Some 1.2 billion people do not get enough to eat to sustain a healthy and active lifestyle in 76 countries monitored by the USDA for food insecurity. The increase of 291 million people, or 32 percent, was caused by the pandemic. “The economies of the countries … sharply contracted in 2020 due to the widespread pandemic, resulting lockdowns and other controls impacting business activity, employment and incomes,” said the annual International Food Security Assessment.
“Most of the additional food insecure people in 2021 are located in the Central and South Asia (64.1 percent or 186.8 million) sub-region — including India, which drives food security trends in the Asia region.”
Despite the anticipated global rebound from 2020’s economic slowdown, income was projected to remain below pre-pandemic levels for most of the 76 countries in the assessment. They are low- and middle-income nations in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. The estimate of 1.2 billion people who consume less than the global nutritional target of 2,100 calories per day indicated that 30.8 percent of the population of the 76 countries was food insecure, an increase of 6.8 percentage points from 2020. The daily food gap was 380 calories, said the report.
“However, over the next decade, the food security status is projected to improve for most countries covered by the assessment,” said the USDA. “By 2031, the share of the population that is food insecure in the 76 countries studied is projected to fall to 14.1 percent … The number of people considered food insecure is projected to decline by 471 percent from 2021 to 642.4 million people.” The improvement would result from “a projected steady income growth, relatively stable prices for major grains and lower population growth, particularly in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The International Food Security Assessment, 2021-31 is available here.