World Hunger

11 January 2024 - The food situation in the Sahel is deteriorating

Despite a growing agricultural production, the number of people in a situation of food insecurity requiring serious assistance jumped from 4 million to nearly 32 million in 5 years. [read]

2023

8 November 2023 - Obesity is on the rise everywhere in the world

Obesity has become a major global challenge with considerable negative impact on health and life expectancy. [read]

4 November 2023 - Two years after the Food Systems Summit: plenty of rhetoric and meetings, very few tangible results

While all stakeholders are kept busy with complex and time-consuming processes, a transition already moves forward quietly that leads us into a world where inequalities will be growing inexorably. [read]

August 2023 - Facts and figures on world food insecurity and malnutrition - Food insecurity stable globally, but still on the rise in Africa, SDGs out of reach

Unless efforts are redoubled and better targeted, the objective set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of “ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030 will remain out of reach” [read].

18 July 2023 - Inequality in food systems - Is it realistic to believe that food systems could become more equal in an unequal society?

Market and economic laws or rights? Is food just another commodity? Can the solution to food inequality be found in actions within food systems only? [read]

5 May 2023 - The grip of private interests on global food governance and its mechanisms

What are these mechanisms and what can be done to make this governance more democratic? [read]

March 2023 - Hunger, food assistance and poverty in rich countries (with illustrations from France and the US)

Hunger and food assistance are on the increase. People using food assistance are more diversified. Being poor is costly. Social security for food, a systemic solution? [read]

2022

4 December 2022 - Governance, consumer awareness, better income and wealth distribution, and technological, social and institutional innovations will be key in achieving a desirable future, says FAO

Based on contributions from hundreds of specialists, the latest FAO report on the Future of Food and Agriculture presents a comprehensive analysis of agrifood systems and explores the future with four alternative scenarios. [read]

November 2022 - Bioeconomy - Its development likely to cause higher food prices

Rapid growth of bioeconomy will create a more intense competition among various possible uses of biomass (food, feed, energy, textiles, wood and paper, chemicals, medicine, etc.). [read]

13 August 2022 - In the media: food crisis and invasion of Ukraine: what happened to Africa?

The ghastly war in Ukraine has been presented in the media as the main cause of the global food crisis, Africa being prophesised as its prime victim. However, to this date, no boat left Ukraine to bring cereals to Subsaharan Africa. [read]

July 2022 - Facts and figures on world food insecurity and malnutrition - Food insecurity is on the rise, a consequence of the current food crisis

Food insecurity and hunger continue to rise worldwide, as a result of the combined effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and of the mismanagement of the global food system, soon amplified by the disturbances created by the Ukraine war. [read]

June 2022 - Ukraine war and food crisis: facts and debates

Nature and causes of the crisis, food as weapon, impacts and possible solutions. [read]

June 2022 - Opinions: Sanctions Now Weapons of Mass Starvation by Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

Sanctions against Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine have not achieved their declared objectives. Instead, they are worsening economic stagnation and inflation worldwide, and exacerbating hunger, especially in Africa. [read]

13 March 2022 - Governance: united to decide or divided to be ruled?

The disaster that could have resulted from the Food Systems Summit was avoided because of a strong mobilisation. But the struggle is still ongoing... [read]

2021

November 2021 - Opinions: The importance of cooperation and solidarity in fighting hunger and poverty by Daniel Gustafson

To make an impact on poverty and hunger, root causes of marginalization of the poor and hungry must be tackled. This requires more solidarity and cooperation, and overcoming divisions and conflicts. [read]

16 October 2021 - Public support to agriculture has been promoting unhealthy and polluting products and generating more inequality in the world

A transition to more sustainable food systems (economically, socially and environmentally) will require a total reengineering of current support policies [read]

July 2021 - Opinions : Who will decide what we will be eating in the future? by George-André Simon

UN Pre-Summit on Food Systems (Rome, 26-28 July 2021) - Will the private sector continue to be a substitute for governments (and us) for deciding what is in our plate? [read]

July 2021 - Opinion: Personal reflections on food summitry by Andrew MacMillan.

The UN Food Systems Summit: a serious attempt to improve global food management or a squabble for power over how we grow food and eat it? [read]

31 May 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic hits harder urban areas and women

Little by little, the magnitude of the impact of the pandemic on poverty and hunger in the world is getting clearer. [read]

May 2021 - Opinion: Struggle for the Future of Food by Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Producers and consumers seem helpless as food comes under fast growing corporate control. If trends continue, food will be increasingly controlled by ‘hi-tech’, data processing, asset management and agribusiness corporations, at the expense of billions of farmers and consumers. [read]

April 2021- Opinion: Another False Start in Africa Sold with Green Revolution Myths by Timothy A. Wise and Jomo Kwame Sundaram

AGRA has clearly failed to improve agricultural productivity and farmers’ incomes in Africa. This failure remind us of the high opportunity costs of paths not taken. [read]

2020

10 December 2020 - Sustainable food systems: 2021 may be a turning point for food, … or it may not

Will 2021 be the year when the private sector will take the lead in thinking the future of our food? This would certainly have very serious implications in many respects [read]

August 2020 - Facts and figures on world food insecurity - An alarming deterioration

Despite reiterated commitments and a long series of declarations made by governments over decades, the world is off track: the end of hunger, of food insecurity and of all forms of malnutrition seems out of reach...

[read]

22 June 2020 - COVID-19 and food crisis: the main operating mechanisms

Reduced production and household income and higher food prices are the main causes of the food crisis created by COVID-19. [read]

10 May 2020 - The COVID-19 dilemma: Health or the economy?

The world faces the “health - economy” dilemma. In poor countries, it means choosing between saving people from the pandemic or saving them from hunger. Some elements of the debate [read].

22 April 2020 - COVID-19 and food: the economic and food crisis hits the more vulnerable - some insights

The COVID-19 crisis is beginning to seriously shake the food system throughout the world, pushing a growing number of people into food insecurity and tragedy. [read]

5 April 2020 - The selfish, the blind and the invisible: what COVID-19 tells us about our societies

A careful analysis of available information sheds light on us and our perception of the world around us. It offers some hints on how to enter effectively into the 21st century. [read]

27 March 2020 - COVID-19 and food - The pandemic is likely to cause a major food crisis

What consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and agriculture in urban and rural areas of the world? We must prepare for the crisis and try to minimise its impact. [read]

Food security and sustainability: should we add a sustainability dimension to food security?

We have to recognize that successive objectives of reduction of food insecurity fixed since 1996 have not been achieved. In 2021, on the occasion of the planned World Food Systems Summit, it may be that the concept of food security should be revisited to include the dimension of sustainability. [read]

2019

20 October 2019 - Urbanisation of hunger: the rural drift drives hunger to the cities

Once in the cities, most rural migrants are very vulnerable. More than 60% of the money they earn will go straight into the purchase of food. [read]

17 October 2019 - The triple burden of malnutrition is getting heavier in the world, says UNICEF.

The triple burden of malnutrition - undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight – threatens the survival, growth and development of children. [read]

13 August 2019 - Ensuring world food security in a changing climate will require us to modify our diet, develop appropriate technologies and implement conducive policies [read]

Facts and figures on world malnutrition

While hunger increases, overweight and obesity also increase even at a faster rate! Unless policies followed by countries change, the world food situation will continue to deteriorate, with its huge cost in terms of human lives and suffering. [read]

10 March 2019 - Can the food issue be reduced to a question of production?

A sustainable solution to the food issue will only be found if there are in-depth changes both in the way our food is being produced and consumed. This will require to challenge the paradigm that underpins the world economy and causes intolerable inequalities. [read]

20 January 2019 - In the EU, gaps in the debate on migration explain policy deficiencies

What are the root causes of migration? How biased is the debate on immigration in Europe? Are European aid policies a solution or are they part of the problem? [read]

2018

Borders in the global economy

Control and segmentation of labour, competition among countries, super profits and exacerbation of inequalities are threats to world stability.

[read]

22 November 2018 - Is « Big Data » remodeling our food system?

Merging of agrifood giants, vertical integration within value chains, drones, DNA editing, blockchains, are examples of changes that have the potential to disrupt our food system. [read]

16 October 2018 - What future for our food? Three scenarios picture quite different futures

An analysis by FAO fixes conditions required for the future of our food be a future of hope. The way to get there will be difficult and full of pitfalls. [lire]

19 September 2018 - Facts and figures on world malnutrition

World malnutrion continues to rise: the number of undernourished people is still on the increase and overeating, with its corollaries, overweight and obesity, progress everywhere in the world. [read]

18 mai 2018 - Official Development Assistance, a drop in an ocean of needs

Rich countries give around 0.31% of their gross national income and aid going to Africa weighs less than 0.4% of its GDP. But aid is not only an issue of quantity... Is development assistance really of use to solve poor countries’ problems? [read]

30 April 2018 - Land degradation: a serious consequence of human activities with dramatic implications on food, health and well-being of the world population

A frantic consumption and an economic system that makes that decisions taken at one corner of the world affects land resources at the other end of the planet, are some of the root causes of land degradation. But solutions exist... [read]

24 January 2018 - Are industrial megafarms the solution for feeding the world?

The answer is clearly “no” : they do not offer a sustainable solution to the food issue, be it from a technical, environmental, social or even economic perspective [read].

2017

18 September 2017 - Facts and figures on world hunger

For the first time since 2003, the number of undernourished persons in the world increased, according to the UN [read]

2 May 2017 - What can FAO offer to the world in the domain of food and agricultural policies?

A new web portal informs on activities carried out by FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) in the field of food and agricultural policies, and presents resources useful to professionals, academics and a wider public. [read]

12 March 2017 - Why famines in a world of plenty?

The dramatic famines in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are not caused by fate but the result of man-made decisions. A converging set of causes suggest that famines risk to become more frequent in the futur, despite the sufficient availability of food worldwide. [read]

10 March 2017 - What are the challenges to be met in order to secure a sustainable future for our food system?

Technology, dynamics of food and agricultural value chains and governance deficit are the main factors explaining the crisis of our food system. They determine the challenges to meet in order to secure a sustainable future. [read]

17 February 2017 - After pockets, corridors and now, what next?

In Africa, development corridors were to help solve the food issue. Where do we really stand? [read]

6 February 2017 - The World Economic Forum’s “New Vision for Agriculture” is moving ahead on the ground…

Make large multinationals the masters of the food and agriculture sector, by funding them in part by rich countries’ taxpayers and to the detriment of hundreds of millions of small family farmers... [read]

2016

1 October 2016 - The impact of the 2007-2008 food security crisis: the uncounted social and economic cost of resilience

Behind the misleading picture given by statistics, the food crisis has produced structural changes that created more economic vulnerability health hazards and potential social and political time bombs. [read]

17 September 2016 - Can urban agriculture be part of the food solution?

In the debate around the food issue, there has been an increasing number of voices who have put forward urban agriculture as an important part of the solution. What are the arguments that support this view? [read]

12 August 2016 - The 2016 Global Nutrition Report: a taste of unfinished work…

Malnutrition: critical challenge, repeated commitments, mixed results... The Report published by IFPRI explains...but we expect more. [read]

30 May 2016 - How do rich countries see the future of food and agriculture?

The OECD gives its vision of the future of food and agriculture while leaving the lion’s share to multinational corporations and the financial system, while not bothering about world hunger! [read]

25 January 2016 - How “philanthropic” is global philanthropy?

A report analyses the ‘philanthropic’ landscape and the growing role of large private foundations such as the Gates Foundation in development, and the important issues they raise. [read]

2015

26 September 2015 - Modalities for implementing the right to food: the debate

The lessons of more than a decade of debates that led to the approval of the new Indian Food Security Act. [read]

17 August 2015 - Social programmes: consensus on their usefulness, disagreement on their funding

[read]

9 August 2015 - Countries are getting ready to approve new Sustainable Development Goals for the 15 years to come: What is new compared to the MDGs in 2000?

[read]

27 July 2015 - Strengths and weaknesses of the agreement reached at the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing for Development

Although it makes steps into the right direction, the Addis agreement remains incomplete and lacks a proper commitment towards concrete action required to eradicate hunger and poverty. [read]

22 July 2015 - OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook : short-sighted optimism…?

In the year of the Paris Climate Change Conference 2015 and as stock is being taken of progress made in achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDG), the two international organisations consider the agricultural outlook from a simple productionist point of view. [read]

26 June 2015 - Trade and the quest for more evidence, solutions to the issue of food and climate change, says an expert consultation

Experts shy away from questionning conventional agrochemical agriculture and have already forgotten the lessons from the 2008 crisis. [read]

13 June 2015 - The latest report on the State of World Food Insecurity admits that the Millenium Development Goal 1 to reduce hunger by half will not be achieved
[read]

17 May 2015 - Impressions on the world exhibition in Milano 2015 (Expo2015)

Impressions from two and a half days at the World exhibition in Milano, whose theme is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. [read]

2014

8 December 2014 - More resources are needed to combat hunger in rich countries

United Kingdom, France and the United-States. [read]

3 December 2014 - One year before the deadline, about half of the so-called ‘developing countries’ have achieved their Millennium Development Goal on hunger

63 countries have now reduced by half the proportion of their population who is undernourished and 25 countries have reduced by half the number of undernourished. [read]

24 November 2014 - Large private Foundations: the lost opportunity of the Gates Foundation

The Gates Foundation has been criticized for the main beneficiaries of its hand-outs. But is this its main weakness? [read]

16 November 2014 - Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2): Will the real issues be discussed and what can we expect?

More than twenty years after the Conference on Nutrition of 1992, countries meet to agree on the measures to take to improve word nutrition. But some key questions will not be considered. [read]

17 October 2014 - We must turn the page of the Green Revolution and find new solutions to the problems of food and agriculture today.

This is what FAO’s latest report on the The State of Food and Agriculture, published on the occasion of the World Food Day, says in essence. [read]

16 October 2014 - 34e World Food Day: Feeding the world, caring for the earth through family farming

The theme of the 34th World Food Day is: ‘‘Family Farming: feeding the world, caring for the earth’’. But today, family farming is under threat. [read]

17 September 2014 - According to FAO, WFP and IFAD, the MDG on hunger can still be achieved : truth or wishful thinking?

The number of chronically undernourished are said to be decreasing worldwide, but very slowly, and in some regions, they are still on the increase. Are the Rome-based agencies addressing the right issues in their fight against hunger and food insecurity? [read]

24 May 2014 - USAID’s Frontiers in Development essay competition

Hungerexplained.org submits its essay to USAID’s Frontiers in Development essay competition. Its topic is: Research on sustainable and accessible agricultural technologies for combatting poverty and hunger. [read]

18 March 2014 - Hunger is a political issue: its eradication will require more democracy

Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur of the UN on the right to food, submitted his terminal report to the UN Human Rights Council at the end of his six-year tenure. His diagnosis on the world food situation is uncompromising, and he formulates very relevant recommendations. [read]

26 February 2014 - Trends in food and agricultural policies: short term decisions likely to jeopardise transition to sustainable agriculture and hunger eradication

In a recent publication FAO presents the results of the work conducted through its Food and Agriculture Policy Decision Analysis (FAPDA) project since 2007. Trends in policy decisions taken in more than 70 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are analysed over the 2007-2012 period. [read]

2 February 2014 - The world of tomorrow: the worrying vision of the High-Level Panel of eminent persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

A righteous ‘‘apolitical’’ world, made of individual producers and consumers left to the market, where development is dominated by major pension funds, mutual funds, sovereign wealth funds and large private corporations. Is it too late to prevent this from happening? [read]

6 January 2014 - Letting people die from hunger should be recognised as a crime against humanity

Hunger is the result of deliberate decisions taken by governments. Abandoning a population to hunger, neglecting to take the measures required to ensure adequate food to all, must be recognised as a crime against humanity, so that political leaders can be put in front of their responsibilities and forced to act to eliminate hunger. [read]

2013

29 December 2013 - The 2014 International Year of Family Farming is a unique opportunity to make headway on ending world hunger and developing a sustainable food and agricultural system

The 2014 International Year of Family Farming is an opportunity for pushing forward some of the basic principles that need to be followed for ending hunger and to recognise that lack of definite action to end hunger is a crime against humanity. [read]

16 November 2013 - Agriculture and environment: UNCTAD’s wake up call

UNCTAD’s latest Trade and Environment Review 2013 urges world leaders to wake up and take required decisions to shift world agriculture from a traditional ‘‘green revolution’’ approach to one of family farm-based ‘‘ecological intensification’’. [read]

11 November 2013 - India approves the largest ever food security programme

The Upper House of the Indian Parliament has recently approved a programme of around $20 billion that will help 800 million beneficiaries. [read]

3 November 2013 - The Global Hunger Index published by IFPRI shows an improvement in the world food and nutrition situation

Published for the eighth consecutive year, the IFPRI index shows an improvement in the food and nutrition in all regions of the world and in the great majority of countries for which data are available. [read]

26 October 2013 - The Right to Food: progress and limits

In his last report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food describes the emergence of a global Right to Food movement. A rapid look at the world food situation suggests however that the recognition of the Right to Food is not sufficient to reduce hunger in the concerned countries. [read]

16 October 2013 - 33rd World Food Day: Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition

The 2013 WFD is an invitation for each and everyone to reflect on questions such as ‘‘What would a sustainable food system look like? Is it possible to get from here to there? What would need to change to move us in that direction?’’ [read]

2 October 2013 - According to FAO, the number of undernourished people has decreased by 24 million in one year

[read]

19 September 2013 - The economic and environmental cost of wasting food

[read]

1st September 2013 - Moral and political responsibility : double standard for victims in Syria and victims of hunger

[read]

14 June 2013 - Hunger, markets and good feelings: how hunger feeds profits of multinationals

[read]

6 April 2013 - 1,000 days before the hunger MDG deadline: Humankind on a drunken boat

[read]

19 February 2013 - What is the real number of hungry people in the world?

[read]