Rome/New York, July 15 – The number of people suffering hunger and malnutrition surged up to 811 million, or about one-tenth of the world population, under the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The health crisis has exposed weaknesses in the global food systems, which the United Nations and scores of governments are currently campaigning to improve with the aim of hopefully ending hunger by 2030.
The UN will hold a Food Systems Summit during the UN General Assembly in New York in September with a pre-summit taking place July 26-28 in Rome. Already more than 130 governments (see list below) have become involved in the organization of the summit by holding national dialogues that have drawn tens of thousands of people to debate the food systems. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last year called for a UN Food Systems Summit as part of efforts to bring progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
In addition to the 811 million people who were malnourished last year, the State of Food Insecurity (SOFI) report showed that an additional 118 million people are facing hunger because of the pandemic in 2021.
“It is an indictment on our entire food systems – from production to distribution and disposal – that in 2020, as many as 811 million men, women and children went without enough to eat,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit.
“Hunger on this scale is a symptom of a dysfunctional food system that buckles under pressure and abandons the most vulnerable first. We need systemic transformation, and this is the aim of the UN Food Systems Summit, but it will be up to Member States to pave the way for the changes we urgently need.”
UN agencies had reported that hunger started to spike by mid-2010s, which erased efforts to reverse the condition for population living in areas under conflicts, natural disasters or humanitarian crises. They said hunger shot up under the pandemic last year in both absolute and proportional terms, outpacing population growth: some 9.9 percent of all people were estimated to have been undernourished last year, up from 8.4 percent in 2019.
Of the total undernourished people under the pandemic, more than half, or 418 million, live in Asia; more than a third, or 288 million, in Africa; and a smaller proportion, 60 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. But the sharpest rise in hunger was in Africa, where the estimated prevalence of undernourishment – at 21 per cent of the population – is more than double that of any other region
The dialogue campaign around the world is hosted by National Dialogues Convenors, allowing governments to involve people across all sectors of society to find ways to build food systems that are sustainable, resilient and equitable. The organizers said governments reported that thousands of people attended discussion on the food systems, seeking remedies on failures that happened under conditions that existed in 2020.
Dr. David Nabarro, Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy for the Summit Dialogues, said, “I commend National Convenors for embracing this unique opportunity to engage with the Summit and identify what needs to be done and who needs to be involved in shaping how their citizens can eat food that is nutritious and produced in ways that are good for the planet, despite threats of climate change, infectious disease and violent conflict.”
“Convenors are sparking shifts in thought, knowledge and action at scale, and this is just the beginning of a journey that will most definitely continue beyond this monumental year. This is our moment, as a human race, to reveal and respond to the most difficult and often hidden challenges so that we are united in a collective race to build a resilient, sustainable and equitable food systems for all people, and the planet.”
The UN agencies began reporting on July 12 about the spike in hunger in 2020, blaming the pandemic for having further weakened the food systems around the world. The pandemic’s negative impacts have yet to be fully mapped. See report .
The agencies also issued The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021, which is the first global assessment in the pandemic era. The report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Leaders of the five UN agencies said in the report’s Foreword that the world had been put on notice that the food systems had weaknesses before the pandemic struck in early 2020 and children were among those threatened by food shortage.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world,” they said. “This year offers a unique opportunity for advancing food security and nutrition through transforming food systems with the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the COP26 on climate change.”
Member State Dialogues have been convened by:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Czech Republic (Czechia), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Kuwait , Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger , Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda , Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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