The world risks losing its battle to end hunger by the end of the decade, despite signs that the crisis has stopped worsening.
The lingering fallout from the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine means about 735 million people — or 9.2% of the population — were undernourished in 2022, according to United Nations agencies. While that’s slightly less than a year earlier, it was 122 million more than in 2019 and means the world remains far off a target to eradicate hunger by the end of this decade.
Access to food is being stifled by the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 crisis on incomes and economies, as well as soaring food and energy costs that have been compounded by the war in Ukraine. The rising cost of a healthy diet and inflation also mean about 2.4 billion people were without access to nutritious, safe and sufficient food all year round, the agencies said in an annual report.