An estimated 291 million people in Africa may be chronically undernourished by the year 2030, a report of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) conducted by five United Nations agencies has revealed.
The report conducted by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO revealed that the African figure represents half of the 582 million people projected to risk chronic undernourishment globally by 2030.
According to the report, around 733 million people globally faced hunger in 2023.
This figure equates to one in eleven people worldwide, with Africa bearing a heavy burden as one in five people on the continent experienced hunger last year.
Launched during the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, the SOFI report highlighted a troubling trend indicating that the world is significantly behind in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 – Zero Hunger by 2030.
The report showed that despite some progress in areas such as exclusive breastfeeding, global hunger levels have risen for three consecutive years. Between 713 and 757 million people were undernourished in 2023, which is approximately 152 million more than in 2019.
According to the report, from 2022 to 2023, hunger increased in Western Asia, the Caribbean, and most African sub-regions.
The report also emphasised that food insecurity remains a significant issue, with around 2.33 billion people globally experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2023.
Among them, over 864 million faced severe food insecurity, often going without food for an entire day or more.
Economic barriers to healthy diets also persist, affecting over one-third of the global population.
In 2022, over 2.8 billion people could not afford a healthy diet, with the highest disparities in low-income countries where 71.5 percent of the population was affected, compared to 6.3 percent in high-income countries.
The report further noted mixed progress in malnutrition indicators where exclusive breastfeeding rates among infants increased to 48 percent, but low birthweight prevalence stagnated around 15 percent.
Stunting among children under five also declined to 22.3 percent, yet significant challenges remain in meeting global nutrition targets.
Additionally, adult obesity has steadily increased over the past decade, with projections indicating over 1.2 billion obese adults by 2030.
The report’s theme, “Financing to end hunger, food insecurity, and all forms of malnutrition,” stresses the need for a multi-faceted approach to achieve SDG 2.
It called for increased and more effective financing, highlighting the importance of transforming agrifood systems, addressing inequalities, and ensuring affordable, accessible healthy diets for all.
In their foreword, the heads of the five UN agencies emphasised the urgency of mobilising innovative financing to bridge the gap in resources needed to end hunger and malnutrition.
They also called for coordinated global efforts to ensure food security and nutrition for current and future generations.
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