FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO: hunger increases across the
world, achieving Zero Hunger by 2030 is in doubt

The United Nations agencies say that the world is not on track
to achieve Zero Hunger, warning if recent trends continue, the number of people
affected by hunger will surpass 840 million by 2030.

Tehran - A new report jointly prepared
by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO shows that currently around
690 million people or 8.9 percent of the world population are hungry. Compared
to the previous figures, this number is up by 10 million people in one year and
by nearly 60 million in five years. 

“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020”
also indicates that the number of people affected by severe food insecurity has
experienced a similar upward trend over the last five years. In 2019, close to
750 million—or nearly one in ten people in the world—were exposed to severe
levels of food insecurity.

The figures reveal that about 2 billion people in the world did
not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food in 2019.

COVID-19 and Hunger

Considering the widespread impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, it is
estimated that the pandemic may add between 83 and 132 million people to the
total number of undernourished in the world in 2020 depending on the economic
growth scenario.

Also, the nutritional status of the most vulnerable population
groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio-economic
impacts of COVID-19.

Children and Malnutrition

While the burden of malnutrition in all its forms remains a
challenge for the world, current estimates reveal that in 2019, 21.3 percent
(144 million) of children under 5 years of age were stunted, 6.9 percent (47
million) wasted and 5.6 percent (38.3 million) overweight.

Healthy Diet 

The report states that healthy diets are unaffordable to many
people, especially the poor, in every region of the world. The most
conservative estimate shows they are unaffordable for more than 3 billion
people in the world. Healthy diets are estimated to be, on average, five times
more expensive than diets that meet only dietary energy needs through a starchy
staple.

Diet, Health and Climate Change

Under current food consumption patterns, diet-related health
costs linked to mortality and non-communicable diseases are projected to exceed
USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2030.

On the other hand, the diet-related social cost of greenhouse
gas emissions associated with current dietary patterns is estimated to be more
than USD 1.7 trillion per year by 2030.

Policies and Measures for Affordable Healthy Diet 

The United Nations agencies call on countries to rebalance their
agricultural policies and incentives towards more nutrition-sensitive
investment and policy actions all along the food supply chain to reduce food
losses and enhance efficiencies at all stages. 

Nutrition-sensitive social protection policies are also central
for the countries to increase the purchasing power and affordability of healthy
diets of the most vulnerable populations. 

Iran’s Situation

According to the report, Iran experienced a relative reduction in
the prevalence of undernourishment in
its total population, dropping from 5.2 percent in the period of 2004-2006 to
4.7 percent in period of 2017-2019. However, despite this improvement, the net
number of people experiencing undernourishment increased from 3.6 to 3.9
million.