The percentage of people affected by food insecurity and malnutrition on the continent has stabilised at 8.1%. The highest levels of food insecurity, after Africa, are recorded in South Asia. According to FAO, current figures are comparable to those of 2008-2009 and the goal of “zero hunger” appears unattainable by 2030.
Milan () – 733 million people suffered from hunger last year, which is one person in 11, 152 million more than in the pre-pandemic period of 2019. For the third consecutive year, the figure shows no signs of abating, and indeed remains “stubbornly high”, according to the United Nations. This is the conclusion presented by the report on “The state of food security and nutrition in the world” (SOFI) published today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with four other agencies.
The document was presented in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – the country that holds the G20 presidency this year – and shows that there has been a 15-year setback in the fight against hunger. Malnutrition levels are back to those of 2008-09 and the sustainable development goal of “zero hunger” by 2030 does not seem to be achievable, despite some improvements in specific areas, such as breastfeeding or child growth retardation. On the contrary, if current trends continue, projections estimate that by the end of the century there will be 582 million chronically undernourished people, 130 million more than in the pre-Covid period.
Regionally, there are wide variations: in Asia, for example, the proportion of people suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition has stabilised at 8.1%. But hunger remains a huge problem for the region, home to more than half of the world’s hungry people, some 385 million. The highest proportion is in South Asia, with 13.9% (almost 281 million) of people suffering from malnutrition, while in East Asia the figure is less than 2.5% and in South-East Asia it is just over 6%.
Food insecurity (defined as an individual going without food for one or more consecutive days) also remains at its highest levels across the continent in South Asia, although the worst data comes from Africa, where 58% of the population in this condition live. In South Asia, the figure for 2023 drops to 41.1% (compared to 24.8% in the region), equivalent to 833.4 million people. Only Central Asia registered improvements compared to 2021, with 2.4 million people moved out of moderate or severe food insecurity, although 16.6% of the population remains affected.
Unlike before, hunger now affects men and women almost equally, notes the United Nations, thanks in particular to the improvement in the status of women around the world. The number of people who cannot afford a healthy diet has also fallen below pre-pandemic levels in Asia, North America and Europe, while it has risen sharply in Africa, where it rose to 924.8 million in 2022, almost 25 million more than the previous year and 64.8% of the population.
Asia, on the other hand, has the highest value in absolute terms, with more than 1.65 billion people unable to afford a balanced diet. At purchasing power parity, the cost of a healthy diet in Asia rose from €84 in 2021 to €20 in 2022. The highest costs are recorded in East Asia (€34) and South Asia (€28).
According to the report, Asia is the region in the world with the lowest percentage of obese adults, equivalent to 10.4% of the population, compared to a global average of 15.8% in 2022 and constant growth rates in recent years. However, in some subregions, the percentages of children with stunted growth due to malnutrition remain high: 30.5% in South Asia and 26.4% in South-East Asia.
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