A very bad situation in 2018 that could have been averted is in 2022 a global catastrophe.
In 2018 The Global Hunger Index reported “Far too many individuals are suffering from hunger and undernutrition nearly 690 million people are undernourished 144 million children suffer from stunting, a sign of chronic undernutrition 47 million children suffer from wasting, a sign of acute undernutrition and in 2018 5.3 million children died before their fifth birthdays, in many cases as a result of undernutrition”
🔗 Source: Global Hunger Index 2018
But the food is available
The current production of crops is sufficient to provide enough food for the projected global population of 9.7 billion in 2050, although very significant changes to the socio-economic conditions of many (ensuring access to the global food supply) and radical changes to the dietary choices of most (replacing most meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives, and greater acceptance of human-edible crops currently fed to animals, especially maize, as directly-consumed human food) would be required
🔗 Source: Current global food production is sufficient to meet human nutritional needs in 2050 provided there is radical societal adaptation
Sankey diagram illustrating calorie ‘inefficiency’
🔗 Source: Energy and protein feed-to-food conversion efficiencies in the US and potential food security gains from dietary changes
So what happens when there is war between the two breadbaskets of the world?
‘ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February is fuelling an “unprecedented global hunger crisis,” according to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, due to a rise in the price of food, fuel and other key commodities. The World Food Programme estimates that as many as 50 million people in 45 countries are at risk of famine. Sudan is likely to be among the hardest hit, with another 3 million projected to join this young mother in her predicament this fall.’
🔗 Source: The Distant Famine - How Covid-19 and war in Ukraine are leaving Sudan on the brink James L Walker Oct 4 2022
So what does the hunger index say now 2022?
“The 2021 Global Hunger Index (GHI) points to a dire hunger situation fueled by a toxic cocktail of the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasingly severe and protracted violent conflicts. Progress toward Zero Hunger by 2030, already far too slow, is showing signs of stagnating or even being reversed.
Increasingly severe and protracted violent conflicts, climate change, and the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences are all driving hunger and exacerbating existing inequalities and cracks in the food system. After decades of decline, the global prevalence of undernourishment—one of the four indicators used to calculate GHI scores—is increasing. This shift may be a harbinger of reversals in other measures of hunger.”
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