The United Nations said Monday that global hunger grew dramatically in 2020, due in large part to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cost of and access to food. <\/P>
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\u201cThe reality is worse than expected,\u201d World Food Program chief economist Arif Husain said. \u201cIn one year alone, the number of people in the grip of chronic hunger has risen more than in the previous five years combined.\u201d <\/P>
In its annual report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition, complied by five U.N. agencies, the findings were stark: Nearly one in three people across the planet \u2014 2.37 billion people \u2014 did not have access to sufficient food last year, an increase of almost 320 million people in a single year. Reversing such high levels of chronic hunger could take decades. <\/P>
The U.N. is also concerned this will take the world further off course for reaching the goal of eliminating hunger and malnutrition by 2030. The report warns that 660 million people may still face hunger by that target date, in part due to the lasting implications of the pandemic. The U.N. said that is 30 million more people than if the pandemic had not happened. <\/P>
\u201cIf this is not a wake-up call, I don\u2019t know what is,\u201d said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program. <\/P>
Asia and Africa have been hit hardest. <\/P>
\u201cMore than half of the world\u2019s undernourished live in Asia \u2014 418 million \u2014 and more than one-third in Africa \u2014 about 282 million,\u201d said Qu Dongyu, director- general of the Food and Agriculture Organization. <\/P>
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Children have been especially affected. Millions have been deprived of school lunches, due to closures during the pandemic. For many, this is their only reliable daily meal. <\/P>
Stunting and wasting in children were up last year, as was being overweight \u2014 an effect of poor nutrition. <\/P>
In addition to COVID-19, conflict, and the impact of climate change on agriculture also affected the global food supply. <\/P>
In all, the U.N. has said some 41 million people in 43 countries are on the brink of famine, and it will not take much to push them over the edge. <\/P>
\u201cTo think we are going to end hunger by 2030, that\u2019s not even possible given the direction, the trajectory that we are on now,\u201d Beasley said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t address these issues in a very serious way, you are going to have mass famine, destabilization of nations and mass migration.\u201d <\/P>
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Source: Voice of America<\/P>
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The United Nations said Monday that global hunger grew dramatically in 2020, due in large part to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cost of and access to food. \u201cThe reality is worse than expected,\u201d World Food Program chief economist Arif Hus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n