(3 Minutes Read)
The percentage of the global population unable to afford enough food decreased to 8.2% in 2024 from 8.5% the previous year, according to the report from the Food and Agriculture Organization. Improved food security in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and South America contributed to raising the global average.
World hunger fell in 2024, as declines in Asia and South America offset an increase in the number of people who lacked adequate diets in Africa, according to a UN analysis released Monday. The percentage of the global population unable to afford enough food decreased to 8.2% in 2024 from 8.5% the previous year, according to the report from the Food and Agriculture Organization. Improved food security in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and South America contributed to raising the global average.
The improvement came even as food prices continued to rise, outpacing headline inflation since 2020, according to the report. The Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and climate change contributed to the increases.
Poor countries bore the brunt of the higher prices. In Africa, the number of people who could not pay for a healthy diet surpassed 1 billion in 2024, up from 864 million the year before, the report found.
Read Also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/global-hunger-and-malnutrition-affect-295mn-people-fao/
As a whole, food-price inflation hit low-income and lower-middle-income countries the hardest, eroding household purchasing power and forcing people to shift to cheaper and less nutritious food. The UN report found that both anemia in women and obesity have been on the rise. Furthermore, child malnutrition can worsen with food price inflation, the study said.
