Almost 300 million facing acute hunger worldwide

In 2000, there were 282 million people living in the United States. Last year, 282 million people faced acute hunger and food insecurity worldwide, according to the Global Report on Food Crises, or GRFC, released this week. That’s an increase of 24 million people from the year before.

Escalating conflicts in Palestine (Gaza Strip) and Sudan drove “extraordinarily high levels of acute food insecurity. The Gaza Strip became the most severe food crisis” since the GRFC began in 2016.

“In a world of plenty, children are starving to death. War, climate chaos and a cost-of-living crisis — combined with inadequate action — mean that almost 300 million people faced acute food crises in 2023,” said António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations. “The number of people on the brink of famine rose to over 700,000 — almost double the number of 2022.”

Guterres highlighted the conflict in the Gaza Strip, which has the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by GRFC. There is also the year-old conflict in Sudan, which has created the world’s largest internal displacement crisis “with atrocious impacts on hunger and nutrition, particularly on women and children,” he added.

GRFC report details

The GRFC report, the flagship publication of the Food Security Information Network, is based on a collaboration of 16 partners including U.N. agencies, regional and multinational bodies, the European Union, the U.S. Agency for International Development, technical organizations and others, reports The Associated Press.

There are levels of food insecurity and hunger, from temporary to chronic, and from Phase 1, which is food secure, to Phase 5, which is a catastrophe/famine.

Over 36 million people in 39 countries or territories faced emergency (Phase 4) levels of hunger and food insecurity, with more than a third of them in Sudan and Afghanistan. At the emergency level, households have large food consumption gaps, which are reflected in “very high acute malnutrition and excess mortality.”

Thirty-six million children under age 5 are acutely malnourished across 32 countries. Sixty percent of those kids are in the top 10 areas for food crises.

Over 700,000 people were projected to be in Phase 5, catastrophe or famine, with 80% of them being in Palestine. South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Mali each host many thousands also facing catastrophic hunger. By July, over half the population of the Gaza Strip are projected to be in Phase 5, and 70% of the population in northern Gaza.

By definition, Phase 5 households have an extreme lack of food and/or cannot meet other basic needs even after full employment of coping strategies. Starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident. For famine classification, the area needs to have at least 20% of households in a given area face an extreme lack of food, have at least 30% of children suffering from acute malnutrition, and either two people, or four children for every 10,000, dying each day due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease.

Key drivers

According to the GRFC, intensifying conflict and insecurity, the effects of extreme weather events and the impacts of economic shocks are the key drivers behind the acute food insecurity.

Conflict and insecurity were the primary drivers in 20 countries or territories, with 135 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity. It was the main driver in most of the 10 largest food crises.

Weather extremes were the main driver for 18 countries, with more than 72 million people facing high levels of food insecurity. Many countries were left reeling from the prolonged effects of drought or flooding. Last year was the hottest year on record. While the El Niño weather pattern peaked earlier this year, its full impact is expected to continue throughout the year, especially in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Economic shocks were the main driver in 21 countries with more than 75 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Decreasing global food prices did not make it to low-income, import-dependent countries, where there is a high dependency on imported food and agricultural inputs and persisting macroeconomic challenges, including currency depreciation, high prices and high debt levels.

Bleak outlook

Conflict and insecurity — especially in Palestine (Gaza Strip), Sudan and Haiti — will continue to be the main drivers of acute food insecurity throughout 2024.

Net food-importing, low-income countries, especially those with weakening currencies, are still grappling with high domestic food prices and weak household purchasing power.

Decreasing humanitarian funding and increasing costs of delivery pose a further threat, already resulting in reduced beneficiary numbers and food assistance rations among many food-insecure populations.

Secretary-General Guterres emphasized that funding is not keeping pace with the needs, calling for an urgent response from the global community. “Humanity can and must do better. Together, with commitment and concerted action, we can create a world where hunger has no home,” he said.