Miller Magazine Issue: 140 August 2021

34 MILLER / august 2021 NEWS There was a dramatic worsening of world hunger in 2020, the United Nations said - much of it likely related to the fallout of COVID-19. While the pandemic's impact has yet to be fully mapped, a multi-agency report estimates that around a tenth of the global population - up to 811 million people - were undernourished last year. The number suggests it will take a tremendous effort for the world to honour its pledge to end hunger by 2030. This year's edition of The State of Food Security and Nu- trition in the World is the first global assessment of its kind in the pandemic era. The report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Previous editions had already put the world on notice that the food security of millions - many children among them - was at stake. "Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world," the heads of the five UN agencies write in this year's Foreword. They go on to warn of a "critical juncture," even as they pin fresh hopes on increased diplomatic momentum. "This year offers a unique opportunity for advancing food security and nutrition through transforming food systems with the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the COP26 on climate change." The numbers in detail Already in the mid-2010s, hunger had started creeping up- wards, dashing hopes of irreversible decline. Disturbingly, in 2020 hunger shot up in both absolute and proportional terms, outpacing population growth: some 9.9 percent of all people are estimated to have been undernourished last year, up from 8.4 percent in 2019. More than half of all undernourished people (418 million) live in Asia; more than a third (282 million) in Africa; and a smaller proportion (60 million) in Latin America and the Caribbean. But the sharpest rise in hunger was in Africa, where the estimated prevalence of undernourishment - at 21 percent of the popula- tion - is more than double that of any other region. On other measurements too, the year 2020 was sombre. Overall, more than 2.3 billion people (or 30 percent of the global population) lacked year-round access to adequate food: this indicator - known as the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity - leapt in one year as much in as the preceding five combined. Gender inequality deepened: for ev- ery 10 food-insecure men, there were 11 food-insecure women in 2020 (up from 10.6 in 2019). Malnutrition persisted in all its forms, with children paying a high price: in 2020, over 149 million under-fives are estimated to have been stunted, or too short for their age; more than 45 million - wasted, or too thin for their height; and nearly 39 million - over- weight. A full three-billion adults and children remained locked out of healthy diets, largely due to excessive costs. Nearly a third of women of reproductive age suffer from anaemia. Globally, despite progress in some areas - more infants, for example, are Pandemic year marked by spike in world hunger