Global hunger rose in 2017 for a third consecutive year, fuelled by conflict and climate change, the United Nations revealed in a report published on Tuesday. Obesity levels also increased.
Here are some facts and figures from the report:
Drought is one of the key causes of hunger in the world. PICTURE: Micaela Parente/Unsplash
• World hunger levels rose in 2017 for the third consecutive year.
• Globally 821 million people, or one in nine, do not have enough food to eat.
• In sub-Saharan Africa, more than one in four may have suffered from chronic hunger in 2017.
• Asia has the largest number of undernourished people due to is sheer size – 515 million.
• Nearly 151 million children under five suffered from stunting due to malnutrition, a condition that hampers physical and mental development.
• More than 50 million children under five are too thin for their height and more than 38 million are overweight.
• One in eight adults – 672 million – is obese.
• Almost 36 per cent of countries that experienced a rise in hunger since 2005 also suffered from severe drought.
• Floods cause more climate-related disasters globally than any other extreme climate event.
• Between 2011 and 2016, 51 low and middle income countries experienced early or delayed onset of seasons.
Sources: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017, World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNICEF, World Food Programme.
