Hunger levels in many of the world's poorest countries will remain high for another 136 years if the lack of progress in feeding the world continues, according to a new report released Thursday. While global progress in reducing hunger has stagnated, the 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI) reveals that hunger is at severe or alarming levels in 42 countries.
The sobering report - published by Irish humanitarian organization Concern Worldwide and German aid agency Welthungerhilfe - says the chances of achieving zero hunger by 2030, a goal set by United Nations member states in 2012, are "grim" and unlikely. It notes that at least 64 countries will not reach even low levels of hunger until 2160 if progress in tackling hunger continues at the same pace seen since 2016.
Conflict has led to extraordinary food crises and raised the specter of famine in countries and territories such as Gaza and Sudan, the GHI warns. Almost the entire population of Gaza faces crisis levels of acute food insecurity, and famine may already be occurring there.
In Sudan, where famine already rages in the North Darfur region, people are facing a hunger crisis on a scale not seen since the Darfur crisis in the early part of the 2000s, as a result of the escalating war, the deliberate destruction of Sudan's food system, and the denial of humanitarian access.
Of the 136 countries surveyed, 42 countries face severe or alarming levels of hunger. Six countries at the bottom of the Index - Somalia, Yemen, Chad, Madagascar, Burundi and South Sudan - have alarming levels of hunger, indicating widespread human misery, undernourishment and malnutrition, while 36 other countries have levels considered severe.
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the regions with the worst levels of hunger. Countries facing severe hunger include many of those affected by major humanitarian crises, such as Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti and Syria.
While the report shows that remarkable progress was made in the fight against hunger between 2000 and 2016, and says this shows how much can be achieved in just a decade and a half, it notes that this progress has slowed in the last eight years.
“The findings in the latest GHI report are extremely worrying and upsetting,” said Concern Worldwide’s Chief Executive David Regan.
“More must be done to guarantee that everyone has the right to food so that we can prevent famine and treat malnutrition early. We should not have situations where children are so hungry and malnourished that they can’t even speak or cry.”
Worldwide, an estimated 733 million people go hungry every day because they lack access to enough food. Approximately 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. In 2023, some 282 million people in 59 countries and territories faced crisis levels of acute food insecurity and required food assistance.
“That hunger persists on such a huge scale with all the resources in the modern world is deeply troubling. It is also alarming that progress made in addressing hunger has stalled largely due to widespread conflicts, and the increasing impacts of climate change,” Regan said.
“Acute food insecurity and the risk of famine are rising, and starvation is proliferating as a weapon of war.”
Despite all the challenges, there are examples of progress and hope in the midst of crises and worrying trends. For example, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Nepal have substantially reduced their GHI scores in recent years, bucking the global trend.
This year's GHI report highlights the links between gender inequality, food insecurity and climate change, and shows how these challenges combine to put households, communities and countries under extreme stress.
“Gender inequality, climate vulnerability, and hunger often go hand in hand. Addressing gender inequality has the potential to lift millions out of hunger, improve child nutrition, and boost overall well-being,” said Mathias Mogge, Chief Executive Officer of Welthungerhilfe.
Concern’s David Regan added that governments “must invest in and promote gender equality and climate change and recognize and deliver on the right to food so that all people are assured the right to food.”
The 2024 Global Hunger Index is the 19th in a series of annual reports that use a multidimensional approach to present the hunger situation globally, by region and at the country level. The goal of the report is to stimulate action to reduce hunger around the world. The GHI uses data from 136 countries. Countries are ranked on a 100-point hunger severity scale, with zero being the best possible score and 100 being the worst.
Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organization that focuses on the world's most vulnerable people. In addition to providing emergency relief in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, the non-governmental organization is involved in long-term development cooperation. Concern Worldwide - formerly known as Africa Concern - was founded in Dublin in 1968 by a small group of people in response to famine and conflict in Biafra. The organization's international headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland. Concern Worldwide is currently active in 25 countries.
Welthungerhilfe is a German non-governmental organization active in the fields of humanitarian aid and development cooperation that fights against global hunger and for sustainable food security. The organization's goal is to eradicate hunger from the world, fighting for "Zero Hunger by 2030". In addition to direct disaster relief, Welthungerhilfe works with local organizations to help people in developing countries escape hunger and poverty and achieve sustainable food security. Welthungerhilfe is currently active in 36 countries and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
Further information
Full text: Global Hunger Index 2024, Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, report, published on October 10, 2024
https://www.globalhungerindex.org/pdf/en/2024.pdf
Website: Global Hunger Index (GHI)
https://www.globalhungerindex.org/