| Goal 2: End hunger
After decades of steady decline, the number of hungry people (as measured by the prevalence of malnutrition) began to slowly increase again in 2015. Current estimates indicate that around 690 million people worldwide are hungry, or 8.9 % of the world population population, representing an increase of about 10 million people in one year and about 60 million in five years.
The world is not on track to reach the goal of zero hunger by 2030. If recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger will exceed 840 million people by 2030.
According to the World Food Program, about 135 million people suffer from severe hunger , mainly due to man-made conflicts, climate change and economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic could now double that number and add another 130 million people who would be at risk of severe famine by the end of 2020.
With over 250 million people potentially on the brink of hunger , rapid action is needed to provide food and humanitarian aid to regions most at risk.
At the same time, a profound change in the global agrifood system is needed if we are to feed the 820 million people who are hungry and the 2 billion more people who will live in the world by 2050. Increased productivity Sustainable agriculture and food production are crucial to help alleviate the risks of hunger.
Response to COVID-19
The World Food Program's food aid program provides a vital livelihood for 87 million vulnerable people all around the world. His analysis of the economic and food security implications of the pandemic highlights the possible effect of COVID-19 on the world's poorest people.
Given the effects of the pandemic on the agri-food sector, urgent measures are needed to ensure that food supply chains remain operational in order to mitigate the risk of major disruptions that could significantly affect the entire world, especially the poor and most vulnerable people.
To address these risks, the Food and Agriculture Organization urges countries to do the following:
Meet the immediate food needs of your vulnerable populations.
Encourage social protection programs.
Maintain world food trade.
Keep the wheels of national supply chains running.
Support the capacity of small producers to increase food production.
The United Nations Global Humanitarian Response Plan outlines the steps to be taken to combat the virus in the world's poorest countries and address the needs of the most vulnerable populations, including those facing food insecurity.
| Notable Data
Hungry
One in nine people in the world is undernourished today; that is, about 815 million people in the world.
Most hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9% of the population is undernourished.
Asia is the continent with the largest population of hungry people - two thirds of the total. The percentage in South Asia has decreased in recent years, but in West Asia hunger has increased slightly.
South Asia faces the greatest burden of the starving population, with 281 million people undernourished. In Sub-Saharan Africa, projections for the period 2014-2016 indicate that the proportion of undernourished people is almost 23%.
Malnutrition causes about half (45 percent) of deaths in children under the age of 5 - 3,100 children per year.
One in four children in the world suffers from dwarfism. In developing countries, the proportion may rise to one in three.
66 million school-age children attend classes hungry in developing countries, 23 million in Africa alone.
food safety
The agricultural sector is the world's largest employer and provides livelihoods for 40% of the world's population today. It is the biggest source of income and jobs for poor rural families.
500 million small farms around the world, most of them still without rain, provide up to 80% of the food consumed in much of the developing world. Investing in male and female smallholder farmers is an important way to increase food and nutrition security for the poorest, as well as food production for local and global markets.
Since the early 1900s, about 75 percent of crop diversity has disappeared from farmers' fields. Making better use of agricultural biodiversity can contribute to more nutritious diets, improve livelihoods in farming communities, and help make farming systems more resilient and sustainable.
If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world would be reduced by up to 150 million.
4 billion people do not have access to electricity worldwide, most of whom live in rural areas of developing countries. Energy poverty in many regions is a critical barrier to reducing hunger and ensuring the world can produce enough food to meet future demand.
| Goal 2
2.1 By 2030, end hunger and ensure access for all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including babies, to healthy, nutritious and sufficient food throughout the year.
2.2 By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including reaching, by 2025, internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting children under the age of 5, and meeting the nutritional needs of adolescent women, pregnant and nursing women, and the elderly
2.3 By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and income of small food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, herders and fishermen, including through safe and equitable access to land, other production resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services , markets and value - added opportunities and non - agricultural jobs
2.4 By 2030, ensure the sustainability of food production systems and apply resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, contribute to the maintenance of ecosystems, strengthen the capacity to adapt to climate change, extreme weather events, droughts, floods and others disasters, and progressively improve the quality of soil and land
2.5 By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and domestic and farm animals and their associated wild species, including through good management and diversification of seed and plant banks at national, regional and national levels. And promote access to benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge and their fair and equitable distribution, as internationally agreed
2nd Increase investment, including through greater international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technological development and plant and animal gene banks, in order to improve agricultural production capacity in developing countries, particularly in the least developed countries
2.b Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effects, in line with the mandate of the Doha Development Round
2.c Take steps to ensure the proper functioning of markets for food commodities and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, especially on food stocks, to help limit extreme volatility in food prices.
| Links
