Global Report on Food Crises 2022

Global Report on Food Crises 2022

News: Recently, an annual report named Global Report on Food Crises 2022 was launched by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC).
• The report is the flagship publication of the GNAFC and is facilitated by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).

Key Highlights:
• Some 40 million more people globally experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2021 than 2020.
• Over half a million Ethiopians, southern Madagascar, South Sudanese and Yemenese are suffering from acute food insecurity.

What are root causes of food crises?

Conflicts
• Conflict remains the main driver of food insecurity. (main driver pushing 139 million people in 24 countries/territories into acute food insecurity, up from around 99 million in 23 countries/territories in 2020)
• While the analysis predates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the report finds that the war has already exposed the interconnected nature and fragility of global food systems, with serious consequences for global food and nutrition security.

Weather extremes
• It forced over 23 million people in eight countries / territories into acute food insecurity, up from 15.7 million in 15 countries / territories in 2020.

Economic Shocks
• Over 30 million people in 21 countries / territories suffered acute food insecurity in 2021 due to economic shocks, down from over 40 million people in 17 countries / territories in 2020.

Recommendations given:
• There is a need to have an integrated approach to prevention, anticipation, and better targeting to sustainably address the root causes of food crises, including structural rural poverty, marginalization, population growth and fragile food systems.
• The report demonstrated the need for a greater prioritization of smallholder agriculture as a frontline humanitarian response, to overcome access constraints and as a solution for reverting negative long-term trends.
• The need is to strengthen a coordinated approach to ensure that humanitarian, development and peacekeeping activities are delivered in a holistic and coordinated manner.

What about Food insecurity in India?
• According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, 2021 India, the country with the largest stock of grain in the world, accounts for a quarter of the world’s food-insecure population.
• Estimates show that, in 2020, over 237 crore people were grappling with food insecurity globally, an increase of about 32 crores from 2019.

About Food Security Information Network:
• FSIN is a global initiative co-sponsored by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to strengthen food and nutrition security information systems for producing reliable and accurate data to guide analysis and decision-making.

What is GNAFC?
• It was Founded by the European Union, FAO and WFP in 2016.
• It is an alliance of humanitarian and development actors working together to prevent, prepare for and respond to food crises and support the Sustainable Development Goal to End Hunger (SDG 2).