UN report finds increase in global hunger

A new report by the United Nations has found that there has been an increase in global hunger since 2019.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, released in New York on Wednesday and published by five UN agencies, says that 122 million more people in the world are facing hunger compared to 2019. 

While the report found that hunger has reduced in Asia and Latin America, it says that hunger is on the rise in Western Asia, the Caribbean and, notably, Africa, which remains the worst affected continent. 

One in five people face hunger in Africa, more than twice the global average, the report says. 

Almost 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 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. 

The Goals were adopted by all UN member states in 2015.