UN warns of global famine risk

Geneva, July 6: The number of people going hungry in the world has risen by 150 million since the start of the Covid pandemic, the UN has said, warning that the food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risks pushing the worst-hit countries into famine.

Globally, the number suffering from chronic undernourishment rose to as many as 828 million last year, a rise of about 46 million on the previous year, and three times that increase if measured since the world shut down due to Covid, a latest UN report has found.

With the price of fuel, food staples and fertiliser soaring since the invasion of Ukraine, however, that total is expected to rise even further in the next year – a scenario that could see some of the world’s poorest fall into famine, the most extreme form of food deprivation.

“There is a real danger these numbers will climb even higher in the months ahead,” said David Beasley, executive director of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). “The global price spikes in food, fuel and fertilisers as a result of the crisis in Ukraine threaten to push countries around the world into famine.

“The result will be global destabilisation, starvation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale,” he warned. “We have to act today to avert this looming catastrophe.”

Due to the uncertainty caused by the lingering impact of Covid shutdowns, the report, released on Wednesday, is unable to give a precise figure for the number of people going hungry in 2021, instead estimating that the total was somewhere between 702 million and 828 million. If the latter, that would equate to about 10.5% of the world population.

An estimated 45 million children under five were suffering from wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, which increases children’s risk of death by up to 12 times, the report said. About 149 million children under five had stunted growth and development due to a chronic lack of essential nutrients.

Gilbert Houngbo, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said that, according to projections, chronic undernourishment would affect nearly 670 million people in 2030 – a similar figure to that of 2015, when the UN vowed to eradicate hunger by 2030 as part of the sustainable development goals.