A new report from the United Nations claims that billions of people worldwide are going hungry in a trend that "shows the world is moving backwards in efforts to eliminate hunger and malnutrition."
The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition report found that 2.3 billion people (29.3% of the global population) faced "moderate or severe difficulty" getting enough food in 2021. That's 350 million more compared to before the outbreak of the COVID‑19 pandemic.
The situation has likely gotten even worse -- the report is based on 2021 data, so it doesn't factor in the impact of the Russia/Ukraine conflict on global wheat supplies.
"There is a real danger these numbers will climb even higher in the months ahead. The global price spikes in food, fuel and fertilizers that we are seeing as a result of the crisis in Ukraine threaten to push countries around the world into famine. The result will be global destabilization, starvation, and mass migration on an unprecedented scale," David Beasley, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, said in a statement.
The report comes as supply chains are already being adversely affected by increasingly frequent extreme climate events, especially in low-income countries, and has potentially sobering implications for global food security and nutrition.
Almost 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020, up 112 million from 2019, reflecting the effects of inflation in consumer food prices stemming from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures put in place to contain it, according to the report.
The number of people affected by hunger globally also rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report shows. After remaining relatively unchanged since 2015, the proportion of people affected by hunger jumped in 2020 and continued to rise in 2021, to 9.8% of the world population, according to the report.
"These are depressing figures for humanity. We continue to move away from our goal of ending hunger by 2030. The ripple effects of the global food crisis will most likely worsen the outcome again next year. We need a more intense approach to end hunger," Gilbert Houngbo, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said in a statement.
Looking forward, projections are that nearly 670 million people (8% of the world population) will still be facing hunger in 2030 -- even if a global economic recovery is taken into consideration.
The report looks at ways in which governments can repurpose their current support to agriculture to reduce the cost of healthy diets, mindful of the limited public resources available in many parts of the world. For example, it notes that rice, sugar and meats are the most incentivized food items worldwide, while fruits and vegetables are relatively less supported. If governments shifted to incentivize the production, supply and consumption of nutritious foods, healthy diets would be more affordable and equitable for all, the report suggests.
"Every year, 11 million people die due to unhealthy diets. Rising food prices mean this will only get worse. WHO supports countries’ efforts to improve food systems through taxing unhealthy foods and subsidizing healthy options, protecting children from harmful marketing, and ensuring clear nutrition labels. We must work together to achieve the 2030 global nutrition targets, to fight hunger and malnutrition, and to ensure that food is a source of health for all," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said in a statement.
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