Dozens of countries on brink of famine, new data shows

Palestinians receive food in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Famine is now looming in Sudan and Gaza due to conflicts. 

Global hunger levels will stay high for another 136 years if efforts to tackle it continue at the current pace, a new report has found. 

The Global Hunger Index is reporting that people do not have enough food to eat in 42 countries and that famine is now looming in Sudan and Gaza due to conflicts. 

In 2012, member states of the UN pledged that they would work to eliminate global hunger by 2030, but the report finds that the prospect of achieving that now looks “grim”.

The Index, compiled by Irish aid agency Concern and German agency Welthungerhilfe, found that 36 countries have serious levels of hunger, including the six worst in this respect, Somalia, Yemen, Chad, Madagascar, Burundi and South Sudan.

In addition, there were 281.6 million people in 59 countries and territories facing “crisis level or acute food insecurity”. 

The report points out that there was “notable progress” made to tackle hunger between 2000 and 2016 and it states that this demonstrates how much can be accomplished in just a decade and a half. 

However, this progress has slowed notably in the last eight years, which now makes the target of zero hunger by 2030 looking “unlikely” to be achieved.

'Upsetting'

The findings were described as “extremely worrying and upsetting” by Concern Worldwide Chief Executive David Regan.

“The world should not have to wait over 136 years for low hunger levels to be achieved,” he said.

“We should not have situations where children are so hungry and malnourished that they can’t even speak or cry. 

"Globally, around 733 million people face hunger each day due to a lack of access to a sufficient amount of food. Around 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.” 

He described as “deeply troubling” the reality that hunger persists on such a huge scale with all the resources available in the modern world.

“It is also alarming that progress made in addressing hunger has stalled largely due to widespread conflicts, and the increasing impacts of climate change,” he said.

“Acute food insecurity and the risk of famine are rising and starvation is proliferating as a weapon of war.”