World hunger again on the rise:FAO

YemenExtra

SH.A.

After steadily declining for over a decade, global hunger is on the rise again, affecting 815 million people in 2016, or 11 per cent of the global population, says a new edition of the annual United Nations report on world food security and nutrition released today. At the same time, multiple forms of malnutrition are threatening the health of millions worldwide.

The increase – 38 million more people than the previous year – is largely due to the proliferation of violent conflicts and climate-related shocks, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017.

Some 155 million children aged under five are stunted (too short for their age), the report says, while 52 million suffer from wasting, meaning their weight is too low for their height. An estimated 41 million children are now overweight. Anaemia among women and adult obesity are also cause for concern. These trends are a consequence not only of conflict and climate change but also of sweeping changes in dietary habits as well as economic slowdowns.

Famine struck in parts of South Sudan for several months in early 2017, and there is a high risk that it could reoccur there as well as appear in other war affected places, namely northeast Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen,added the report.

Malnutrition in all its forms

• Number of children under 5 years of age who suffer from stunted growth (height too low for their age) : 155 million
  – Number of those living in countries affected by varying levels of conflict: 122 million
• Children under 5 affected by wasting (weight too low given their height): 52 million
• Number of adults who are obese: 641 million (13% of all adults on the planet)
• Children under 5 who are overweight: 41 million
• Number of women of reproductive age affected by anaemia: 613 million (around 33% of the total)