What's New

The challenges facing global food security continue to increase, driven by ongoing conflict and climate shocks. According to the 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report (released last week by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO), 821 million people were undernourished around the world in 2017; this represents a further rise from the 815 million estimated by the 2017 report. This troubling rise in undernourishment reverses progress seen over the past decade.

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.

The G7 Summit closed this afternoon in Krün, Germany, and the leaders announced their commitment to continue and build upon a wide range of interventions for food security and nutrition. As part of a broad effort involving partner countries and international actors, the G7 aims to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.

The food security and nutrition situation in middle income countries is one of seven food policy issues examined in this year’s Global Food Policy Report, an annual IFPRI flagship publication that examines major food, agriculture, and nutrition developments and trends with a view toward reducing poverty around the globe.

Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico may be rising economic powerhouses, but these five fast-growing, middle income countries are still home to nearly half of the world’s hungry, or 363 million people.

With less than two years to go to meet the Millennium Development Goals, how has the world done on its goal of halving hunger? According to the IFPRI 2013 Global Food Policy Report, released this week, much work remains. While the number of chronically hungry people has declined from 1 billion to around 842 million over the last 30 years, this number is still unacceptably high. One in eight people around the world suffers from hunger on a daily basis.