The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and partners have launched the 2024 edition of the annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report (SOFI 2024). Warning that global hunger levels have plateaued for three years in a row, the report calls for increased and more cost-effective financing, with a standardized definition of financing for food security and nutrition.
Themed, ‘Financing to End Hunger, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in All Its Forms,’ SOFI 2024 underscores that to ensure affordable and accessible healthy diets for all requires a holistic approach, including transforming and strengthening agrifood systems, addressing inequalities, and streamlining food security and nutrition objectives into broader financing flows.
The report finds that some 733 million people, or one in eleven globally, experienced hunger in 2023, with significant regional variations: in Africa, 20.4% of the population faced hunger, while in Asia 8.1% went hungry. Levels of undernourishment were comparable to those in 2008-2009, revealing an alarming stagnation in progress.
Beyond hunger, globally, around 2.33 billion people faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2023, according to the report. In Africa, 58% of the population was moderately or severely food insecure.
The report further finds that more than 2.8 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022, with significant disparities. In low-income countries (LICs), 71.5% of the population could not afford a healthy diet, whereas in high-income countries (HICs) this number stands at 6.3%.
At the same time, progress has been achieved in:
- Increasing the global exclusive breastfeeding rate among infants under six months, from 37.1% in 2012 to 48% in 2022;
- The global stunting prevalence among children under five, which declined from 26.3% in 2012 to 22.3% in 2022; and
- The global wasting prevalence, which dropped from 7.5% in 2012 to 6.8% in 2022.
Among the factors responsible for worsening food insecurity and malnutrition, the report highlights persisting food price inflation, conflict, climate change, and economic downturns, as well as unaffordable healthy diets, unhealthy food environments, and persistent inequality.
SOFI 2024 underscores that innovative, equitable solutions are needed to address the financing gap, particularly for countries with high levels of hunger and malnutrition. It calls for coordinated efforts to address the root causes of food crises, harmonize data, increase risk tolerance, and enhance transparency.
In a video message for the report’s launch, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called attention to the projection that 582 million people will be chronically undernourished by 2030, with more than half in Africa. He emphasized the need to: invest in resilient, innovative, and sustainable food systems; ensure access to short- and long-term concessional finance, investments, budget support, and debt relief; and reform the global financial architecture.
The report was launched on 24 July 2024, during the G20 Task Force for a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty ministerial meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
SOFI is FAO’s flagship report, co-published with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO). It informs on progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDG 2 (zero hunger). [Publication: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024: Financing to End Hunger, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in All Its Forms] [Publication Landing Page] [Joint Press Release] [UN News Story] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on SOFI 2023]