UN says the world is “off track” to meet 2030’s zero hunger goal
"We are seeing that hunger is stabilizing at a high level, which is bad news." said the Chief Economist of FAO.
According to the United Nations, progress towards the global objective to end hunger by 2030 has been threatened by the estimated 735 million people who experienced chronic hunger worldwide in 2022, a number that is significantly greater than it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.N. reported in its annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report that although a multi-year upward trend in hunger rates leveled off last year as many countries recovered economically from the pandemic, some of those gains were partially offset by the war in Ukraine and its pressure on food and energy prices.
The world is “far off track” to reach the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger by 2030, as a result, estimated 122 million more people being hungry in 2022 than in 2019. The research also said that 600 million people will be undernourished by 2030. Maximo Torero Cullen, chief economist of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said, “We are seeing that hunger is stabilizing at a high level, which is bad news.”
Economic hardship made worse by the pandemic, climate extremes that impacted agricultural production, and conflict-related disruption of livelihoods were the leading causes of worldwide hunger in recent years. The prevalence of hunger has decreased in some areas of the world, notably South America and the majority of Asia. But hunger rates are increasing in the Caribbean, Western Asia, and Africa.
Kevin Mugenya, the head of food systems for the international assistance organization Mercy Corps, suggested that in order to reverse the trend, countries should combine humanitarian aid with building domestic food supply networks. He stated that “countries need to have localized solutions.”
