258 million people suffer from severe food shortages

AFP The treatment of malnourished children in Somalia

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 13:36

In the world, 258 million people suffer from a serious shortage of food, according to a report by the UN and the EU, among others. It is a significant increase from last year, when 192 million people were affected.

People in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan suffer the most from acute hunger. 376,000 people also face the worst form of food shortage, namely famine. UN chief Guterres called it “inexcusable” and “a failure of humanity”.

War situations in particular are cited as the cause of the world’s food problems, but climate change, increasing inequality and the economic aftermath of the corona pandemic also have an effect.

War in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine also affects the number of hungry people in the world. Ukraine and Russia are important countries for food production and the war has caused food prices to rise sharply. The poorest countries in the world are also often heavily dependent on food imports from abroad.

Many children are among those affected, the report says. More than 35 million children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition or severe malnutrition.

A top man of the UN agricultural organization FAO calls for more investment in agricultural innovations aimed at preventing food crises.

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