PARIS: Conflict, economic instability, and extreme weather events have thwarted global efforts to alleviate hunger, leaving approximately 733 million people – about nine percent of the world’s population – food insecure in 2023, according to a report jointly released by UN agencies on Wednesday.
The annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report stated that despite efforts, the number of people facing chronic hunger has remained stubbornly high for the third consecutive year, following a sharp increase during the Covid-19 pandemic.
David Laborde, director of the division at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) involved in preparing the report, expressed deep concern over the lack of progress, noting that global challenges such as climate change and regional conflicts have intensified beyond expectations from a decade ago.
“We are in a worse situation today than nine years ago when we launched this goal to eradicate hunger by 2030,” Laborde remarked in an interview with Reuters.
The report highlighted significant regional disparities, with Africa bearing the brunt of hunger where one in five people experienced food insecurity. In contrast, Asia has seen minimal change, while Latin America has shown improvement, attributed largely to effective social protection programs.
The broader objective of ensuring regular access to adequate food has also stagnated, with 29% of the global population – totaling 2.33 billion people – facing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2023.
The report emphasized stark inequalities, noting that 71.5% of people in low-income countries could not afford a healthy diet, compared to only 6.3% in high-income countries.
While the immediate effects of famines are visible, the report highlighted the insidious impact of poor nutrition, particularly on children’s physical and mental development, and the heightened vulnerability of adults to infections and illnesses.
Laborde called for increased international aid, pointing out that current aid for food security and nutrition amounts to $76 billion annually, which represents a small fraction (0.07%) of the world’s total economic output.
“Efforts to combat hunger require a fundamental shift in how aid is financed and delivered, with a focus on flexibility to prioritize countries most in need,” Laborde urged.
Looking ahead, the report warned that if current trends persist, approximately 582 million people will remain chronically undernourished by the end of the decade, with half of them in Africa.
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Maximo Torero, chief economist at FAO, highlighted the success of South America’s social protection programs in reducing hunger quickly, contrasting with Africa’s ongoing challenges exacerbated by population growth, conflicts, and climate disruptions.
The United Nations called for a coordinated approach to address global hunger, urging greater focus and efficiency in aid distribution among the most vulnerable populations.
The United Nations said the way the anti-hunger drive was financed had to change, with greater flexibility needed to ensure the countries most in need got help.
“We need to change how we do things to be better coordinated, to accept that not everyone should try to do everything but really be much more focused on what we are doing and where,” said Laborde. The report is compiled by the Rome-based FAO, the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, its Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization and World Food Program.
