Five UN agencies brought to light the alarming statistic that a staggering 783 million people globally grappled with hunger in 2022.

An alarming report from the United Nations (UN) reveals that global hunger surged dramatically by 122 million to a staggering 735 million in 2019.

The report, published on Wednesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and four other UN agencies, grimly predicts that if these trends persist, nearly 600 million people are set to be chronically undernourished by 2030.

The figure represents an increase of 119 million individuals compared to forecasts that did not factor in the impacts of the pandemic and the Ukraine war.

 “Recovery from the global pandemic has been uneven, and the war in Ukraine has affected nutritious food and healthy diet,” said FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu.

“This is the ‘new normal’ where climate change, conflict, and economic instability are pushing those on the margins even further from safety. We cannot take a business-as-usual approach.”

Although global hunger levels appeared to have steadied following the significant spike between 2019 and 2020, they continue to escalate in Western Asia, the Caribbean, and throughout Africa.

The conflict in Ukraine, a crucial global supplier of wheat, maize, and sunflower oil, has triggered a sharp rise in international food prices. The effects linger despite a slight drop in the FAO’s food price index.

The 2022 estimates painted a bleak picture, indicating that 900 million people – 11.3% of the world population – endured severe food insecurity. This condition is defined as an individual depleting their food supply or going an entire day without eating during the year.

A disturbing 2.4 billion people, constituting 29.6% of the world’s population, experienced inconsistent access to food.

Calls for help

Child malnutrition remains a pressing issue, with 45 million children under five suffering from wasting – the most lethal form of malnutrition – and 148 million children within the same age bracket grappling with stunted growth and development in 2022.

“The scale of the nutrition crisis demands a stronger response focused on children, including prioritising access to nutritious and affordable diets and essential nutrition services, protecting children and adolescents from nutrient-poor, ultra-processed foods, and strengthening food and nutrition supply chains including for fortified and therapeutic foods for children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Maximo Torero, the FAO’s chief economist and the principal author of the report, highlighted to The Guardian the precarious state of the global food system, saying it faces “significant risks and uncertainties” and is “very vulnerable.”

He also warned about the future impact of the climate crisis, stating that it presents “a constant vulnerability of the system, because of how concentrated exporting production countries are.”

In West Africa, an alarming rise in people without sufficient food is being seen, due to the combined impacts of climate crisis, regional conflicts, and rocketing food prices in the wake of Covid and the Ukraine conflict.

“There are rays of hope, some regions are on track to achieve some 2030 nutrition targets. But overall, we need an intense and immediate global effort to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a video message during the launch of the report at the UN Headquarters in New York.

“We must build resilience against the crises and shocks that drive food insecurity – from conflict to climate.”