Pandemic made ‘Zero hunger’ farther from reach: UN report

NEW DELHI: A multi-agency United Nations report published on July 12 established that world hunger and malnutrition levels have worsened dramatically in the last year. The report mentioned that the increase is likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report published by the United Nations, prepared by the agencies including Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organisation (WHO), said that the number of undernourished people across the world has risen to about 768 million, which equal to 10 per cent of the world’s total population.

The foreword of the report said that the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in world’s food systems. No region in the world has been spared the increased hunger and malnutrition, which threatens the lives and livelihoods of people around the world.

According to the report, more than half of all the undernourished people, amounting to approximately 418 million live in Asia. Additionally, Africa witnessed the biggest jump in cases of malnutrition in the last year, at 21 per cent of its population. More than a third of Africa’s population, equivalent to 282 million is estimated to be undernourished as per the report. It stressed that children remain the ones who pay the highest price among the victims as more than 149 million children, who are aged less than five are estimated to be afflicted with stunted growth.

This report is the first comprehensive assessment done on food security and nutrition since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in December 2019. It mentioned that the hunger was spreading around the world even before the pandemic, with other major causes of food insecurity being conflict, economic recessions, and climate extremes. Moreover, the latest edition of ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ has estimated that the world will miss the UN Sustainable development goal of zero hunger by 2030 by a margin of approximately 660 million people if the current trend prevails.

The report included recommendations like policymakers undertaking a number of actions to prevent undernourishment. These policies might incorporate humanitarian, development and peace-building policies in conflict areas; strengthening the resilience of the most vulnerable to economic adversity; and tackling poverty and structural inequalities. Arif Husain, Chief, WFP, said that the major drivers of this situation including conflict, economic downturn from COVID-19 and climate change are proof that world’s worst fears are coming true. “Reversing such high levels of chronic hunger will take years if not decades,” he added.