Data

The 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released today, reports that between 2000 and 2016, hunger levels around the world declined by 27 percent. While impressive, however, this progress should not mask the remaining food security challenges faced at the global, national, and sub-national levels. In 2017, South Sudan declared a state of famine – the first instance of famine in the world in six years. Three other countries – Somalia, Yemen, and Nigeria – also faced imminent famine in 2017, putting a total of 20 million people worldwide at risk of starving to death.

After years of steady decline, the number of chronically hungry people around the world appears to be on the rise again. In addition, the challenge of malnutrition is getting increasingly complex, with many countries facing simultaneous burdens of undernutrition and obesity.

These are two major messages coming out of the latest The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, published by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WHO, and WFP.

The latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report from FAO was recently released. Published quarterly, these reports focus on developments affecting the food situation of developing countries and Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDCs). The report also includes an overview of global cereal production prospects and highlight countries that require external food assistance.

The latest editions of the FAO Food Price Index and AMIS Market Monitor are both now available for September. The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of five food commodity groups; the monthly AMIS Market Monitor covers the international markets for wheat, rice, maize, and soy and provides an overview of the market situation and outlook for each of these crops.

With about one-third of all food produced around the world lost or wasted each year, reducing food loss and waste is a key component in ending hunger and malnutrition. A major hurdle, however, stems from the fact that food loss and waste are complex issues, and thus properly measuring them and identifying where in the food system they occur remain a challenge. Food loss and waste have been defined in various ways in the literature, and there has thus far been no single measurement methodology agreed upon.