Hunger increasing worldwide

Dr Matiur Rahman :
The United Nations Hunger Report mentions hunger as the term used to define the period when a population experiences severe food insecurity-that is, lack of access to food due to lack of money or other conditions while they go starvation.
According to the United Nations, more than enough food is produced to feed the world’s population, but millions still go hungry. After a steady decline over the past decade, the number of hungry people worldwide is rising again, the United Nations mentions. And three crises are mainly working behind the increase in the number of hungry people – the ongoing conflicts in different regions of the world, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the World Bank’s “World Population Report 2021”, the world’s population is now about 7.87 billion. On the other hand, according to the data from Worldometers, the world’s total population is 7.97 billion as of September 2022.
A recently published report titled “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” mentioned that the number of hungry people increased unusually in 2021. About 2.3 billion people face adequate, moderate or severe food insecurity, and about 924 million face severe food insecurity.
A top UN official has warned that rising prices of food, fuel oil and fertilizers caused by the war in Ukraine are pushing countries worldwide towards famine. He also noted that “global instability, starvation and mass migration have created an unprecedented situation.”
David Beasley, head of the UN World Food Programme, said the latest analysis showed “345 million hungry people are on the brink of acute starvation”. Before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the number was 276 million, which has increased by 25%. And in early 2020, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, this number was 135 million.
David Beasley also noted, “This is a real danger because this number will increase in the coming months. He pointed out that 50 million people in 45 countries worldwide are just one step away from famine.”
According to the “Global Hunger Index 2021” report published last March, there has been a rise in hunger worldwide due to the impact of the Corona pandemic. According to the report, the number of hungry people worldwide increased by 118 million in 2020 compared to 2019; as a percentage, the growth rate is about 18 per cent.
Although no official data has been published in Bangladesh, the results of several private studies published in 2020 and 2021 show that the poverty rate has jumped in the country due to the Corona situation. This rate stands at 35 to 42 per cent. Many of these poor people spend their days in a state of hunger. But whatever the statistics say, there is no doubt that the situation is dire.
The recent increase in daily necessities and commodities prices has increased the number of hungry people. Food inflation has risen significantly in many low- and lower-middle-income countries. Especially in countries with weak currencies and high dependence on food imports, border closures, conflict or insecurity have disrupted trade flows, and weather severely reduced food production/availability.
These macroeconomic factors significantly impact the purchasing power of the poorest households. Many are facing job and income losses due to the corona pandemic-related restrictions.
According to experts, “bold action” is needed to deal with the triple crisis of increasingly hungry people due to the combined effects of climate change, conflict and pandemics. They say practical steps must be taken immediately to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
It is also imperative to take steps to end conflicts in different regions of the world, take coordinated actions to combat adverse climate impacts, increase food production, support small farmers, strengthen food supply chains, provide cash incentives for food grains and vegetable production, and protect livestock.
The vast new financing is also needed to combat skyrocketing levels of hunger, protect governments and investments to help keep trade flowing, and protect developing countries from starvation and other shocks.
The international community must understand that those already experiencing the highest levels of acute food insecurity and those under food stress must mitigate the severe consequences.
Action is needed to protect lives and livelihoods and increase sustainable food systems and production. Otherwise, if the number of hungry people worldwide increases, their power, wealth and lives will also be endangered. So an urgent political solution is needed now.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals-2 and 3 (SDG-2 and 3) set targets to eradicate global poverty and hunger by 2030. However, current reality shows that this target will not be achieved. Therefore, world leaders must make a concerted effort to reduce the number of hungry people worldwide; in this case, the delay will cause a great disaster.

(The writer is a researcher and
development worker).