A recent report compiled by leading UN agencies has pointed to the fact that the situation in the world regarding hunger and malnutrition has gotten worse over the past five years; and moreso, will continue along this line, considering the huge impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on countries.
The latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, published earlier this month, estimates that almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019 – up by 10 million from 2018, and by nearly 60 million in five years.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is the most authoritative global study tracking progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition. It is produced jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Writing in the foreword, the heads of the five agencies warn that, “Five years after the world committed to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition, we are still off-track to achieve this objective by 2030”.
According to the report, due to high costs and low affordability, billions cannot eat healthily or nutritiously. The study found that Asia accounts for the highest number of persons going hungry, but the rate is expanding fastest in Africa.
According to the report, Asia remains home to the greatest number of undernourished (381 million). Africa is second (250 million), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (48 million). The global prevalence of undernourishment – or overall percentage of hungry people – has changed little at 8.9 percent, but the absolute numbers have been rising since 2014. This means that, over the last five years, hunger has grown in step with the global population.
The authors explain that this, in turn, hides great regional disparities. In percentage terms, Africa is the hardest hit region, and becoming more so, with 19.1 percent of its people undernourished. This is more than double the rate in Asia (8.3 percent) and in Latin America and the Caribbean (7.4 percent). On current trends, by 2030, Africa will be home to more than half of the world’s chronically hungry.
The authors outlined that as progress in fighting hunger stalls, the COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems – understood as all the activities and processes affecting the production, distribution and consumption of food.
The report states that while it is too soon to assess the full impact of the lockdowns and other containment measures, it is estimated that, at a minimum, another 83 million people, and possibly as many as 132 million, may go hungry in 2020 as a result of the economic recession triggered by COVID-19.
The authors argue that once sustainability considerations are factored in, a global switch to healthy diets would help check the backslide into hunger, while delivering enormous savings.
According to the report, of critical importance is the need for a transformation of food systems, to reduce the cost of nutritious foods and increase the affordability of healthy diets. The authors noted that while the specific solutions will differ from country to country, and even within them, the overall answers lie with interventions along the entire food supply chain, in the food environment, and in the political economy that shapes trade, public expenditure, and investment policies.
Several recommendations were made in the report which Guyana and other countries within the Region could find useful in tackling the issue of hunger and malnutrition.
The recommendations include the call for governments to mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture; work to cut cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport, distribution, and marketing of food – including by reducing inefficiencies and food loss and waste; support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and secure their access to markets; prioritise children’s nutrition as the category in greatest need; foster behaviour change through education and communication; and embed nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies.
