ROME, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The world is not on track to end malnutrition, with 733 million people suffering from hunger last year -- an average of one in every 11, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned in a report unveiled on Wednesday.
The 2024 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) -- issued by the FAO and four other UN agencies -- provided latest figures on nutrition and access to food. It said the world is falling significantly short of achieving the UN's "Zero Hunger" goal by 2030.
"The world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009," the UN agencies wrote.
They stressed the hunger figures remained "stubbornly high for three consecutive years (since the sharp increase in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic) as global crises deepen."
The report acknowledged some progress was made in specific areas, such as stunting and exclusive breastfeeding, and yet it was not enough to reverse negative trends in other areas.
The population facing hunger continued to rise in Africa -- from 19.9 percent in 2022 to 20.4 percent last year, but remained stable in Asia -- home to more than half of those facing hunger worldwide -- at 8.1 percent. While the overall figure in South America dropped from 6.6 percent to 6.2 percent, it grew in the Caribbean to 17.2 percent as against 16.6 percent in 2022.
"If current trends continue, about 582 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, half of them in Africa," the FAO warned in a statement. "This projection closely resembles the levels seen in 2015 when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted, marking a concerning stagnation in progress."
But the report also noted that improvements in many countries suggested there was still a chance of reverting current trends. The key factor was financing -- not just its amount but also its management, the report said, noting that there is currently no coherent picture of the financial resources being spent on food security and nutrition.
"Moving towards a common definition and mapping of financing ... is therefore urgently needed," it said.
Issued since 1999, the SOFI report is annually drafted by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Program (WFP), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO). ■
