Multiple crises push global hunger figure higher: UN

Rome, July 13 (IANS) Years of multiple global crises have pushed over 122 million more people into hunger since 2019, a new report jointly released by UN agencies revealed.

The 2023 edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report said the Covid-19 pandemic, severe weather events around the world and global conflicts, including the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, combined to increase the number of people facing hunger globally to around 735 million in 2022, reports Xinhua news agency.

In 2019, the number was 613 million.

The SOFI report is the UN's flagship publication on global hunger, and the product of research and monitoring by five specialized agencies: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO);  International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD);  World Food Program (WFP); World Health Organization (WHO); and the Unicef.

The report said that nearly 30 per cent of the world's population, i.e. 2.4 billion people, did not have constant access to food in 2022.

The survey described this as the prevalence of "moderate" or "severe" food insecurity.

Of them, around 900 million people faced severe food insecurity in 2022, 180 million more than in 2019.

Meanwhile, access to healthy diets has deteriorated globally.

The report said that more than 3.1 billion people in the world, or around 42 per cent of the total global population, were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021.

That number represents an increase of 134 million people compared to 2019.

Last year, 148 million children under the age of five suffered from stunted growth due to poor nutrition, and 37 million children were overweight.

The overall numbers for hunger are expected to decline in the coming years, barring unforeseen circumstances.

But the numbers will fall far short of the UN goal of eliminating world hunger by the end of this decade, according to a joint statement from the five UN agencies.

"It is projected that almost 600 million people will still be facing hunger in 2030," the statement from the heads of the five agencies publishing the report said.

"The major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition are our 'new normal,' and we have no option but to redouble our efforts to transform agrifood systems and leverage them towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goal targets," including the goal of eliminating global hunger by 2030, the statement said.

At a press event held after the formal release of the report, its authors said that it was important for governments to help eliminate food waste, encourage more sustainable and resilient food supply chains, and increase domestic food production in developing countries through the use of best practices.

The report also noted that the "megatrend" of increased urbanization has transformed food systems by stressing food networks and reducing domestic food production.

Food insecurity was generally higher in rural areas, with moderate or severe food insecurity affecting 33 per cent of adults living in rural areas and 26 per cent in urban areas.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been seen as a major factor impacting global food systems by reducing access to grain exports from the countries involved in the conflict and by increasing global energy prices and otherwise interrupting trading networks.