The goal of eradicating hunger by 2030 may not be achieved

The latest edition of the report “The State of Food and Nutrition Security in the World (SOFI)”released this Wednesday jointly by the United Nations’ five specialized agencies, warns that an additional 122 million people face hunger as of 2019 due to the pandemic and repeated climate and conflict-related shocks.

If trends continue in this way, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of eradicating hunger by 2030 will not be achieved, warn the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Health Organization ( WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The 2023 edition of the report found that between 691 and 783 million people suffered from hunger in 2022, so the middle of the range is 735 million. That number represents an increase of 122 million people compared to 2019, before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

world hunger figures remained relatively stable between 2021 and 2022but there are many parts of the world that are facing a worsening food crisis.

Progress in reducing hunger was seen in Asia and Latin America by 2022, but hunger continued to rise in West Asia, the Caribbean and all sub-regions of Africa. Africa remains the hardest hit region, with one in five people facing hunger, twice the world average.

“There are glimmers of hope, some regions are on track to meet certain food targets by 2030. All in all, we need immediate intensive global rescue efforts Goals of sustainable development. We must build resilience in the face of crises and shocks that cause food insecurity, from conflict to climate,” said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In addition, the report found that about 29.6 percent of the world’s population, or 2.4 billion people, did not have consistent access to food, judging by the prevalence of moderate to severe food insecurity. Among them, about 900 million people are facing severe food shortages.

Meanwhile, people’s ability to access a healthy diet has worsened worldwide: more than 3.1 billion people worldwide, or 42% of the world’s population, could not afford a healthy diet in 2021. This represents a global increase of 134 million people compared to in 2019

Millions of children under the age of five they still suffer from malnutrition: In 2022, 148 million children under five (22.3%) were stunted, 45 million (6.8%) were underweight, and 37 million (5.6%) were overweight.

There has been progress in exclusive breastfeeding: 48% of infants under six months benefited from this practice, which is close to the 2025 target. However, more concerted action will be needed to achieve the 2030 targets on undernutrition.