The 2022 edition of the Report on the state of food security and nutrition in the world confirmed that the prevalence of undernourishment in Morocco has increased slightly. It fell from 5.5% of the total population between 2004 and 2006, to 5.6% between 2019 and 2021. This is the equivalent of 1.7 million people during the first period and 2.1 million over the second.
The reportpublished by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program and the he World Health Organization (WHO), indicates that the prevalence of severe food insecurity among the Moroccan population increased from 6% between 2014 and 2016 to 9.7% between 2019 and 2021.
While the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 has increased from 16.4% in 2012 to 12.9% in 2020 (from 0.5 million to 0.4 million), the prevalence of overweight is increased from 11.8% in 2012 to 11.3% in 2020, which equates to approximately 0.4 million children.
Regarding the prevalence of anemia among women of childbearing age (15 to 49 years), the UN report indicates that it fell from 29.8% in 2012 to 29.9% in 2019 (from 2 .7 million to 2.9). The prevalence of low birth weight in 2012 reached 17.5%, before dropping in 2015 to 17.3% (0.1 million).
The same report indicates that the cost of healthy food per person per day reached 2.7 dollars in Morocco in 2020. The number of people who cannot afford healthy food in the country, on the same year, reached 6.2 million people.
The world is moving further and further away from achieving the SDGs
Globally, the number of people affected by hunger has risen to 828 million in 2021. The report provides new evidence that the world is moving in the opposite direction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), relating to hunger. eradication of all forms of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition (“zero hunger” objective). The situation in the world is increasingly worrying, especially since by 2030, the SDGs are supposed to be achieved.
The report notes that following remaining relatively unchanged since 2015, the proportion of people affected by hunger jumped in 2020 and continued to rise in 2021. It has now reached 9.8% of the world’s population, compared to 8 % in 2019 and 9.3% in 2020. According to the FAO, almost 3.1 billion people might not afford a healthy diet in 2020, which is 112 million more than in 2019.
For the UN agencies, the effects of food price inflation and the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the measures put in place to contain it, are among the elements to be consider, to analyze the evolution of indicators of food security and hunger in the world.