World Hunger Continues Dramatic Rise

Progress in fighting world hunger has continued to stall. At yesterday's release of the Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, World Food Programme director David Beasley said that the result of rising food prices due to the war in Ukraine would be "global destabilisation, starvation, and mass migration on an unprecedented scale", urging world leaders to act to avert catastrophe.

Last year, the number of malnourished people worldwide increased for the sixth year in a row to a medium projection of around 768 million. At the high estimate of 828 million, 10 percent of the world population would have been affected by hunger in 2021.

Hunger was most widespread in Africa where it affects 20 percent of the population while 9 percent of people across Asia are also impacted by it. The disruption of global grain supply chains by the Russian invasion of Ukraine is believed to predominantly affect countries already struggling with nutrition problems, as many of the poorest countries are grain importers.