Ending hunger now stronger challenge

This year’s major UN food security update highlights over the past five years tens of millions of people have joined the ranks of the chronically undernourished, and that’s indeed distressing news.

As countries continue to grapple with malnutrition in all its forms, including the growing burden of obesity, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has stated that this year’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report “sends a sobering message”.

Statistics reveal startling details. The latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, published today, estimates that almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019 – up by 10 million from 2018, and by nearly 60 million in five years. High costs and low affordability also mean billions cannot eat healthily or nutritiously.

The hungry are most numerous in Asia, but expanding fastest in Africa. Across the planet, the report forecasts, the COVID-19 pandemic could tip over 130 million more people into chronic hunger by the end of 2020.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is the most authoritative global study tracking progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition. Many major organisations are involved and it is produced jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The heads of the five agencies have clearly warned that five years after the world committed to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition, we are still off track to achieve this objective by 2030. World leaders need to take a serious note of that point.

Worldwide, the pandemic has left the working poor struggling to survive.

From India to Argentina, millions who were already struggling to get by on the economic margins have had their lives made even harder by pandemic lockdowns, layoffs and the loss of a chance to earn from a hard day’s work.

More than four out of five people in the global labour force of 3.3 billion have been hit by full or partial workplace closures, as per the International Labour Organization, which also earlier indicated that 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy stand in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed.

For millions of such people, securing the next meal means hustling to find a way to sell, clean, drive or work despite the huge risk.

According to UN officials, Asia remains home to the greatest number of undernourished (381 million). Africa is second (250 million), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (48 million). The global prevalence of undernourishment – or overall percentage of hungry people – has changed little at 8.9 per cent, but the absolute numbers have been rising since 2014. This means that over the last five years, hunger has grown in step with the global population.

 The COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems – understood as all the activities and processes affecting the production, distribution and consumption of food.

While it is too soon to assess the full impact of the containment measures, the UN report estimates that at a minimum, another 83 million people, and possibly as many as 132 million, may go hungry in 2020 as a result of the economic recession triggered by COVID-19.

And that’s something the world community cannot turn a blind eye to.