△ United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Headquarters (Archive Photo)
On July 28th, local time, at the second phase of the United Nations Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization jointly released the “2025 World Food Security and Nutritional Status” report. The report indicates that:
In recent years, global hunger conditions have improved, but by 2024, there are still 638 million to 720 million people worldwide facing hunger. Approximately 2 million people from five countries and regions are facing catastrophic food insecurity, with more than half coming from the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
The report estimates that, based on the median value, about 8.2% of the global population, approximately 673 million people, are facing hunger in 2024, a decrease of 22 million from 2022. However, this progress is not evenly distributed globally; particularly in 2024, all 1.1 million people in the Gaza Strip faced the most severe catastrophic food insecurity, nearly double that of 2023. According to current forecasts, by 2030, there could be 512 million people globally living in long-term malnutrition, nearly 60% of whom will be in Africa.
Torero, the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization, stated that conflict and economic issues are the main reasons for hunger.
However, economic slowdowns and recessions are affecting some economies, which already face high debt burdens and struggle to afford food import costs. This also explains why they cannot maintain the minimum caloric level necessary to escape hunger.
“Addressing food price inflation and promoting food security and nutrition.”
The report emphasizes that global food prices have significantly risen since 2021, reaching their peak in January 2023, with higher increases in low-income countries. High food prices have significantly weakened household purchasing power, exacerbated poverty and malnutrition, especially threatening low-income countries, rural areas, and women and children. The report recommends adopting various policy measures to address food price inflation.
The “World Food Security and Nutritional Status” report is published annually since 1999, continuously monitoring and analyzing the progress made by countries around the world in eliminating hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition. (CCTV News) Yin Xin
