According to a recent article from NPR on July 7, 2022, there has been a record of 345 million acutely hungry people that are at risk of starvation. This number according to David Beasley, head of the U.N World Food Program, represents a 25% increase from 276 million hungry individuals at the beginning of 2022 before the Russia invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. As we analyze the data and trends, this number has continued to climb from early 2020 before the pandemic when 135 million people were suffering in the same predicament. 

As we peel back the layers of the hunger crisis, we can attribute it to the spike in food prices, fuel, and fertilizer. These driving forces are compounded by the Russia war in Ukraine. There is concern as stated by a top U.N. official that this conflict could lead to “global destabilization, starvation, and mass migration on an unpreceded scale.”

 A report from “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” communicates that hunger increased in 2021. Approximately 2.3 billion people faced moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough food to eat with the number of individuals facing severe food insecurity accounting for 924 million people.

In addition to food insecurity, the pervasiveness of “undernourishment” which is used to measure hunger also continued to rise in 2021 with estimates between 702 million to 828 million people facing hunger last year. The term “undernourishment” as utilized in this article represents when food consumption is insufficient to maintain an active and healthy life. 

The report also estimates 22% of children under age 5 (approximately 149 million) suffered stunted growth and development due to food insecurity. Even worse, 6.67% or 45 million children suffered from wasting. Wasting is the deadliest form of malnutrition and is defined by the World Health Organization as low weight-for-height often indicating recent and severe weight loss. It can persist for a long time and it usually occurs when a person has not had food of adequate quality and quantity and/or they have frequent or prolonged illnesses. On the other end of the pendulum, 5.7% of children under age 5 or 39 million kids were overweight. 

Qu Dongyu, who is the director general of the Food and Agricultural Organization, requested countries expand food production, strengthen supply chains to support small farmers, and provide cash and other important resources for cereal and vegetable production as well as offer protection of livestock. 

In summary, these are difficult and challenging times for so many around the globe. F4 is humbled and honored to play an important role in supporting and assisting communities domestically in the United States with our food drives and food recovery initiatives. If you would like to make a monetary donation or become an F4 volunteer and learn more about our organization, please contact Team@F4service.org. Thank you for your consideration and faithful support!

Author: Derek Fiorenza, Founder and President, Fiorenza’s Food For Friends (F4)

 Reference

1.       https://www.npr.org/2022/07/07/1110219180/record-number-of-people-worldwide-are-moving-toward-starvation-u-n-warns#:~:text=official%20warned%20Wednesday.,Russia%20invaded%20Ukraine%20on%20Feb.

2.     https://www.who.int/health-topics/malnutrition#tab=tab_1

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