TAG: GS-3: ECONOMY
CONTEXT: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published on 24th July 2024 showed that food security and nutrition took less than a quarter of total official development assistance.
EXPLANATION:
About State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
- Prepared by: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 has been jointly prepared by the by five specialized agencies of the United Nations — Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Launched in: The report was launched in the context of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil.
Key Findings of the Report
- Shortfall in Achieving SDG 2: Between 713 and 757 million people may have faced hunger in 2023, according to the latest SOFI report.
- This alarming figure serves as a stark warning that the world is falling significantly short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, which is just six years away from the 2030 deadline.
- Global Hunger Reverts to 2008-2009 Levels: The world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009.
- Billions Struggle with Food Insecurity in 2023: In 2023, around 2.33 billion people globally faced moderate or severe food insecurity, a number that has remained largely unchanged since the sharp increase in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Among those facing food insecurity, over 864 million people experienced severe food insecurity, often going without food for an entire day or more.
- Regional trends vary significantly: 2023 Insights:
- Rising Hunger in Africa:
- Percentage: 20.4% of the population faces hunger, the highest globally.
- Numbers: Approximately 298.4 million people affected.
- Stable but High Hunger Rates in Asia:
- Percentage: 8.1% of the population faces hunger.
- Numbers: 384.5 million people, more than half of the world’s hungry population, are in Asia.
- Progress in Latin America:
- Percentage: 6.2% of the population faces hunger.
- Numbers: 41.0 million people affected.
- From 2022 to 2023, hunger increased in Western Asia, the Caribbean, and most African subregions.
- Future Trends: If current trends continue, 582 million people will be chronically undernourished by 2030, with half of them in Africa.
- Rising Hunger in Africa:
- Global Challenge: Unaffordable Healthy Diets: More than one-third of the global population, about 2.8 billion people, could not afford a healthy diet in 2022. A lack of economic access to healthy diets affects over a third of the global population, highlighting significant disparities and challenges in ensuring food security.
- Income-Based Inequalities in Diet Affordability
- Low-Income Countries: 71.5% of the population could not afford a healthy diet.
- Lower-Middle-Income Countries: 52.6% of the population faced this issue.
- Upper-Middle-Income Countries: 21.5% of the population was affected.
- High-Income Countries: 6.3% of the population could not afford a healthy diet.
- The number dropped below pre-pandemic levels in Asia and in North America and Europe, while it increased substantially in Africa.
- Key Drivers of Food Insecurity:
- Contributing Factors: Conflict, climate variability and extremes, economic slowdowns, and downturns are major factors driving food insecurity, undernourishment, and hunger.
- Underlying Factors: These issues are compounded by underlying factors such as lack of access to and unaffordability of healthy diets, unhealthy food environments, and high and persistent inequality.
- Challenges with Food Insecurity: The report highlights that these drivers of food insecurity are not only increasing in frequency and intensity but are also occurring more often simultaneously. When combined with the underlying issues, these factors are leading to a growing number of hungry and food-insecure people worldwide.
About the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):
- It was established as an international financial institution in 1977 through United Nations General Assembly Resolution 32/107 (30 December 1977) as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference.
- Its headquarters are in Rome, Italy, and it is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The current President of the IFAD is Alvaro Lario from Spain, who took over from Gilbert Houngbo in late 2022.
- It has 177 member states and works in partnership with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
- It is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.
- It is the only multilateral development organization that focuses solely on rural economies and food security.
About the Food and Agriculture Organization?
- FAO is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
- World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16th October. The day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the founding of the FAO in 1945.
- It is one of the UN food aid organisations based in Rome (Italy). Its sister bodies are the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Initiatives Taken:
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- Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).
- Monitors the Desert Locust situation throughout the world.
- The Codex Alimentarius Commission or CAC is the body responsible for all matters regarding the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
- The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the Thirty-First Session of the Conference of the FAO in 2001.
- Flagship Publications:
- The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA).
- The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO).
- The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).
- The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA).
- The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO).
Sources:
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