Rome: Global food insecurity and malnutrition worsened in 2024, with 295 million people facing acute hunger across 53 countries, according to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and its partners.
This marks a sixth consecutive annual rise, with 13.7 million more people affected compared to 2023, highlighting the growing crisis in the world's most vulnerable regions.
The findings were published in the 2025 Global Report on Food Crises by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), an international alliance that includes the FAO, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and various governmental and non-governmental organisations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the figures as "another unflinching indictment of a world dangerously off course."
In the report's foreword, he warned that "hunger and malnutrition are spreading faster than our ability to respond, yet globally, a third of all food produced is lost or wasted."
He added that long-standing crises are now being compounded by a more recent one: a dramatic reduction in lifesaving humanitarian funding.
Conflicts remained the leading cause of acute food insecurity in 2024, exacerbating hunger in the world's most vulnerable regions, according to the report. While poverty, economic shocks, and extreme weather also contributed, some populations faced conditions beyond acute hunger.
Famine was confirmed in parts of Sudan, while catastrophic food insecurity was recorded in the Gaza Strip, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali. In Gaza, famine was narrowly avoided due to increased humanitarian aid, but the report warned that the risk could return between May and September 2025 if military operations and the blockade persist.
The report also underscored the impact of forced displacement. Of the 128 million people forcibly displaced in 2024, nearly 95 million—including internally displaced persons, asylum seekers, and refugees—were living in countries already struggling with food crises, according to the Xinhua news agency.
In addition, economic shocks triggered food insecurity in 15 countries, affecting 59.4 million people, while extreme weather events pushed 18 countries into crisis, impacting more than 96 million people, particularly in Southern Asia, Southern Africa, and the Horn of Africa.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu warned that acute food insecurity is becoming a persistent reality, especially in rural areas. "The path forward is clear: investment in emergency agriculture is critical – not just as a response but as the most cost-effective solution to deliver significant, long-lasting impact," he said.
(inputs from IANS)