29% Of Humanity Was ‘Moderately’ or ‘Severely’ Food Insecure in 2021, UN Says
AllSides Summary
2.3 billion people faced moderate to severe food insecurity in 2021 — about 350 million more than before the COVID-19 pandemic — according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.
That was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which hampered trade and raised prices for food, fuel and fertilizers. U.N. World Food Programme chief David Beasley said these price spikes threatened to spark famine, “global destabilization, starvation, and mass migration on an unprecedented scale,” adding, “We have to act today to avert this looming catastrophe.”
“This year’s report should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms,” the U.N. report concluded. Hunger, which the report distinguished from the more financially-based “food insecurity,” affected as many as 828 million people in 2021; in 2020, roughly 3.1 billion people could not afford a “healthy diet.” Furthermore, an estimated 22% of children under 5 were stunted in 2020; while 5.7% were overweight, 6.7% suffered from wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition.
Coverage was relatively less common across the spectrum following the report’s release, with major outlets like NBC News (Lean Left bias) often republishing coverage from the Associated Press (Center bias).
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From the Right
United Nations says billions facing food insecurity levels: ‘world is moving backwards’
A new United Nations report released Wednesday outlined the horrific statistics on worldwide hunger levels, showing that billions of people are facing food insecurities or are on the brink of starvation.
The report, "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World," says world hunger rose in 2021, with around 2.3 billion people facing moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat. The number facing severe food insecurity increased to about 924 million.
From the Left
Food insecurity and hunger afflicted 2.3 billion people in 2021, and the war will add more, the U.N. says.
Global hunger and the chronic inability to access food skyrocketed in 2021, with 2.3 billion people facing moderate or severe food insecurity around the world, the United Nations said in a report released Wednesday.
“The world is moving backward in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms,” the report said, in part as a result of the war in Ukraine, which is disrupting supply chains and contributing to the rising prices in energy, grain and fertilizers.
From the Left
After long-term decline, global hunger is on the rise 
The proportion of the global population experiencing undernourishment rose to 9.8% in 2021, according to an annual UN report on food security.
The big picture: The decline in hunger in recent decades had been a massive breakthrough for global development. That trend has slipped into reverse since 2018, according to the UN data.
The UN set a goal in 2015 of eliminating global hunger by 2030, but now estimates that roughly the same percentage (8%) of the world will face hunger then as did in 2015.
The report's authors cited "conflict, climate...
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