Hunger rises for the fourth year in a row, now affecting more than 250 million people
The number of people in need of urgent food, nutrition and livelihood assistance increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2022, with more than 250 million people suffering from acute hunger and people in seven countries on the brink of starvation, according to a report by the Food Security Information Network.
The Global Food Crisis Report was launched on Wednesday by the Global Food Crisis Network, an international partnership of the United Nations, the European Union, and governmental and non-governmental agencies working together to address challenges in the food sector.
The paper finds that some 258 million people in 58 countries and territories face a crisis level of food insecurity or worse* in 2022, up from 193 million people in 53 countries and territories in 2021. This is the highest figure in the seven-year history of the report. However, much of this growth reflects an increase in the population analysed.
The severity of acute food insecurity, which increased from 21.3% in 2021 to 22.7% in 2022, remains unacceptably high and underscores a deteriorating trend in this issue globally.
"More than 250 million people now face acute levels of hunger, and some are on the brink of starvation. This is inconceivable," wrote the UN Secretary-General in the foreword to the report.
António Guterres added that "this seventh edition of the World Food Crisis Report is a scathing indictment of humanity's failure to make progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end hunger and achieve food security and improved nutrition for all".
According to the report, more than 40 percent of the population at risk of food crisis, emergency or catastrophe resides in just five countries: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, parts of Nigeria (21 states and the Federal Capital Territory) and Yemen.
On the other hand, the populations of seven countries faced starvation and destitution, or catastrophic levels of acute hunger at some point in 2022. More than half of these were in Somalia (57 per cent), while such extreme circumstances were also found in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti (for the first time in the country's history), Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen.
In addition, in 30 of the 42 major food crisis contexts analysed in the report, more than 35 million children under five suffer from wasting or acute malnutrition, of whom 9.2 million are severely wasted, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition and the greatest contributor to increased child mortality.
While conflict and extreme weather events continue to drive acute food insecurity and malnutrition, the economic impact of the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic and the effects of the war in Ukraine have also become major causes of hunger, particularly in the world's poorest countries, mainly due to their heavy dependence on food and agricultural input imports and their vulnerability to global food price shocks.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, 17.8 million, or 27 percent of the population surveyed, are exposed to high levels of acute food insecurity. In El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua (five of the eight countries analysed), the number of food insecure people increased from 12.76 million in 2021 to 13.08 million in 2022.
According to the report, economic shocks were the main cause of acute food insecurity in all eight countries except Haiti. In Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, reduced income opportunities eroded household purchasing power amid growing global economic challenges, augmented by the effects of the war in Ukraine.
Low-income households dependent on the informal sector continued to be negatively affected by the lingering economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and weather events, particularly in Guatemala and Honduras.
High dependence on food, fertiliser and fuel imports, coupled with currency depreciation, particularly in Haiti and Colombia, further increased upward pressure on food prices.
The economic crisis has overtaken conflict as the main cause of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in 27 countries.
This is because the cumulative global economic crisis, such as rising food prices and severe market shocks, undermines the resilience and capacity of countries to respond to the food crisis.
The report's findings confirm that the impact of the war in Ukraine has had a negative impact on global food security because of the significant contributions of both Ukraine and Russia to global production and trade of fuel, agricultural inputs and essential food commodities, particularly wheat, maize and sunflower oil.
The conflict disrupted agricultural production and trade in the Black Sea region, triggering an unprecedented spike in international food prices in the first half of 2022.
Although food prices have since fallen, also thanks to the Black Sea Grains Initiative and the European Union's Solidarity Pathways, the war continues to indirectly affect food security, especially in low-income countries dependent on food imports, whose fragile economic resilience had already been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, extreme weather and climate events were the leading cause of acute food insecurity in 12 countries in 2022, with 56.8 million people exposed to crisis, emergency or disaster levels of food insecurity.
These extremes included sustained droughts in the Horn of Africa, devastating floods in Pakistan and tropical storms, cyclones and droughts in southern Africa.
The report notes that the international community has called for a paradigm shift towards better prevention, anticipation and targeting to address the root causes of food crises, rather than responding to their impacts when they occur. This would require more coordinated efforts by international organisations, governments, the private sector, regional organisations, civil society and communities.
The authors of the paper explain that activities should focus on more effective humanitarian assistance, including proactive actions and safety nets that respond to crises. From a development perspective, it is of utmost importance to increase basic investments to address the root causes of food crises and child malnutrition.
This would involve making agrifood systems more sustainable and inclusive, including the use of nature-based solutions, inclusive access to food and better risk mitigation. There is also a need to increase investments in prevention, early detection and treatment of child wasting.
"This crisis demands fundamental and systemic change. This report makes it clear that progress is possible. We have the data and the knowledge to build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable world where hunger has no home, including through stronger food systems and massive investments in food security and improved nutrition for all people, wherever they live," wrote the UN Secretary-General in the foreword.
Conflict, national and global economic crises and extreme weather events continue to be increasingly interlinked, feeding on each other and creating a spiral of negative effects on acute food insecurity and nutrition.
There is no indication that these factors will abate in 2023: climate change is expected to trigger more extreme weather events, global and national economies face a bleak outlook, and conflict and insecurity are likely to persist.
According to 2023 projections available for 38 of 58 countries in March 2023, up to 153 million people (or 18% of the population analysed) will be at crisis, emergency or disaster levels.
In addition, about 310,000 people are projected to be in the catastrophe phase in six countries: Burkina Faso, Haiti, Mali, parts of Nigeria (26 states and the Federal Capital Territory), Somalia and South Sudan, with almost three-quarters of them in Somalia.
*The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is composed of five levels: none (phase 1), stress (phase 2), crisis (phase 3), emergency (phase 4) and catastrophe (phase 5).
