A new report from the Global Network Against Food Crises, founded by the UN World Food Programme, FAO and the European Commission shows levels of hunger worldwide are at a record high. The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises, launched today, indicates close to 193 million people are acutely food insecure and in need of urgent assistance across 53 countries and territories. This represents an increase of nearly 40 million people compared to the previous high reached in 2020 . The outlook for global acute food insecurity in 2022 is expected to deteriorate further.
Jean-Michel Grand, CEO of Action Against Hunger UK said:
“This report is alarming but not unexpected. We are seeing record levels of people facing life-threatening hunger globally – now approaching 200 million people worldwide. Particularly heartbreaking is the 26 million children suffering from wasting, where their extremely low weight leaves their immune system weak and then vulnerable to developmental delays, disease and death.
The trend is only set to worsen this year with the unfolding climate crisis and the impacts of the war in Ukraine on global food, energy and fertilizer prices.
Action Against Hunger has worked for over 40 years tackling the devastating impact of hunger. Our life-saving therapeutic feeding services, clean water and sanitation projects have saved millions of lives. But we cannot fight this alone. Tomorrow it will be one year since the G7 pledge to prevent famine with the signing of a Famine Prevention Compact. We saw in 2017 how swift collective action stopped a burgeoning famine in East Africa in its tracks. Urgent action is needed by governments now to build resilience and prevent millions losing their lives from starvation.”