Global undernourishment hit 815m in 2016 –FAO

Food and Agriculture Organizastion (FAO) has said that the number of undernourished people in the world increased to an estimated 815 million in 2016 up from 777 million in 2015 representing an estimated 11 percent increase in the prevalence rate of undernourishment worldwide in 2016.
In a report ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’, the UN Agency noted that despite significant population growth, the share of undernourished people in the world decreased from 14.7 percent in 2000 to 10.8 percent in 2013.
FAO in the repport also disclosed that globally 688.5 million people suffered severe food insecurity in 2016.
A breakdown showed that more people suffered severe food insecurity in the year under review 333.2 million people in 2016 from 298 million. This is mostly due to multiple issues of conflicts, flooding and severe drought that ravished some part of the continent.
In Asia, 309.9 people in 2016 from 306 million in 2015 experienced severe food insecurity.
“Women are slightly more likely to be food insecure than men in every region of the world,” the report said.
Furthermore, in spite of the rate of stunning going down worldwide, it remained very high in most parts of Africa.
In 2016, the Agency estimated that in Asia, almost 520 million people in Asia, did not have access to sufficient food energy compared to Africa with 243 million and 42 million in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Overall, these recent estimates are a warning signal that achieving the goal of a world without hunger and malnutrition by 2030 will be challenging. Accomplishing it will require sustained commitment and efforts to promote adequate
availability of and access to nutritious food,” FAO insisted.

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