PROGRESS fighting global hunger has been set back 15 years, leaving around 733 million people going hungry in 2023, equivalent to one in 11 people globally, and one in five in Africa, according to the latest UN State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published on Wednesday.

“The bottom line is that we are still far off-track towards the goal of ridding the world of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition by 2030,” said Maximo Torero, Chief Economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and specifically SDG 2: Zero Hunger.

Mr. Torero noted that if current trends persist, around 582 million people will still face hunger in 2030, half of them in Africa.

Despite progress in combatting stunting, and promoting breastfeeding, global hunger levels have remained stubbornly static for three consecutive years.

Between 713 million and 757 million people were undernourished in 2023, around 152 million more than in 2019, according to the report, a joint publication by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN World Health Organisation (WHO). (UN News)