The report estimates around a 10th of the global population, about 811 million people, were undernourished in 2020.
FAO Chief Economist, Maximo Torero said ‘’around 282 million people are more undernourished in Africa’’.
"In terms of the figures, this year 2020 we find that 720 to 811 million people around the world faced hunger in 2020. This number is approximately 118 million more people that were facing hunger in 2020 with respect to 2019. What this means is that 418 million people are more undernourished in Asia and around 282 million people are more undernourished in Africa. And in Latin America we also seen an increase to what 9.1% of the population being undernourished today", Torero said
This number suggests that it will take a tremendous effort for the world to honor its pledge to end hunger by 2030.
"This year report makes an important call that we need to really act and transform the agri-food systems. We are facing a huge challenge of an increase of undernourishment of 118 million people. We have 3 billion people that don't have access to healthy diets. We have significant increase in stunting and overweight and obesity. If we don't change the way we are operating in the agri-food systems we won't be able to achieve the SDGs (sustainable development goals), and the goals of the 2030", the FAO Chief Economist added.
The report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
This year's edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is the first global assessment of its kind in the pandemic era.
A Guest Editorial