The number of hungry people in
the world continues to grow - UN
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| FAO says there were 821 million hungry people (1 in every 9) in the world in 2017. |
FAO’s annual hunger report says there are 821 million people
hungry and over 150 million children stunted today.
New evidence by the United Nations shows that the number of
the hungry people worldwide has grown for the third consecutive year,
reaching 821 million people or one in every nine person hungry
in 2017, putting at risk the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by
2030.
The State
of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report 2018 released by
the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday,
also warned there was not enough progress in addressing the multiple forms
of malnutrition, ranging from child stunting to adult
obesity, putting the health of hundreds of millions of people at
risk.
FAO’s annual hunger report indicated a worsening situation
in South America and most regions of Africa, while
the decreasing trend in undernourishment that characterized Asia seems to be
slowing down significantly. Asia accounted for 515 million, Africa 256.5
million and Latin and America and the Carribean 39 million hungry
people.
2017 was the third year in a row that
global hunger levels have increased, following a decade of declines.
The report found that climate variability affecting
rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, and climate extremes such
as droughts and floods, are among the key drivers behind the rise in hunger,
together with conflict and economic slowdowns.
"If we are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition
in all its forms by 2030, it is imperative that we accelerate and scale up
actions to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of food systems and
people's livelihoods in response to climate variability and extremes,"
the heads of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) urged in their joint foreword to the report.
Impact of climate extremes
Changes in climate are already undermining production of
major crops such as wheat, rice and maize in tropical and
temperate regions and, without building climate resilience, this is expected to
worsen as temperatures increase and become more extreme.
The report shows that the prevalence and number of
undernourished people tend to be higher in countries highly exposed to climate
extremes.
Stunted children
The FAO report shows poor progress in reducing child
stunting, with 15.8 million children aged under 5 (or
22%) too short for their age due to malnutrition in 2017,
compared to 165 million (25%) in 2012. Globally, Africa and Asia accounted
for 39 percent and 55 percent of all stunted children, respectively.
At the same time, over 38 million children under five are
overweight.
There are 50.5 million children (7.5%) under 5 affected by
wasting (low weight-for-height). The rrevalence remains extremely high in
Asia affecting one in 10 children, compared to just one in 100 in Latin America
and the Caribbean.
Women’s health
The report describes as "shameful" the fact that
32.8%, or 1 in 3 women of reproductive age globally is
affected by anaemia. This has significant health and development
consequences for both women and their children.
No region has shown a decline in anaemia among women of
reproductive age, and the prevalence in Africa and Asia is
nearly three times higher than in North America.
Rates of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa
and Asia are 1.5 times higher than those in North America where only 26 percent
of infants under six months receive breastmilk exclusively.
Adult obesity and undernutrition
Adult obesity is worsening with 672 million, or more
than 1 in 8 adults obese today. The problem is most significant
in North America, but Africa and Asia are
also experiencing an upward trend, the report shows.
Undernutrition and obesity coexist in many countries, and
can even be seen side by side in the same household. Poor access to nutritious
food due to its higher cost, the stress of living with food insecurity, and
physiological adaptations to food deprivation help explain why food-insecure
families may have a higher risk of overweight and obesity.
Call to action
Among the remedies suggested by the FAO hunger report is a
call for greater efforts to build climate resilience through policies that
promote climate change adaptation and mitigation, and disaster risk reduction.
(Source: FAO)
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