UN Report: Increase in Global Hunger

There has been an increase in global hunger since 2019, said a new report by the United Nations.

The report entitled: "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World", which was recently issued in New York by five UN agencies, said that 122 million more people in the world are facing hunger compared to 2019.

The latest report showed that hunger is on the rise in Western Asia, the Caribbean and, notably, Africa, which remains the worst affected continent.

On the other hand, the report found that hunger has reduced in Asia and Latin America.

It also noted that 30% of the world population, or 2.4 billion people, did not have everyday access to food, and among them, 900 million faced severe food insecurity.

The annual report found that climate variability affecting rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, and climate extremes such as droughts and floods, are among the key drivers behind the rise in hunger, together with conflict and economic slowdowns.

The UN agencies that worked on the report are FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation), IFAD (International Fund for Agriculture Development), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

The five agencies said that the rise in hunger will make it even harder to reach the Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger and achieving food security in the world by 2030.