20 Aug With 828 Million Living in Hunger, UN Calls for Reimagined Food Systems

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828 million people live in hunger according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report.

“The exponential rise in hunger since 2019 is alarming, and by our forecast, hunger is likely to go up in the coming years. Our global food systems feed billions, but we are also learning their weaknesses against the multiple economic, environmental and social shocks over the past few years.” – Tim Prewitt, President & CEO

Climate change, conflict, economic shocks and growing inequalities are putting pressure on our food system’s capacity to produce and distribute nutritious and affordable food. The 2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report (SOFI), with the theme “Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable,” examines the state of global food security and nutrition as it relates specifically to the rampant increases in prices and accessibility of healthy diets.

One of the key findings of the report is that up to 828 million people faced chronic, persistent hunger in 2021. This is 150 million more people living with hunger than in 2019 and 46 million more than in 2020.

Africa continues to bear the brunt of this crisis, with 20.2% of the population facing hunger in 2021, compared to 9.1% in Asia, 8.6% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5.8% in Oceania, and less than 2.5% in Northern America and Europe.

“It’s time to examine our food and agriculture policies, to better ensure healthy, nutritious food for all. The recommendations from the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, released today is a good start but we must be bolder and focus locally.

 

Every country, rich or poor, needs to take action to strengthen local food systems. Indigenous crops and traditional farming methods, while usually less productive, have evolved over hundreds of years and are more resilient to climate shocks, and often grown more in harmony with nature. We also advocate for working with smallholder farmers to strengthen markets at the local level so less food and agricultural inputs need to be imported. This would reduce chronic hunger globally, and contribute to the health of our planet.”

Tim Prewitt, President & CEO, The Hunger Project

Almost 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020 — 112 million more than in 2019.

While the world has the capacity to feed everyone, millions of people around the world are suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition because of the high cost of healthy diets. While the causes of this high cost vary by context, the report notes that government support for agricultural production largely concentrates on rice, sugar and meats of various types, while fruits and vegetables are less supported overall, or even penalized in some countries. Plus, food price inflation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine could cause an additional 13 million people to live with hunger in 2022 and up to 19 million more people by 2023.

At The Hunger Project we invest in strengthening local food systems to sustainably end global hunger. By supporting smallholder farmers, who make up 40-85% of food producers in the world, we strengthen local markets. The growth of climate resilient crops with increased nutritional value decreases reliance on imported agro-inputs, such as seeds and fertilizers that cause economic stress for rural communities.

Sustainable food systems strategies include enhanced local biodiversity, management of natural resources, better access to markets for farmers, inclusive global and local food value chains, social sustainability and empowerment of women, consumers and smallholder farmers.

The SOFI report issues guidance about how food and agricultural policy could be leveraged to reduce the cost of nutritious foods and suggestions for transforming the agrifood system. One such recommendation is for governments to rethink the reallocation of existing public budgets to make nutritious foods affordable and increase the availability of healthy diets for everyone.

Additional Findings of the 2022 SOFI Report

 

  • In 2021, an estimated 29.3% of the global population – 2.3 billion people – were moderately or severely food insecure and 11.7% (923.7 million people) faced severe food insecurity.

 

  • The gender gap in food insecurity is widening, in 2021, 31.9% of women in the world were moderately or severely food insecure compared to 27.6% of men.

 

  • Globally in 2020, an estimated 22% of children under five years of age were stunted and 6.7% were wasted.

 

  • Projections are that nearly 670 million people will still be facing hunger in 2030–8% of the world population, which is the same ratio as in 2015 when the 2030 Agenda was launched.

 

Our work across Africa, South Asia and Latin America is laying the foundation for the sustainable transformation of local food systems. With communities, we are building a path to self-reliance by leveraging partnerships that unite many actors and their specialized knowledge to drive community-led development. Through our programming, community leaders learn sustainable farming practices, food processing and storage techniques, together with distribution of their produce to promote improved nutrition outcomes and uptake.

While the SOFI Report indicates that efforts to eradicate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all of its manifestations are failing, this is a challenge we can overcome. By transforming our food system policies and resources we can reduce chronic hunger globally, and contribute to the health of our planet. These efforts can only be achieved through the engagement of communities, civic societies, private sector and governments to prevent and manage conflicts to balance out unequal powers within agrifood systems.

The 2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report was published jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).