We are proud to join our global community this World Food Day in raising awareness about the importance of adopting sustainable food systems around the world.
This year’s theme, “Leave no one behind: Better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life,” highlights the importance of global solidarity in promoting sustainable agri-food systems. The global food system is at the heart of a number of issues the world is facing: poverty, health crises and environmental degradation. To address all of these, we need to drive structural transformation that creates a sustainable and resilient food system.
Despite efforts to create a better society, too many people have been left behind, unable to leverage the amazing advancements we’ve made socially, economically and technologically. The world has the resources to feed everyone, but due to the high expense of eating healthy food, millions of people worldwide are experiencing food insecurity and malnutrition. The effects of COVID-19, climate change and the invasion of Ukraine are increasing food insecurity around the world, hampering access and availability of nutritious food and impeding success towards Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.
%
of people who are food insecure rely on agriculture for their livelihood
However, they are also the hardest hit by natural and man-made disasters and frequently marginalized because of their ethnicity, gender or social status. To achieve global food security, these vulnerable communities need access to financial assistance, innovative technologies and training to sustainably produce nutritious food for their communities.
This World Food Day we are calling on the global community to come together.
We need partnership between governments, the private sector, civil society, farmers and individuals, including the youth, as each has a role to play in transforming our food systems. We need to adopt new habits to improve our health and create sustainable food systems.
We invite you to join the global movement to end hunger and poverty. Use World Food Day as an opportunity to raise awareness about social injustices that increase inequalities, to support communities living with hunger and poverty, and the impacts of climate change and conflict. In order to ensure that no one is left behind, adoption of a community-led development approach in our programs, initiatives and policies will enable the empowerment of marginalized communities.
At The Hunger Project we believe that investing in the resiliency of communities is key to addressing the current food crisis and the others that may emerge. The time has come to prioritize investments in smallholder farming to strengthen local food systems; to adopt community-led development approaches and policies to ensure that community leaders have a voice at the tableAt The Hunger Project, we are dedicated to building a world where no one is left behind and every woman, man and child leads a healthy, fulfilling life of self-reliance and dignity.
Key facts and figures.
*All statistics are credited to the United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, UNICEF, World Health Organization, World Food Programme, World Bank, United Nations Population Fund or International Labor Organization unless otherwise listed.
- More than three billion people—about 40 percent of the world’s population—cannot afford a healthy diet.
- In 2021, an estimated 29.3 percent of the global population – 2.3 billion people – were moderately or severely food insecure and 11.7 percent (923.7 million people) faced severe food insecurity.
- The gender gap in food insecurity is widening, in 2021, 31.9 percent of women in the world were moderately or severely food insecure compared to 27.6 percent of men.
- Globally in 2020, an estimated 22 percent of children under five years of age were stunted, 6.7 percent were wasted, and 5.7 percent were overweight.
- Projections are that nearly 670 million people will still be facing hunger in 2030–8 percent of the world population, which is the same as in 2015 when the 2030 Agenda was launched.
- While as many as 828 million people were hungry in 2021, one in eight adults globally are obese, a problem on the rise in all regions, including in low- and middle-income countries.
Thomas, Uganda, 2021 Photo for The Hunger Project by Martin Kharumwa
