Nearly one-third of the world lacks stable access to food, says a UN Food and Agriculture report.
The study warns that many countries are off track to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Food prices remain high, according to 2021 data, at over 21%. From 2015 to 2019, the average rate was only 15.2%.
According to Jose Rosero Moncayo, the FAO‘s statistics head, East Asia and North Africa are hit hardest by these soaring costs.
In 2022, between 691 and 783 million people could be hungry. Moncayo stresses this is a global issue affecting both wealthy and less wealthy countries.
Developed nations see a 7.6% rate of food insecurity. In places like sub-Saharan Africa, the number is above 67%.
The UN plans a summit in New York on September 18-19. The meeting aims to review the progress on Sustainable Development Goals.
The COVID-19 pandemic, climate shifts, and ongoing conflicts are slowing down health and poverty alleviation advances.
The FAO report says that gains made in the last two decades are stalling. Some are even reversing.
Moncayo argues we need to change our farming systems to be more robust. He points out that conflicts, extreme weather, and market changes won’t go away.
Small farmers produce about one-third of the world’s food. Yet they often earn less than bigger farms.
In a third of the countries studied, less than half of these small producers own their land.
Water Stress Levels
Efforts to lessen farming’s environmental toll are slow. They are also uneven across different regions.
This keeps the world far from protecting needed plant and animal diversity for feeding people.
On a brighter note, loss of forest areas is slowing down. Water stress levels have been stable since 2020.
The FAO ends by saying better data collection is crucial. It calls on nations to upgrade their data systems for tracking progress.
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