Acute hunger continues to rise for 6th year in a row
Acute hunger rose for the sixth year in a row in 2024, pushing millions of people to the brink of starvation and death in some parts of the world's most vulnerable regions, the UN's latest Global Report on Food Crises has said.
While Palestine, especially the Gaza Strip, South Sudan, Haiti and Namibia, among other nations, witnessed 'catastrophic levels' of food shortage stoked by conflict, in Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar figured on a list of 10 countries with the largest numbers of hungry people, the report said. The UN warned of equally dire conditions this year due to the sharpest projected decline in humanitarian food aid in decades.
In most conflict-scarred regions, children and women bore the worst brunt of hunger due to shortages and food blockades, the assessment released on Friday showed. 'In 2024, more than 295 million people across 53 countries and territories experienced acute levels of hunger– an increase of 13.7 million from 2023,' the report said.
'Of great concern is the worsening prevalence of acute food insecurity, which now stands at 22.6 percent of the population assessed.' The report showed conflict remained one of the top causes of acute food insecurity, affecting around 140 million people in 20 countries and territories alone. Famine has been confirmed in Sudan, the report said.
'This Global Report on Food Crises is another unflinching indictment of a world dangerously off course,' António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said in a Foreword to the report.
In other hunger hotspots, people are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger, especially the Gaza Strip, where Israel continues to block or disrupt food aid since Hamas carried out deadly attacks on October 7, 2023, after entering Israel.
Conflict however isn't the only reason why millions are going without adequate food, the report showed. Economic shocks such as inflation and currency devaluation also drove hunger in 15 countries affecting 59.4 million people, nearly double pre-Covid 19 levels despite a modest decline from 2023, the findings showed. Some of the largest and most protracted food crises were primarily driven by economic shocks, including in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen, according to the report.
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