Covid-19 felt like the biggest health crisis in 100 years, and yet, it’s easy to forget about a problem that dwarfs even the most deadly of diseases: extreme hunger. In a bid to highlight the depth of the international hunger crisis, Delivery Rank has compiled all of the most important facts and statistics on world hunger in 2021.

World hunger has been a significant issue since records began, and over the last century, mankind has taken huge strides towards solving the crisis. But more needs to be done. The world produces enough food to feed all 7.7 billion inhabitants, yet millions of children still go to bed hungry every night.

This article will provide facts and stats on the state of hunger in some of the poorest regions in the world. We’ll cover the biggest contributors to world hunger, hunger’s effect on children, the role of Covid-19, and what can be done, both on a personal level and an institutional level, to help resolve what is the biggest humanitarian crisis on planet Earth.

How Many People are Hungry in the World?
The sheer number of people who suffer from hunger is staggering. According to the latest research by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), nearly 700 million people are hungry in the world.

The risk of famine is still a huge problem. In 2021, there are several countries that are either already experiencing famine, or on the verge of descending into one, and we must aid in whatever way we can:

South Sudan was declared a famine in 2017, as persistent conflict today means 60% of the population requires humanitarian assistance.

Yemen is also in a desperate situation, with conflict between Saudi-led coalition soldiers and Houthi rebels deteriorating food security.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, some 20 million people require aid, again because of internal conflict.

A mix of environmental factors and conflict is causing Somalia to experience worrying levels of food insecurity.

In Afghanistan, terror groups are causing fearful citizens to flee their homes and livelihoods.

Economic hardship in Venezuela means people do not have access to food.

Meanwhile, parts of Northeast Nigeria and Burkina Faso are under the grip of the same conflict, which posits both at risk of a famine.

However, stopping these outbreaks of widespread hunger has significantly improved. With better food aid programs and charitable organizations, humans have gotten much better at containing famines, and preventing deaths:Included in the DAC are nations with huge spending potential. The United States, Germany, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom are just five affluent economies involved in the program.

Released in 2020, the OECD’s latest analysis of DAC spending shows the USA is the biggest spenders on food aid, at nearly $3.1 billion.

Germany, Turkey, and the UK have still donated a significant amount of money to DAC food aid at 678m, 643m, and 425m respectively - although these nations are some way off the USA’s current spend.
People who are born into poverty, are often born into situations where they do not have adequate access to food. A lack of nutrition means children could become stunted, where they are too short for their age, or wasted, where children don’t weigh enough compared to their height.

Women may also be undernourished whilst pregnant. This affects the development of the child in the womb, and babies born under these circumstances are often premature, or underweight.

As these children, or anyone suffering from starvation, become increasingly hungry, they also grow weaker, more prone to disease and illness, and less productive. This makes it impossible for some adults to work, and earn enough money to feed their family. Smallholder Farmers are the Most Affected
Small farmers, herders, and fishermen often work with minuscule amounts of land, and in developing countries, they are one of the largest groups affected by hunger.

Small farmers, herders, and fishermen, as a whole, produce around 70 percent of the world’s food. Yet without enough money to buy proper technology to safeguard their crops, cattle, or fish, this group is extremely vulnerable to food insecurity.

Smallholder farmers are at particularly high risk of going hungry. In developing nations, smallholder farmers are the largest group that is stuck in extreme poverty.

Frequently, smallholder farmers don’t own a big enough piece of land to grow sizable harvests. This means they cannot grow enough food to sustain themselves, or their families, and they don’t make enough money from their crops to purchase food, should it become limited.
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Written by: Tom Read on Apr 13th, 2021