The number of undernourished people in the world has increased by more than 60 million people since 2014, a report by crucial United Nations agencies has said.
According to the report, “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World,” published on Monday, tens of millions have joined the ranks of the chronically undernourished over the past six years and countries around the world continue to struggle with multiple forms of malnutrition.
The report was jointly produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to track the progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition.
It estimated that almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019, up by 10 million from 2018, and by nearly 60 million in five years. At a minimum, another 83 million people and possibly as many as 132 million may go hungry in 2020 as a result of the economic recession triggered by COVID-19.
The global prevalence of undernourishment or overall per cent of hungry people has changed little at 8.9 per cent, but the absolute numbers have been rising since 2014. “This means that over the last five years, hunger has grown in step with the global population.
