Almost one in three globally go hungry during pandemic – UN | Food security | The Guardian

The number of people who did not have enough food to eat rose steeply during the Covid-19 pandemic to include almost a third of the world, according to a new UN report published on Monday.Five UN agencies said the number of people without access to healthy diets grew by 320 million last year to nearly 2.37 billion people– more than the increases in the previous five years combined.The number of people who went hungry grew by about 161 million last year to 811 million.The report by five UN agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organisation; the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad); the UN children’s fund, Unicef; the World Food Programme; and the World Health Organization – said the effects of the pandemic on nutrition were still being counted, but levels of impaired growth and development among children are expected to increase because of the pandemic. An estimated 22% of children under five are considered to be stunted.Gilbert Houngbo, president of Ifad, said enough food was being produced to feed everyone and the crisis was a failure in the food system.“It is clear that, unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food system, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world, particularly the most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by conflict, climate change and inequality,” he said.Houngbo said that even when enough food was produced, crises such as the pandemic could affect regional and international trade, which is especially damaging for countries reliant on imports.

Source: Almost one in three globally go hungry during pandemic – UN | Food security | The Guardian