The proportion of the world’s population suffering acute hunger declined globally in 2024 to about 673 million people, but continued to rise in most African regions as well as western Asia, according to the new UN State of Food Security and Nutrition (SOFI) report, launched Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

Global hunger levels have remained stubbornly high ever since the 2019 COVID pandemic; before that, failing to decline to pre-pandemic levels which hovered between 552-584 million in the years 2014-2019, said officials at the launch of this year’s report, during the Second UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) in Addis Ababa.

“We are far off track,” declared UN Deputy Secretary General  Amina Mohammed at the launch. “Despite  the fact that hunger has declined, it’s only slightly. Tonight, more than 670 million people will go hungry, and in regions like Africa, the situation continues to worsen; 307 million people are hungry on that continent – nearly one in five and mostly exacerbated by conflicts and the climate crisis. 

“Hunger is also deepening the inequality faced across the world. Women’s nutrition continues to deteriorate. Anemia among women aged 15 to 49 has risen over the past decade,” she added, noting that two thirds of women in that age group do not meet minimum dietary diversity requirements.

“Meanwhile, children are suffering consequences that will last a lifetime. One-third of children between six and 23 months are not getting the nutrients that they need during the most critical window of brain development and growth,” Mohammed said. 

“Ultimately, affordability is at the heart of all of this,” Mohammed added. ” Since 2020, global food price inflation has consistently outpaced general inflation in low income countries. This means skipping meals, selling assets, or pulling children out of school just so families can afford to eat in every region. These overlapping crises, conflict, climate shocks, inflation, displacement, are all exposing the deep fragility of our food systems.” 

And if current trends continue, there will still be 512 million people going hungry, on average, by 2030, with 60% of those in Africa – falling far short of UN Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger.

Inflation a key driver of food insecurity and undernutrition 

The report takes an in-depth look at one of the biggest threats of food security and nutrition today,  inflationary food prices. 

Since the pandemic, food prices have risen faster than overall inflation, hitting consumers in poorer countries particularly hard. Behind this lies what some described as “a perfect storm,” including supply disruptions from the war in Ukraine, extreme weather events and a strong US dollar that made food imports more expensive last year.  

“For many countries, food prices have risen faster than inflation overall, exposing the fragility of our global agri-food systems,” said Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), which collaborated in the joint report led by the Food and Agriculture Organization and also including UNICEF, the World Food Program, and the World Health Organization. 

“Our food systems and our food prices are increasingly vulnerable to environmental shocks,” he added, “Many of you can see in developing supermarkets in your hometown, olive oil prices increased 50% in January 2024 after droughts in Spain and Italy. Global cocoa prices increased almost 300% after heat waves in Ghana and Ivory Coast; maize 36% in South Africa; rice prices in Japan; potato prices in the UK after a wet winter; coffee prices in Brazil after a 2023 drought. So the message is clear, we must invest in adaptation before it is too late.”

Healthy diets even more out of reach 

While nearly 2.3 billion people lack regular access to food, over 2.6 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, added Maximo Torero, Chief Economist of Food and Agriculture Organization.

“While there has been some progress in child nutrition, the world remains off track to meet any of the seven global nutrition targets by 2030 this year; Nutrient rich foods like fruits, vegetables and animal products remain out of reach for many. Even basic staples cheaper have seen sharper price increases, adding pressure on the poorest households,” Torero said. 

On average, basic starchy staples and oils and fats remain the least expensive sources of dietary energy across all countries. In contrast, more nutritious food groups,
such as animal source foods, fruits and vegetables, consistently rank as the most expensive, the report found.

Ultra-processed foods are consistently cheaper than foods at any other stage of processing. Despite growing evidence of their adverse health impacts, these products
typically contain few or no whole foods and are often high in saturated fats, trans fats and salt. Conversely, they lack adequate fibre, micronutrients and other bioactive
compounds. By 2021, ultra-processed foods were, on average, 47% less expensive than unprocessed or minimally processed foods, and 50% less
expensive than processed foods, the report found.

Only one out of three children globally are meeting the indicator of minimum dietary diversity, which is linked to healthy growth, said WHO’s Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a pre-recorded message to the launch.

“We need action in three key areas, first, to ensure unimpeded access to deliver life saving treatment to those facing active malnutrition, especially in combat zones; second, to strengthen social protection systems to reach vulnerable populations with nutritious foods; and third, to inform food price policies to make healthy diets accessible, especially in low income communities,” Tedros added. 

Conflict exacerbates hunger – ‘famine’ in Gaza 

On Sunday, WHO issued yet another appeal on the Gaza hunger crisis, saying that humanitarian aid corridors recently re-opened by Israel, need to remain sustainably accessible to aid convoys to confront the mounting malnutrition crisis there.  Nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished, WHO reported, and malnutrition has reportedly claimed the lives of 74 children in 2025, peaking at 63 deaths in July.   

The worst-case scenario of ”Famine” is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip, declared the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC), on Tuesday morning. “Latest data indicates that Famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,” the IPC stated in a new release.  Famine is declared when 20% or more of households face an extreme lack of food and 30% of children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

“Over 20,000 children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished. Hospitals have reported a rapid increase in hunger-related deaths of children under five years of age, with at least 16 reported deaths since 17 July,” the IPC report stated.

In a briefing to the Geneva press corps, the World Food Programme said that while food deliveries have ramped up in recent days, they are still not nearly enough.

“We are getting about 50% of what we are requesting into Gaza,” said World Food Programme spokesperson Ross Smith, noting that WFP, alone, has been asking t0 bring in 100 trucks a day – comparable to the January-March ceasefire. Pre-conflict a total of about 500 supply trucks a day were brought into Gaza, he said, adding, “We welcome the humanitarian pauses and we would like to see the full spirit of them implemented.”

According to the Israeli military aid coordinating body, COGAT, international organizations moved over 200 trucks of aid into Gaza, with another 260 inside Gaza waiting for pickup Tuesday morning.

Food relief unable to reach hungry people in Afghanistan, Sudan, and beyond

In Sudan, Afghanistan and elsewhere, humanitarian agencies are unable to reach hungry children and families – due to both a lack of access and a shortage of funding, said Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) at Monday’s launch event. 

“This year, funding cuts up to 40% meaning that 10s of millions of people will lose the life saving food aid the WFP provides,” she said. “The impacts are severe and wide ranging. In Afghanistan, we’ve scaled back to a very, a very narrowly targeted feeding program aiming to cover a maximum of only 1 million people, but we’re turning away 8.5 million needy people,” she said. “In South Sudan, where 7.7 million people are acutely hungry, and over 80,000 people face catastrophic hunger, we will be forced to end lifesaving assistance to 2.3 million people next month. 

“We’ve had to end our assistance to 1 million million refugees in Uganda, while in Kenya, we halted all cash assistance. And rations to [primarily Somalian and Sudanese] refugees are now less than 1/3 the full amount. These are just a few examples. Sadly, the list of impending cuts coming down the line is much, much longer.  If they’re implemented, the small gains in food security highlighted in this year’s SOFI report will soon be wiped out, and the result will be further instability in volatile regions around the globe.” 

Investing in more resilient food systems and small scale producers 

When food prices rise, Torero added, “there’s a direct impact on nutrition, particularly in poorer or more vulnerable economies.”

For instance, a 10% increase in food prices implies a 3.5% in overall increase in moderate food insecurity and severe food insecurity; a 4% increase for women, as well as a 5.5% increase in the prevalence of severe wasting among children under 5 years of age. 

Yet, amid such challenges, there is a silver lining compared to two past food crises, he said, referring to the economic crash of 2007-2008: “The global response today has been more coordinated, more measured and more informed. Progress is happening, but not fast enough.” 

Torero and other officials called for investing in food systems and small scale producers to stimulate more local production of healthy and diverse food items.  

“To unlock these benefits, we must fully leverage concessional finance institutions like IFAD have a key role to play, but we cannot do it alone. We also need to crowd private sector investments to rural areas through strong partnerships, bankable investments and also constructing the right ecosystem,” Lario said. 

Added Torero, “one of the main messages of the 2025 edition of the report is that while food price inflation remains a pressing concern, it is not undefeatable. Compared to the food prices spikes in 2007 and 2008 the global response to the sources of 2021 and 2023 inflationary pressures was more coordinated, informed and restrained.

Trade and market levers

“One of the clearest examples is in the area of trade policies,” Torero said. “While earlier crises were marked by widespread export bans and restricted measures that amplify global uncertainties and food price volatility, the recent episodes saw fewer such interventions, and when they occurred, they were generally short term and less disruptive. 

“Similarly, the importance of market transparency and time information has been reaffirmed. Initiatives such as the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) established by the Gg20 in response to 2007-2008 helped make a significant impact, because they played a key role in enhancing transparency of global food markets. The global response to the high food inflationary period also demonstrated the value of robust institutions. Countries with sound response structures as well established social protection systems were able to protect the most vulnerable populations more effectively.

Time for Africa to act 

“Sustainable investments, external policy coordination, greater transparency and continuous institutional innovations will be vital in building resilience to future shocks,” he concluded. “These policy lessons offer a roadmap to addressing both the immediate impact of food price inflation on food security and nutrition and the urgent goal of getting back on track to achieve SDG 2, and affordable, healthy diets for all. Improvement has happened, but it’s important that we transfer improvement in certain regions of the world to the other regions of the world,” he said, adding:

“This is the time for Africa. This is your moment. You are leading the way. So it is time to act and to leads on the transformation of agri food systems so that the continent of Africa soon turns the trend… less hunger, more equity, and, of course, a better life.” 

Updated Tuesday 29.7.2025

Image Credits: FAO/State of Food Security and Nutrition (2025) , FAO/State of Food Security and Nutrition, 2025, FAO/State of Food Security and Nutrition , Dr Alexey Kulikov/Twitter, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies / The Kenya Red Cross Society, World Bank Tanzania/Twitter .