situation in 2022. It reveals that approximately 29.6 percent of the global population, equivalent to 2.4 billion people, lacked constant access to food, as indicated by the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity.
“Among them, around 900 million individuals faced severe food insecurity.
“Furthermore, the ability of people to afford healthy diets has deteriorated worldwide, with over 3.1 billion people, or 42 percent of the population, unable to afford a nutritious diet in 2021.
“This represents an increase of 134 million people compared to 2019.
“The report also highlights the ongoing issue of malnutrition among children under five years old. In 2022, 148 million children (22.3 percent) suffered from stunting, 45 million (6.8 percent) experienced wasting, and 37 million (5.6 percent) were overweight.
“Although progress has been made in exclusive breastfeeding, with 48 per cent of infants under six months benefiting from this practice, concerted efforts are still required to meet the malnutrition targets set for 2030.”
In addition, the report addressed the impact of urbanization on agrifood systems.
With an estimated seven in ten people expected to reside in cities by 2050, policymakers and stakeholders addressing hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition must consider the effects of urbanization.
The report emphasized that the conventional rural-urban divide was insufficient to understand the complex relationship between urbanization and agrifood systems.
“A more comprehensive rural-urban continuum perspective is needed, taking into account the level of connectivity and the types of connections between urban and rural areas.
“For the first time, the report systematically documents this evolution across eleven countries. It demonstrates that food purchases are significant not only in urban households but also throughout the rural-urban continuum, including areas far from urban centers.
“The findings also reveal an increase in the consumption of highly processed foods in peri-urban and rural areas of certain countries.
“However, spatial inequalities persist, with food insecurity affecting more people in rural areas.
“Moderate or severe food insecurity impacted 33 percent of adults in rural areas compared to 26 percent in urban areas.
“Similarly, child malnutrition exhibits specific patterns in urban and rural areas, with higher prevalence rates of stunting and wasting in rural areas, and slightly higher rates of overweight in urban areas.”
The report underscored the need for policy interventions, actions, and investments that acknowledged the complex and evolving relationship between the rural-urban continuum and agrifood systems to effectively promote food security and nutrition.
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