UN Agencies Warn of ‘Looming Catastrophe’ as World Hunger Levels Rise
•828m people affected in 2021
•11m die annually due to unhealthy diets
Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja and Oluchi Chibuzor in Lagos
United Nations (UN) agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organisation (WHO), have warned of a ‘looming catastrophe’ amid rising global hunger levels.
The warning was predicated on stark statistics that about 828 million people, or nearly 10 per cent of the world’s population were affected by hunger in 2021, 46 million more than in 2020 and 150 million higher than in 2019.
The global agencies disclosed in the 2022 edition of the U.N food security and nutrition report which was released yesterday that 11 million people die annually due to unhealthy diets as world hunger levels rose again in 2021 after soaring in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agencies warned that the Ukraine war and climate change were threatening starvation and mass migration on an “unprecedented scale” this year.
The WFP Executive Director, David Beasley said: “There is a real danger these numbers will climb even higher in the months ahead,” adding that price spikes in food, fuel and fertilisers stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war threatens to push countries into famine.
“The result will be global destabilisation, starvation, and mass migration on an unprecedented scale. We have to act today to avert this looming catastrophe.”
Russia and Ukraine are the world’s third and fourth largest grains exporters, respectively, while Russia is also a key fuel and fertiliser exporter.
The war has disrupted their exports, pushed world food prices to record levels and triggered protests in developing countries already contending with elevated food prices due to COVID-19 related supply chain disruptions.
The UN report warned of “potentially sobering” implications for food security and nutrition as conflict, climate extremes, economic shocks and inequalities keep intensifying.
It estimated that globally in 2020, 22 per cent of children under five were stunted while 6.7 per cent or 45 million suffered from wasting, a deadly form of malnutrition that increases the risk of death by up to 12 times.
Calling for an overhaul of agricultural policies, the report said the global food and agriculture sector received almost $630 billion a year in support that often distorted market prices, did not reach small-scale farmers, hurt the environment and did not promote nutritious food production.
This support included subsidies that mostly target calorie rich staple foods like cereals, sugar, meat and dairy at the expense of healthier, nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, pulses and seeds.
On his part, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Every year, 11 million people die due to unhealthy diets. Rising food prices mean this will only get worse.
“WHO supports countries’ efforts to improve food systems through taxing unhealthy foods, subsidising healthy options, protecting children from harmful marketing, and ensuring clear nutrition labels.”
