UN: Hunger on the rise worldwide for 3rd straight year, 821 million affected

More than 821 million people suffered from hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition worldwide last year, the United Nations reports — the third year in a row that the number has risen.

After decades of decline, food insecurity began to increase in 2015 — and reversing the trend is one of the 2030 targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

But getting to a world where no one is suffering from hunger by then remains an “immense challenge,” the report says.

“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” is produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other UN agencies including the World Health Organization.

Malnutrition remains widespread in Africa, where around 20 percent of the population is affected, and in Asia, where more than 12% of people experience it. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 7% of people are affected.

Adding the number of people suffering from famine to those hit by food insecurity gives a total of more than two billion.

The FAO says current efforts are insufficient to meet the goal of halving the number of children whose growth is stunted by malnutrition by 2030. Around 149 million children currently suffer from hunger-related growth delays.

— AFP