Global Food Insecurity

The number of people experiencing acute food insecurity and in need of life-saving food and livelihood help continues to rise at an alarming rate. As a result, it is more important than ever to address the core causes of food crises rather than simply reacting when they occur.?The GNAFC is an international alliance comprising the United Nations, the European Union, and governmental and non-governmental organizations working together to combat food crises.

In 2021, about 193 million individuals in 53 countries or territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3-5), according to the document. In comparison to the already record numbers for 2020, this is an almost 40 million increase. Over half a million people (570 000) in Ethiopia, southern Madagascar, South Sudan, and Yemen were assessed as being in the most severe stage of acute food insecurity (IPC/CH Phase 5) and required immediate assistance to avoid widespread livelihood collapse, famine, and death.

Multiple drivers, ranging from conflict to environmental and climate catastrophes, from economic to health crises, with poverty and inequality as undelaying causes, are feeding into these troubling trends.

Food insecurity is still mostly caused by conflict. The paper argues that the war has already exposed the interdependent nature and fragility of global food systems, with major ramifications for global food and nutrition security. It emphasizes that countries already dealing with high levels of acute hunger are particularly exposed to the hazards posed by the Eastern European conflict, owing to their substantial reliance on food and agricultural input imports, as well as their sensitivity to global food price shocks.

In 2021, the following factors were major contributors to the rise in acute food insecurity:

Conflict (the main driver, pushing 139 million people into acute food insecurity in 24 countries/territories, up from around 99 million in 23 countries/territories in 2020); weather extremes (over 23 million people in 8 countries/territories, up from 15.7 million in 15 countries/territories in 2020); economic shocks (over 30 million people in 21 countries/territories, down from over 40 million in 17 countries/territories in 2020,

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine jeopardizes global food security," Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen stated. The worldwide community must take action to avert the world's largest food catastrophe and the ensuing social, economic, and political chaos. Conflict, climate change, poverty, and inequalities are all factors that contribute to food insecurity, and the EU is committed to addressing them all. While immediate aid is required to save lives and prevent famine, we must also continue to support partner nations in transitioning to sustainable agri-food systems and resilient supply chains by utilizing the Green Deal and the Global Gateway to their full potential."

"There should be no space for hunger in the twenty-first century," Janez Lenari, Commissioner for Crisis Management, remarked. Despite this, we witness far too many people being pushed away from a prosperous future. Today, a strong message reverberated: if we want to avoid a serious global food crisis, we must act quickly and collaboratively. I am confident that the world community is capable of accomplishing this goal. Our global solidarity is strengthened and expanded by leveraging collective action and pooling resources. The EU remains dedicated to working with the international community to address the global food and nutrition crisis, as evidenced by its aid financing and humanitarian-development-peace synergies."

The terrible relationship between conflict and food insecurity is once again clear and disturbing. While the international community has courageously responded to calls for immediate famine prevention and mitigation action, resource mobilization to effectively address the root causes of food crises, such as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, global hotspots, and the war in Ukraine, continues to lag behind the growing needs." The findings of this year's Global Report emphasize the importance of working together at the global level to solve severe food insecurity in humanitarian, development, and peace contexts."

Acute hunger has reached new heights, and the worldwide situation continues to deteriorate. Conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19, and rising food and fuel prices have combined to produce a perfect storm, and now the war in Ukraine is stacking disaster on top of disaster. Thousands of millions of people are on the verge of hunger in dozens of countries. "We urgently need emergency financing to pull them back from the edge of disaster and turn this global crisis around before it's too late," WFP Executive Director David Beasley said.

A shift in perspective

The situation necessitates at-scale action to move toward integrated approaches to prevention, anticipation, and better targeting to sustainably address the root causes of food crises, including structural rural poverty, marginalization, population growth, and fragile food systems.

TSmallholder agriculture has to be prioritized as a frontline humanitarian response, as a way to overcome access barriers and correct unfavorable long-term trends. Furthermore, supporting structural changes to the way foreign finance is distributed, so that humanitarian aid can be reduced over time while longer-term development investments are made, can help to address the core causes of hunger. Simultaneously, we must work together to encourage more effective and long-term humanitarian aid.

Strengthening a coordinated approach to guarantee that humanitarian, development, and peacekeeping actions are delivered in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, as well as assuring and preventing inadvertent conflict fueling, would also help create resilience and recovery.