Global Report on Food Crises: Acute food insecurity hits new highs

The number of people facing acute food insecurity and in need of urgent life-saving food assistance and livelihood support continues to grow at an alarming rate. This makes it more urgent than ever to address the root causes of food crises rather than simply responding after they occur. This is a key finding of an annual report released today by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), an international alliance of the United Nations, the European Union, and government and non-government agencies working to tackle food crises together.

The report focuses on those countries and territories where the magnitude and severity of the food crisis exceed local resources and capacities. In these situations, the mobilization of the international community is necessary.

key figures

The document reveals that around 193 million people in 53 countries or territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3-5) in 2021. This represents an increase of almost 40 million people compared to already record numbers from 2020. Of these, more than half a million people (570,000) in Ethiopia, southern Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen were classified in the most severe phase of the Acute Food Insecurity Catastrophe (IPC/ CH Phase 5) and required urgent action to prevent a widespread catastrophe, the collapse of livelihoods, starvation and death.

Looking at the same 39 countries or territories that appear in all editions of the report, the number of people facing a crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or higher) nearly doubled between 2016 and 2021, with steady increases each year since 2018.

The root causes of food crises

These worrying trends are the result of multiple drivers feeding off each other, ranging from conflict to environmental and climate crises, from economic to health crises with poverty and inequality as permanent causes.

Conflict remains the main driver of food insecurity. While the analysis predates the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the report finds that the war has already exposed the interconnected nature and fragility of global food systems, with dire consequences for global food and nutrition security. Countries already facing high levels of acute hunger are particularly vulnerable to the risks created by the war in Eastern Europe, in particular, due to their high dependence on imported food and agricultural inputs and their vulnerability to global price shocks. of food, he says.

The main drivers of the increase in acute food insecurity in 2021 were:

conflict (main driver pushing 139 million people in 24 countries/territories into acute food insecurity, up from around 99 million in 23 countries/territories in 2020); extreme weather events (more than 23 million people in 8 countries/territories, compared to 15.7 million in 15 countries/territories); economic crises – (more than 30 million people in 21 countries/territories, compared to more than 40 million people in 17 countries/territories in 2020, mainly due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic).

International Associations Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen said: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine endangers global food security. The international community must act to prevent the largest food crisis in history and the social, economic and political upheaval that could follow. The EU is committed to tackling all the factors that drive food insecurity: conflict, climate change, poverty and inequalities. While immediate assistance is needed to save lives and prevent famine, we must continue to help partner countries transition to sustainable agri-food systems and resilient supply chains by harnessing the full potential of the Green Deal and the Global Gateway.”

Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič said: “There should be no place for hunger in the 21st century. However, we are seeing too many people stray from the path to prosperity. A clear message rang out today: if we want to prevent a major global food crisis, we must act now and we must work together. I believe that the international community is up to this task. By harnessing collective action and pooling resources, our global solidarity is stronger and farther reaching. As it demonstrates with its aid funding and humanitarian, development and peace synergies, the EU remains committed to tackling this food and nutrition crisis together with the international community.”

“The tragic link between conflict and food insecurity is once again evident and alarming,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “While the international community has responded courageously to calls for urgent famine prevention and mitigation action, the mobilization of resources to efficiently address the root causes of food crises due to, among others, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, global hotspots, and the war in Ukraine, it is still struggling to meet growing needs. The results of this year’s Global Report further demonstrate the need to collectively address acute food insecurity globally in humanitarian, development and peace contexts.”

“Acute hunger is skyrocketing to unprecedented levels and the global situation continues to worsen. Conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19, and rising food and fuel costs have created a perfect storm, and now we have the war in Ukraine piling one catastrophe on top of another. Millions of people in dozens of countries are on the brink of starvation. We urgently need emergency funding to bring them back from the brink and turn this global crisis around before it’s too late,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.

A paradigm shift

“The situation calls for large-scale action to move towards integrated prevention, anticipation and better targeting approaches to sustainably address the root causes of food crises, including structural rural poverty, marginalization, population growth and fragile food systems,” said the European Union-FAO-WFP – founding members of the Global Network – along with USAID and the World Bank in a joint statement to be released this week.

The report’s findings demonstrate the need for greater prioritization of smallholder agriculture as a frontline humanitarian response, to overcome access constraints, and as a solution to reversing negative long-term trends. Furthermore, promoting structural changes in the way external financing is distributed so that humanitarian assistance can be scaled back over time through longer-term development investments, can address the root causes of hunger. In parallel, we must collectively promote more efficient and sustainable ways of delivering humanitarian assistance.

Similarly, strengthening a coordinated approach to ensure that humanitarian, development and peacekeeping activities are carried out in a holistic and coordinated manner, and to ensure and prevent further fueling of conflict as an unintended consequence will also help to build resilience and recovery.