Home Equality & Justice UN report: Pandemic year marked by spike in world hunger

UN report: Pandemic year marked by spike in world hunger

More than half of all undernourished people in the world (418 million) live in Asia, says the UN report

There was a dramatic worsening of world hunger in 2020 mostly because of the pandemic, the United Nations said early this week.

A UN multi-agency report estimates that about a tenth of the global population — up to 811 million people — were undernourished last year.

The number suggests it will take a tremendous effort for the world to honor its pledge to end hunger by 2030.




This year’s edition of “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” is the first global assessment of its kind during the pandemic.

Previous editions had already put the world on notice that the food security of millions — many children among them — was at stake.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world,” reads the Foreword to this year’s report.

The report warns of a “critical juncture,” even as it pins fresh hopes on increased diplomatic momentum.

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“This year offers a unique opportunity for advancing food security and nutrition through transforming food systems with the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the COP26 on climate change,” it adds.

”The outcome of these events will go on to shape the […] second half of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition” — a global policy commitment yet to hit its stride,” says the report.

Migrant workers and homeless people queue to receive free food during a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the new coronavirus disease, in Ahmedabad, India, May 1. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Starting in the mid-2010s, hunger started creeping upwards, dashing hopes of irreversible decline.

In 2020 hunger shot up in both absolute and proportional terms, outpacing population growth: some 9.9 percent of all people are estimated to have been undernourished last year, up from 8.4 percent in 2019.

More than half of all undernourished people (418 million) live in Asia; more than a third (282 million) in Africa; and a smaller proportion (60 million) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The sharpest rise in hunger was in Africa, where the estimated prevalence of undernourishment — at 21 percent of the population — is more than double that of any other region.

Overall, more than 2.3 billion people (or 30 percent of the global population) lacked year-round access to adequate food: this indicator — known as the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity — leapt in one year as much in as the preceding five combined.

Gender inequality deepened: for every 10 food-insecure men, there were 11 food-insecure women in 2020 (up from 10.6 in 2019).

Malnutrition persisted in all its forms, with children paying a high price: in 2020, over 149 million under-fives are estimated to have been stunted, or too short for their age; more than 45 million – wasted, or too thin for their height; and nearly 39 million — overweight.

A full three-billion adults and children remained locked out of healthy diets, largely due to excessive costs. Nearly a third of women of reproductive age suffer from anaemia.

Indian women stand in queue to collect free food during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the new coronavirus, in Siliguri on April 12. (Photo by Diptendu Dutta/AFP)

Globally, despite progress in some areas — more infants, for example, are being fed exclusively on breast milk — the world is not on track to achieve targets for any nutrition indicators by 2030.

In many parts of the world, the pandemic has triggered brutal recessions and jeopardized access to food, says the report.

“Yet even before the pandemic, hunger was spreading; progress on malnutrition lagged,” it adds.

On current trends, “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” estimates that Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger by 2030) will be missed by a margin of nearly 660 million people.

As outlined in last year’s report, transforming food systems is essential to achieve food security, improve nutrition and put healthy diets within reach of all.

This year’s edition of the report goes further to outline six “transformation pathways” that will rely on a “coherent set of policy and investment portfolios” to counteract the hunger and malnutrition drivers.

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