After decades of steady decline, the number of people who suffer from hunger – as measured by the prevalence of undernourishment – began to slowly increase again in 2015. Current estimates show that nearly 690 million people are hungry, or 8.9 percent of the world population – up by 10 million people in one year and by nearly 60 million in five years.
Asia and the Pacific is not on track to achieve the 2030 targets of zero hunger and access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for all. It is estimated that 1.9 billion people in the region cannot afford healthy diets while 350.6 million people are estimated to have been undernourished in 2019.
Swift actions are needed to provide food and humanitarian relief to the most at-risk regions. At the same time, a profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed to nourish millions of people living in hunger. Increasing agricultural productivity and sustainable food production are crucial to help alleviate the perils of hunger.
