Global hunger down slightly in 2024: UN

Global hunger fell slightly in 2024 but still saw between 638 and 720 million people suffering food shortages with rising numbers in Africa, a UN report said Monday.

Around 8.2 percent of the world's population faced hunger last year, a fall of 0.3 percent compared to 2023, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, compiled by multiple United Nations agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme.

But a major drop in Latin America and the Caribbean was balanced against a worsening situation in Africa, where the figure is 20.2 percent.

The report, released at the UN Food Systems Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, highlights how far the organisation is from meeting its goal of ending world hunger by 2030.

Current projections suggest some 512 million people will still be undernourished by the end of the decade, 60 percent of them in Africa, the report said.

"Global hunger figures have slightly improved compared to 2022 and 2023," Alvaro Lario, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, told AFP.

"But we have not come back to the levels of five years ago. This isn't very good news."

Four of the worst five countries for food security are in Africa: Nigeria, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

The report also highlights the situation in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the entire population is experiencing severe acute insecurity.

"Lack of access has been ongoing for some months now and we are now seeing people starving," Lario said.

"Access must be granted to provide life-saving humanitarian aid urgently," he added.

The UN report highlights "persistent inequalities" with women and rural communities most affected, which widened last year over 2023. AFP