Status: 13.10.2022 1:32 p.m
Wars, climate change and other crises have exacerbated the problem of hunger worldwide. According to Welthungerhilfe, almost 830 million people are currently suffering from it. The war in Ukraine aggravates the situation.
More and more people have too little to eat as a result of wars, climate change and other crises. The number of hungry people worldwide rose again last year to 828 million, said the President of Welthungerhilfe, Marlehn Thieme, in Berlin. “A toxic mixture of wars and crises leads to catastrophe,” she warned when presenting the World Hunger Index.
In the previous year, the number of chronically undernourished people was up to 811 million. “The war in Ukraine is exacerbating the situation,” Thieme warned. By August, the war had brought a quarter of global grain trade to a standstill. Price increases led to meals being canceled in places like Haiti, Kenya and Bangladesh.
Thieme: “Change direction and refill”
Multiple crises overlapped and reinforced each other. 60 percent of the hungry live in areas affected by conflict and violence. The poorest and weakest countries suffered the most from rising food prices, said Thieme.
Against this background, she called for planned cuts in the budgets of the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Development Ministry to be reversed: “The federal government should change course and top up.” Combating malnutrition is a peace policy, she said with a view to possible food riots.
key factor climate change
According to Thieme, a key factor for the negative trend is climate change. The Horn of Africa is currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in recent decades. The recent floods in Pakistan affected 33 million people.
While there has been progress in fighting hunger in 32 countries since 2000, countries like Kenya and Haiti have seen a dramatic deterioration, said Welthungerhilfe Secretary General Mathias Mogge. In Haiti, even humanitarian aid is currently not possible due to the deteriorated security situation. “Nothing works in this country anymore,” complained Mogge. An increase in the number of undernourished people is expected.
After years of declining numbers, the Global Hunger Index has stagnated. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the value has increased from 8.0 to 8.8 since 2014. Globally, it fell from 19.1 to 18.2 in the same period. The index ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Values between 10.0 and 19.9 points mean moderate hunger. Index values of more than 50 indicate severe malnutrition.
No improvement in 2023
The war in Ukraine will also significantly exacerbate hunger in 2023 and beyond, it said. There are also structural causes such as poverty, inequality, poor governance and infrastructure, and low agricultural productivity.
The Global Hunger Index is calculated based on a formula that combines data on undernutrition, stunting, child wasting and child mortality for each country. In 2022, data from 136 countries were evaluated.