According to the most recent State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, hunger is still rising in numerous parts of the world and numbers are higher than they were during the pandemic.

In September last year, the UN food chief warned that up to 345 million people could face starvation and famine as part of a "global emergency," mainly in poorer countries where food insecurity is already widespread. 

In January 2022, the World Food Program (WFP) reported that families in Yemen are resorting to eating leaves to survive through the aggression-induced famine.

The July report includes a variety of sources, including food security data collected for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the Gallup World Poll.

While global hunger is no longer on the increase, the world is still a long way from meeting its sustainable development goal (SDG) of attaining "zero hunger" by 2030.

The report also focuses on urbanization and how it contributed to hunger. It also examines the differences in food security between rural, peri-urban, and urban populations. 

See this: Countries experiencing severe food insecurity

Undernourishment, the FAO's standard indicator of the level of hunger, was 9.2% in 2022, nearly unchanged from 2021. Last year, hunger afflicted 691 million to 783 million people, 122 million more than in 2019, before the epidemic.

Projections show that nearly 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, approximately 119 million more than if neither of such events had occurred.

Even in the UK, Trussel Trust, a food bank charity, revealed last month that one in seven people in the UK experienced hunger last year as a result of a lack of funds. The poll reveals that this amounted to an estimated 11.3 million people, which is more than twice the population of Scotland.

Asia and Latin America have seen a decrease in hunger, while Western Asia, the Caribbean, and all parts of Africa, have seen an increase.

According to data from the FAO's Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), the occurrence of moderate or severe food insecurity remained unchanged. 

In 2022, 2.4 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure, 391 million more people than in 2019, before the Coronavirus pandemic, and 745 million more than in 2015, when the United Nations established the 2030 SDG program.

Women more vulnerable to food insecurity than men

In Africa, Northern America, and Europe, moderate to severe food insecurity increased marginally. Latin America and the Caribbean were the only regions that showed hints of development, falling from 40.3% in 2021 to 37.5% in 2022, affecting approximately 16.5 million fewer people.

Women continue to be more vulnerable to food insecurity than males.

Additionally, the findings revealed that food security improves as urbanization rises. In 2022, 33.3% of adults in rural regions had moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to 28.8% in peri-urban areas and 26.0% in urban areas.

In all parts of the world, save Northern America and Europe, rural areas have greater levels of food insecurity than urban areas. Food insecurity is worse in urban areas than in rural regions in this region.

Looking at hunger and food insecurity through the new lens of urbanization may aid in these efforts and give a better understanding of the developing linkages between urban, peri-urban, and rural regions, which may guide policies and investments to get the globe back on track.