BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Oct 15 (IPS) – World Food Day 2024
High levels of hunger in many developing countries will continue for another 136 years, according to a new report assessing global hunger.
The report, the Global Hunger Index 2024 (GHI) paints a bleak picture, predicting that global hunger levels will remain high for another century. Unless more progress is made in ending hunger, it will continue to undo many development gains. The report blames the combined crises of conflict, climate change, high food prices and mounting debt, all of which deny billions of people the right to adequate food.
Hunger is here to stay
Published by Healthcare worldwide And WelthungerhilfeOn October 10, 2024, the GHI reveals that at least 64 countries are unlikely to reach low levels of hunger by 2160 if the current pace of change continues.
Hunger is at serious or alarming levels in 42 countries, with conflict exacerbating food crises in places like Gaza and Sudan, where famine is already raging in North Darfur, the report found.
Now in its 19th year, the GHI ranks countries based on recorded levels of malnutrition, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality. Of the 136 countries surveyed, 36 are experiencing serious levels of hunger, while six at the bottom of the index – Somalia, Yemen, Chad, Madagascar, Burundi and South Sudan – are experiencing alarming levels of hunger. In 2023 alone, 281.6 million people in 59 countries and territories faced crisis-level or acute food insecurity, including Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Burkina Faso.
The report warns that the chances of achieving the UN goal of zero hunger by 2030 are bleak.
Concern Worldwide CEO David Regan described the situation as disappointing as the 2030 target was now out of reach.
“Our response should be to redouble our efforts to regain momentum,” Regan said. “We need global action to tackle hunger.”
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the regions most affected by hunger. According to the GHI, approximately 22 countries in Africa are facing serious levels of hunger. Of the top ten countries listed for severe to alarming levels of hunger, five are in Africa.
Conflicts, climate change and high debt fuel hunger
Large-scale armed conflicts, climate change, high food prices, market disruptions, economic downturns and debt crises in many low- and middle-income countries have combined to complicate efforts to reduce hunger, the report found.
“Conflicts can only be resolved if the external stakeholders, who typically fuel the conflict, refrain from using conflict to acquire resources or increase the instability of the most vulnerable states,” Regan said. “Climate change will not stop until those responsible for the largest emissions reduce them. It is not possible to say that the human right to food is respected worldwide when powerful countries are clearly not playing their role in addressing its causes.”
Regan criticized wealthy countries for not playing their part in tackling global hunger, saying that while they have not turned their backs on the issue, political interest in solving hunger has waned in recent years.
The report further notes that more than 115 million people worldwide are internally displaced; some have been forced to migrate due to persecution, conflict violence and many more have been displaced by weather-related disasters.
The wars in Gaza and Sudan have led to exceptional food crises, the report said, highlighting growing inequality between and within countries. While extreme poverty has declined in middle-income countries, income inequality remains persistently high and poverty in the poorest countries is worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gender equality, key to food security
The report also draws attention to the link between gender inequality, food insecurity and climate change, noting that these factors have combined to put communities and countries under extreme pressure.
“Governments must invest in and promote gender equality and climate change and recognize and deliver on the right to food, so that all people are assured of the right to food,” Regan said.
Ahead of World Food Day, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reiterated the call for rapid action to end hunger and ensure everyone has access to safe, nutritious food.
The World Food Day is highlighted under the theme Right to food for a better life and a better futurewhich underlines the urgency to offer varied and healthy food to everyone.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu noted that 730 million people are facing hunger due to the global problems caused by man-made and natural disasters. Moreover, more than 2.8 billion people in the world cannot afford a healthy diet.
“There is no time to lose, we must take immediate action, we must act together,” Dongyu stressed, reiterating that the right to food is a basic human right.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service