In 58 nations last year, conflicts, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the extreme food insecurity of almost a quarter of a billion people.
That represents about 3% of the world’s population, which is currently eight billion.
A person experiences acute food insecurity when their capacity to eat enough food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate threat.
In seven of them, people faced famine and death: Somalia, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen.
The conclusions were presented in a study by the Global Report on Food Crises, a confederation of relief organizations established by the United Nations and the European Union.
While the report found that the severity of the issue increased as well, “highlighting a concerning trend of a deterioration,” the increase from the previous year was partially attributable to more populations being analyzed.
According to the report, 258 million people who need urgent food aid and are experiencing acute food insecurity have increased for the fourth year. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called this finding “a stinging indictment of humanity’s failure” to carry out the organization’s goals to end world hunger.
Hunger is caused by a variety of circumstances, according to Rein Paulsen, director of emergencies and resilience for the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations. The international market for fertilizers, wheat, maize, and sunflower oil have all been impacted by conflicts, climate shocks, the pandemic’s impacts, and the consequences from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The most seriously affected countries are those that depend on imported food. According to Paulsen, those countries have suffered due to the increase in prices.
He advocated a “paradigm change” to invest more money on agricultural efforts that anticipate food emergencies and try to prevent them.
He said, “The challenge we face is the imbalance, or mismatch, between the amount of money given, what that funding is used for, and the kinds of interventions needed to bring about a change.”
The U.N. World Food Programme’s newly appointed director has warned that the organization’s capacity to satisfy the rising demand for food aid needs to be more robust. During a study presentation, Executive Director Cindy McCain told panellists that the organization would be forced to make “heart-breaking decisions to slash” aid if significant new money doesn’t materialize quickly.
