FOR the third year in a row, there has been a rise in world hunger, said the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in its 2018 edition of the State of Food

Security and Nutrition in the World which was published September 10, 2018.
According to the FAO, the absolute number of undernourished people has increased to nearly 821 million in 2017 from around 804 million in 2016. These are the same levels as almost a decade ago.

“We are therefore witnessing a worrisome erosion and reversal in the gains made in ending hunger. These findings underscore the need for bolder action,” said the FAO.

Levels of child stunting also remain unacceptably high. In 2017, nearly 151 million children under five years old or 22 per cent were affected by stunting. Wasting also continues to affect over 51 million children under five years old.

The main cause of hunger in the world is still a conflict. In fact, the failure to reduce world hunger is closely associated with the increase in violence, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and therefore the efforts to fight hunger must go hand in hand with those to sustain peace.
The report also shows that the impacts of climate change, especially prolonged droughts, constitute a key driver behind the recent continued rise in global hunger.

In 2017, climate shocks were a key factor in the food crises in 34 out of the 51 countries facing such crises. Temperatures are increasing and becoming more variable.

Very hot days are becoming more frequent and the hottest days are becoming hotter. The world is also experiencing increased variability in rainfall and the timing, length and intensity of rainy seasons is also changing.

According to the report, the number of extreme climate-related disasters, including extreme heat, droughts, floods and storms, has doubled since the early 1990s, which means the world now witnesses on average 213 medium and large catastrophic events every year.

The world’s 2.5 billion small-scale farmers, herders, fishers and forest-dependent people, who derive their food and income from renewable natural resources, are most affected by climate variability and extremes.

The strongest direct impacts are felt on food availability, given the sensitivity of agriculture to climate and the primary role of the sector as a source of food and livelihoods for the rural poor.

Access to food is significantly undermined too. Evidence shows that spikes in food prices and increased price volatility follow climate variability and extremes. Net buyers of food, especially the urban and rural poor, are the hardest hit by price spikes. Poor access to food increases the risk of low birth weight and stunting in children, which are associated with higher risk of overweight and obesity in life.

Food insecurity partly explains the coexistence of under nutrition and obesity in many countries. In 2017, childhood overweight affected 38 million children under five years of age, with Africa and Asia representing 25 per cent and 46 per cent of the global total, respectively.

Obesity in adults is also increasing at the global level: about 672 million adults were obese in 2017 – this represents more than one in eight adults.

The increased consumption of industrialised and processed food is the main factor behind the epidemic of obesity in the world today.

The FAO believes that if governments do not adopt urgent measures to halt the increase of obesity, we may soon have more obese people than undernourished in the world.

The impacts of climate change are also taking a toll on foods nutritional composition. Some studies indicate that higher levels of CO2 in the air are lowering the levels of vital nutrients, such as zinc, iron, calcium and potassium. This includes staple crops like wheat, barley, potatoes and rice.

Building climate resilience is a priority for winning the fight against hunger and other forms of malnutrition.

Climate risk monitoring and early warning systems are proving essential for some governments and international agencies to monitor multiple hazards and predict the likelihood of climate risks to livelihoods, food security and nutrition.

There are also efforts to invest in vulnerability reduction measures, including climate-resilient good practices at farm levels as well as climate-proof infrastructure including food storage and preservation facilities and more efficient water management including irrigation, drainage, water harvesting and saving technologies, desalinisation and storm, and wastewater management.

The FAO feels that a world free of hunger is still within reach despite the recent setbacks.
“But we must take action quickly while there is still time to halt the erosion of our hard won gains in ending hunger,” said the FAO.