Hunger in the world, a worrying state of affairs

2023-08-22 08:00:56

Five United Nations agencies are alarmed in this summer of 2023 by the level of hunger in the world. With 735 million people affected worldwide by chronic hunger, the trend is stabilizing but hunger remains at a particularly high level, especially in certain regions of the world. Explanations.

Hunger affects one in 11 people worldwide

Just over 9.2% of the world’s population is affected by chronic hungeri.e. more than 122 million more people compared to the situation in 2019. If the figure stabilizes in 2022 and even shows a slight inclination in the curve, hunger has continued to increase in the world over the seven recent years, and it shows a worrying level according to world experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Fund for childhood (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Program (WFP).

These experts advance several arguments and hypotheses to explain the evolution of hunger in the world in recent years, despite the actions of governmental and non-governmental organizations:

The Covid-19 health crisis;
Events resulting from global warming (fires, earthquakes, torrential rains, etc.);
Conflicts, especially the war in Ukraine.

Hunger will not be eradicated in 2030

Initially, the UN and the WHO set themselves end world hunger by 2030. Given these figures, it now seems unlikely that the objective will be achieved and even that it is achievable. According to expert estimates, in 2030, nearly 600 million people could still be affected by chronic hunger throughout the world. Experts and decision-makers need a new approach to the situation, to better take into account food insecurity, malnutrition and inequalities between regions of the world.

In some regions of the world, hunger is on the decline, such as in Asia and Latin America, while it is on the rise in Western Asia, the Caribbean and Africa. Africa remains the continent most affected by hunger, with one in 5 people affected, i.e. twice as many as worldwide. In this year 2023, when Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years, more than 23 million people are exposed to a grave famine.

Children, particularly affected by malnutrition

To fight hunger in the world, a worldwide, intense, immediate and sustainable effort is necessary to fight against food insecurity which affects nearly 30% of the world’s population. Thus, 2.4 billion people do not have regular access to sufficient food. And these figures can soar at the slightest climatic or political event in a region of the world. At the same time, access to food is not always synonymous with healthy food. More than 3.1 billion people worldwide could not access a Healthy eating in 2021, i.e. 42% of the world’s population!

And hunger in the world hits children in particular, who are more vulnerable than adults to this scourge. Although the objective set for 2025 of reaching one out of two children exclusively breastfed by their mother up to 6 months has almost been achieved (48% in 2021), children are largely affected by the problems of malnutrition :