Another 122 million people went hungry as of 2019 due to numerous crises, a UN report reveals

Over 122 million more people faced hunger worldwide as of 2019 due to the pandemic and repeated weather shocks and conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, according to the latest State of Food and Nutrition Security in the World (SOFI) report released today jointly by five United Nations specialized agencies .

If trends remain as they are, the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating hunger by 2030 will not be achieved, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF warns), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Food Program (WFP).

A wake-up call to fight hunger

The 2023 edition of the report found that between 691 and 783 million people faced hunger in 2022, with a median range of 735 million. This represents an increase of 122 million people compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the number of hungry people in the world between 2021 and 2022 has stagnated, many places in the world are facing a deepening food crisis. Progress in reducing hunger was seen in Asia and Latin America, but hunger was still on the rise in West Asia, the Caribbean and all sub-regions of Africa in 2022. Africa remains the hardest-hit region with one in five people facing hunger on the continent, more than twice the world average.

“There are glimmers of hope, some regions are on track to achieve some food goals by 2030. But in general, we need intense and immediate global efforts to save the SDGs. We must build resilience to the crises and shocks that drive food insecurity – from conflict to climate, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said via video message during the presentation of the report at UN headquarters in New York.

Heads of five UN agencies, Director General of FAO QU Dongyu; IFAD President Alvaro Lario; UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell; WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain; and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus write in the foreword of the report: “There is no doubt that achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030 is a daunting challenge. Indeed, nearly 600 million people are predicted to still face hunger in 2030. The main drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition are our “new normal” and we have no choice but to redouble our efforts to transform agri-food systems and leverage them towards achieving the goals 2nd Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2).”

Beyond hunger

The food security and nutrition situation remained grim in 2022. The report found that approximately 29.6 percent of the global population, equivalent to 2.4 billion people, did not have consistent access to food, as measured by the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity. Among them, about 900 million individuals face severe food shortages.

Meanwhile, people’s ability to access healthy food has worsened worldwide: more than 3.1 billion people worldwide – or 42 percent – ​​could not afford a healthy diet in 2021. This represents a total increase of 134 million people compared to 2019.

Millions of children under the age of five still suffer from malnutrition: in 2022, 148 million children under the age of five (22.3 percent) were stunted, 45 million (6.8 percent) were underweight, and 37 million (5 .6 percent) were overweight.

Progress has been seen in exclusive breastfeeding with 48 percent of infants under 6 months benefiting from this practice, which is close to the 2025 target. However, more concerted efforts will be needed to meet the 2030 malnutrition targets.

New evidence: Urbanization drives changes in agri-food systems

The report also sees increased urbanization as a ‘megatrend’ affecting how and what people eat. With nearly seven out of ten people predicted to live in cities by 2050, governments and others working to combat hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition must seek to understand these urbanization trends and take them into account in their policy making.

In particular, the simple concept of a rural-urban divide is no longer sufficient to understand how urbanization shapes agri-food systems. A more complex perspective of the rural-urban continuum is needed considering the degree of connectivity people have and the types of connections that exist between urban and rural areas.

For the first time, this evolution is systematically documented in eleven countries. The report illustrates that food purchases are significant not only among urban households but also across the rural-urban continuum, including those living far from urban centers. The new findings also show that consumption of highly processed foods is also increasing in peri-urban and rural areas of some countries.

Unfortunately, spatial inequalities remain. Food insecurity affects more and more people living in rural areas. Moderate or severe food insecurity affected 33 percent of adults living in rural areas and 26 percent in urban areas.

Child malnutrition also shows urban and rural specificities: the prevalence of stunted children is higher in rural areas (35.8 percent) than in urban areas (22.4 percent). Thinness is higher in rural areas (10.5 percent) than in urban areas (7.7 percent), while overweight is slightly more common in urban areas (5.4 percent) than in rural areas (3.5 percent ).

The report recommends that to effectively promote food and nutrition security, policy interventions, actions and investments must be guided by a comprehensive understanding of the complex and changing relationship between the rural-urban continuum and agri-food systems.

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Director General of FAO, QU Dongyu: “Recovery from the global pandemic has been uneven, and the war in Ukraine has affected nutritious food and healthy eating. This is the ‘new normal’ where climate change, conflict and economic instability push those on the margins even further from safety. We cannot accept a business-as-usual approach.”

President of IFAD, Alvaro Lario: “A world without hunger is possible. What we lack are investments and political will to implement solutions in large numbers. We can eradicate hunger if we make it a global priority. Investments in smallholder farmers and their adaptation to climate change, access to inputs and technologies, and access to finance for establishing smallholder agricultural enterprises can make a difference. Small producers are part of the solution. With the right support, they can produce more food, diversify production and supply both urban and rural markets – feeding rural areas and cities with nutritious and locally grown food.”

UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell: “Malnutrition is a great threat to the survival, growth and development of children. The scale of the food crisis calls for a stronger child-focused response, including prioritizing access to nutritious and affordable nutrition and basic food services, protecting children and adolescents from nutritionally poor, ultra-processed foods, and strengthening food and nutrition supply chains, including for fortified and therapeutic foods for children. ”

WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain: “Malnutrition is a great threat to the survival, growth and development of children. The scale of the food crisis calls for a much stronger child-focused response. Solutions include prioritizing access to nutritious and affordable food and basic food services, protecting children and adolescents from nutrient-poor ultra-processed foods, and strengthening food and nutrition supply chains, including fortified and therapeutic foods for children.”

Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “Child wasting remains unacceptably high and there has been no progress in reducing child overweight. We need targeted public policies, investments and actions to create a healthier food environment for all.”‘

Notes for editors: SOFI report

The State of Food and Nutrition Security in the World is an annual report jointly prepared 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 Program (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO).

Since 1999, it has been monitoring and analyzing the world’s progress towards eradicating hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition. It also provides an in-depth analysis of the key challenges to achieving these goals in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The report is intended for a wide audience, including policy makers, international organizations, academic institutions and the general public.

This year’s theme is aligned with the UN General Assembly’s “New Urban Agenda” and will complement and guide discussions at the 2023 High-Level Political Forum – particularly on Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) and in particular during the three-day ministerial segment of the forum held from 17 to 19 July 2023 and ahead of the SDG summit in September.

Glossary of key terms

Acute food insecurity: food insecurity established in a particular area at a particular time and of a severity that threatens lives or livelihoods, or both, regardless of causes, context or duration. It has importance in providing strategic guidance for actions aimed at short-term goals to prevent, alleviate or reduce severe acute food insecurity. This indicator is used in Global Food Crisis Report (FSIN and Global Food Crisis Network. 2023).

Hunger: an unpleasant or painful feeling caused by a lack of energy from the diet. In this report, the term hunger is synonymous with chronic malnutrition and is measured by the prevalence of malnutrition (PoU).

Malnutrition: abnormal physiological state caused by inadequate, unbalanced or excessive intake of macronutrients and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition includes undernutrition (child growth retardation and exhaustion, lack of vitamins and minerals) as well as overweight and obesity.

Moderate food insecurity: the level of severity of food insecurity at which people face uncertainty about their ability to procure food and have been forced to reduce, at times during the year, the quality and/or quantity of food they consume due to a lack of money or other resources. It refers to the lack of constant access to food, which reduces the quality of the diet and disrupts normal eating patterns. It is measured with Food insecurity experience scale and contributes to monitoring progress towards goal 2.1 of the SDG (indicator 2.1.2).

Severe food insecurity: the level of severity of food insecurity at which, at some point during the year, people ran out of food, experienced hunger and, in the most extreme case, went without food for a day or more. It is measured with Food insecurity experience scale and contributes to monitoring progress towards goal 2.1 of the SDG (indicator 2.1.2).

Undernourishment: a condition in which an individual’s usual food consumption is insufficient to provide the amount of nutritional energy needed to maintain a normal, active and healthy life. The prevalence of malnutrition is used to measure hunger and progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 2.1 (indicator 2.1.1).