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October 21, 2021 - A growing number of countries are facing increasing levels of acute food insecurity, reversing years of development gains. Even before COVID19 reduced incomes and disrupted supply chains, chronic and acute hunger was on the rise due to a variety of factors, including conflict, socio-economic conditions, natural hazards, climate change and pests. The impacts of COVID19 have resulted in a severe and widespread increase in global food insecurity, affecting vulnerable families in almost every country, with impacts expected to continue through 2021, through 2022 and possibly beyond. of the. brief overview of growing food insecurity during the COVID19 pandemic and the World Bank's responses to date.
Snapshot
The agricultural commodity price index stabilized in the third quarter of 2021 but remains 25% higher than a year ago. In September, corn and wheat prices were 34 percent and 6 percent above January 2020 levels, while rice is 11 percent from pre-pandemic low levels.Prices reflect strong demand, coupled with weather uncertainties, macroeconomic conditions and supply disruptions linked to COVID19, although the outlook for global production of major grains remains good.
The main risks to food security are at the national level: higher retail prices, combined with lower incomes, are forcing more and more households to reduce the quantity and quality of their food consumption.
Many countries are experiencing high food price inflation at the retail level, reflecting continued supply disruptions due to COVID19 social distancing measures, currency devaluations and other factors. Rising food prices have a greater impact on people in low- and middle-income countries, as they spend more of their income on food than people in high-income countries.
rapid telephone surveys conducted by the World Bank in 48 countries show that a significant number of people go without food or reduce their consumption. Reduced calorie intake and impaired nutrition threaten poverty reduction and health gains and could have a lasting impact on cognitive development in young children. Between 720 and 811 million people worldwide suffered from hunger in 2020, according to the United Nations State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. At the center of the projected range (768 million), about 118 million more people faced chronic hunger in 2020 than in 2019.Using a different indicator that tracks access to adequate food throughout the year, nearly 2.37 billion people (or 30% of the world's population) lacked access to adequate nutrition in 2020 , with an increase of 320 million in just one year.
COVID19 is estimated to have significantly increased the number of people facing acute food insecurity in 2020-2021. WFP estimates that 272 million people are already or are at risk of becoming severely food insecure in the countries where it operates. Acute food insecurity is defined as when a person's life or livelihood is in immediate danger due to a lack of food.
Hunger tended to increase even before the COVID19 pandemic, exacerbating the existing effects of extreme weather events, conflict and other shocks on economic opportunities.
