UNO’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020

 Almost 690 million people around the world went hungry in 2019

• The United Nations recently released the “State of Food Security and Nutrition” report – 2020
• The report presents the most recent and authoritative estimates of the extent of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition around the world
• This year, the report includes a special focus on transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets

Highlights of the report 2020

• This year, the report includes a special focus on transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets
• It analyses the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts
• New analysis is presented on the “hidden” health and climate-change costs associated with our current food consumption patterns
• The cost savings if we shift towards healthy diets that include sustainability considerations
• The report also offers policy recommendations to transform current food systems and make them able to deliver affordable healthy diets for all – crucial to all efforts to achieve Zero Hunger – SDG2

Details about hunger in the report

• Almost 690 million people around the world went hungry in 2019
• High costs and low affordability also mean billions cannot eat healthily or nutritiously
• As progress in fighting hunger stalls, the COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems
• While it is too early to assess the full impact of the lockdowns and other containment measures, at least another 83 million to 132 million people may go hungry in 2020
• If recent trends continue, the Zero Hunger target of the Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved by 2030
• The report urges the transformation of food systems to reduce the cost of nutritious foods and increase the affordability of healthy diets

UN’s call for the governance for Food security

• Mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture
• Work to cut cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport, distribution and marketing of food, including reducing inefficiencies, and food loss and waste
• Support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and secure their access to markets
• Prioritize children’s nutrition as the category in greatest need
• Foster behavior change through education and communication
• Embed nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies

New Estimations found

• Higher level of accuracy of the hunger estimates thanks to the availability of fresh data, including new population figures, new food balance sheets and updated household survey data for a range of populous countries, including China;
• Projections of what the number of undernourished people and several nutrition indicators may look like by 2030 under a continuation of recent trends.
• Preliminary assessment of COVID-19’s impact on food security, based on the recent global economic outlooks

Pic courtesy : fao.org