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| Image Credit: Google |
Hunger levels
are rising around the world due to food security issues, urbanization, increasing
poverty, lack of good governance and climate change.
United Nations’
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in its report revealed that about 828
million people, making equal to 10 percent of the world’s population go to bed
hungry each night. With the increase of 46 million more than the previous year.
Furthermore,
according to the statistics, among the people affected by hunger, two-thirds
are women and 80 percent live in areas prone to climate change.
In order to
create an awareness about global hunger levels, The Hunger Project, that is a
non-profit organization, designated May 28 as World Hunger Day.
What is Hunger?
It defined as a
debilitating state that occurs when the body is deprived of food for an
extended scale of time.
Prolonged
periods of hunger often lead to health issues and can cause lifelong physical
and cognitive damage, particularly among children.
Undernutrition:
Undernutrition
means not getting enough of the right kind of food to stay healthy. It's not
just about taking less calories, but also about not getting enough energy,
protein, and important vitamins and minerals that our bodies require to work
properly.
After many
years of decreasing, global hunger has started to increase again. Between 2019
and 2021, more than 150 million people became undernourished. This happened
because of things like wars, climate change, economic problems, and the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Another cause
of undernutrition is inflation, the cost of food has increased. According to
the FAO Food Price Index (FPI), between 2019 to 2022 the change occurred in
global prices of food products including sugar, meat, cereals, dairy and
vegetable oil. The ratio increased from 95.1 points to 143.7 points.
“Even as
global food commodity prices increased – the increases on the country level
differ, as countries employ different policies,” said Monika Tothova. She is
an economist in the FAO’s Trade and Markets division.
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| Image Credit: Google |
Higher rate of
Hunger in Asia and Africa during 2021:
Another latest report
by the UN State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) found that
most of the world’s undernourished population lives in Asia. About 425 million
people went hungry only in the year of 2021.
However, the
prevalence of hunger is also highest in Africa, with 278 million affected in
the same year.
The status in
2022 and 2023:
According to
the 2023 edition of the Global Report on Food Crisis, the number of people
experiencing acute food shortages, measured by a person’s inability to consume
adequate food and, as a result, puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate
danger, has increased for the fourth year in 2022, with 258 million people
facing acute hunger.
Economic Shocks
as the result of Hunger:
“Economic
shocks have surpassed conflict as the primary driver of acute food insecurity
and malnutrition in several major food crises,” Tothova said in the report.
According to
Al-Jazeera, “Cumulative global economic shocks, including soaring food
prices and severe disruptions to markets, undermine countries’ resilience and
capacity to respond to food shocks.”
The Ukraine War
impacted:
According to
article published in Al-Jazeera, in 2022, the war between Russia and Ukraine,
which are the two biggest global producers of staple cereals, oilseeds and
fertiliser has led to huge disruptions in international food supply chains
which pushed up the prices of grain, fertiliser and energy.
This led to the
global FPI reaching at its highest level on record in 2022.
Observers
predicts that projections for the future of global hunger are high, with more
devastating effects from extreme weather events.
(Courtesy:
Al-Jazeera)
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