The United Nations (UN) reported today, July 12, that about 735 million people are hungry in the world. The numbers refer to 2022.
The data came out in the report The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), launched this morning, July 12, at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, in the United States.
The SOFI report pointed out that the number of people going hungry represents an increase of 122 million people compared to 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, there were 613 million.
In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, repeated shocks and climate conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, were the reasons indicated by the UN for the increase in food insecurity in the world.
The SOFI 2023 report was published by five specialized UN agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Health Food (WFP).
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UN SOFI 2023 report
The SOFI 2023 report showed the latest updates on the world's security situation food and nutrition, including up-to-date estimates of the cost and affordability of diets healthy.
The theme of the report, "Urbanization, Transformation of Agri-Food Systems and Healthy Diets in the Rural-Urban Continuum", explored how urbanization is shaping agrifood systems and the implications of this nexus for the availability and accessibility of healthy diets, for food security and nutrition.
See below the key data from the UN SOFI 2023 report:
735 million people are currently hungry in the world
There has been a reduction in hunger in Asia and Latin America
Rising hunger in West Asia, the Caribbean and all sub-regions of Africa by 2022
Africa remains the most affected region, with one in five people going hungry on the continent, more than double the global average.
UN agencies also detected, in SOFI 2023, that if trends remain as they are, the Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger by 2030 will not be achieved.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, however, that there are rays of hope that some regions can reach some nutritional targets by 2030.
"Overall, we need an intense and immediate global effort to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals. We must build resilience against the crises and shocks that lead to food insecurity – from conflict to climate,” said the UN secretary.
What is food insecurity?
Food insecurity is a phenomenon that occurs when an individual does not have physical, economic and social access to food in order to satisfy their needs, as defined by FAO.
The concept of food insecurity, which is based on the concept of food security, has been reinterpreted over time and gained new contours as the problem of hunger worsened on a global scale and discussions about this theme became increasingly complex and urgent.
Learn more about food insecurity
Causes of food insecurity
The causes of food insecurity are linked to circumstantial issues, such as fluctuations in economic, to structural problems perpetuated over time, in particular those of an socioeconomic.
See below some causes of food insecurity:
less food availability associated with problems in the production process, such as in periods of low rainfall, which directly affect crops;
decrease in the quality of food available for consumption;
supply problems;
increase in food prices;
reduction of wages or loss of source of income;
condition of poverty;
climate changes.
Food insecurity in the Enem newsroom
Food insecurity was the subject of the Enem 2022 reapplication essay. The full theme was: "Measures to face the recurrence of food insecurity in Brazil".
O Banco de Redações do Brasil Escola has also worked on the issue of food insecurity.
Image credits:
[1] Shutterstock
[3] inep
By Silvia Tancredi
Journalist
