Global Food Security: Five numbers that matter

When it comes to the food security situation in the world, there’s no shortage of numbers. To the average African, however, many of these numbers are just that: cold, lifeless, abstract statistics. Mind-numbing and confusing. 

This World Food Day, we attempt to make sense of some of the numbers that feature in food security conversations and how these determine your dinner plate and whether you can afford the dinner.  

2.6 billion: People globally who can’t afford a healthy diet 

This means nearly 3 out of 8 people ate a meal that wasn’t balanced. One-third of children aged between 6-23 months consume a diet that is not sufficiently diverse.  

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), defines a balanced diet as one that provides the correct amounts of energy and nutrients from a variety of foods. A balanced diet is essential for maintaining good health and preventing diseases. 

A balanced diet requires a balance of macronutrients, namely carbohydrates, fats, proteins and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) from diverse food groups.  

Such a diet must also be moderate in harmful substances such as sugar, salt and unhealthy fats. The quality of diet, especially when inadequate, shapes nutritional outcomes. 

5 percent: average global food price inflation  

Food price inflation is the increase in the cost of food products over a specific period, measured by tracking the price of a “fixed basket” of representative food that households purchase.  

Food price inflation denotes that the same amount of food costs more than before. When inflation goes up, consumers’ purchasing power reduces, affording them less food with the same amount of money.  An increase in food prices worsens food insecurity, deepens poverty, and limits access to a healthy diet. 

In many low-income countries in the world, including in Africa, food price inflation soared above five percent this year. In more than half of the countries studied globally, food price inflation exceeded overall inflation. 

The only outliers were Sudan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, whose year-on-year inflation peaked at more than 350 percent. 

Food price inflation is caused by, among other factors, extreme weather events that lower agricultural yields, geopolitical tensions and war, and supply chain disruptions.  

The socioeconomic impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt to date, especially in global food prices. Since the end of 2020, domestic food retail prices have shot up dramatically in most countries. 

300 million: Africans facing hunger in 2025 

While global hunger is declining, the situation is worsening in Africa. Today, one in five Africans is food insecure, leading to wasting and stunted growth in 30 percent of children on the continent.  

One in three children is malnourished in some countries, particularly in Somalia, which has the highest rate of malnourishment, according to the Red Cross. 

Even within the continent, regional differences exist, with Eastern Africa having the largest number of people facing hunger, as conflict, drought and economic instability fuel food insecurity.  

In Chad, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, and Guinea-Bissau, undernourishment stands at more than 30 percent of the population. 

Since 2019, 57 million more Africans have become food insecure. 

$53 billion: Africa’s Adaptation Finance Gap 

At $53 billion, Africa’s current adaptation funding requirement—including agricultural adaptation —is four times what the continent received in 2019/2020. Some estimates show that the gap will hit $579 billion by 2030, or $86.5 billion annually.  

Inadequate investments, mounting debt, and increasing climate shocks are to blame for the widening adaptation finance gap.  

African communities are predominantly farmers. Pastoralists and subsistence farmers account for 60 percent of the continent’s population. These activities are largely rain-fed, with climate-induced droughts and floods having significant impacts on stocks and crops.  

For these farmers to boost production, build resilience, and adopt sustainable farming practices, Fredrick Otieno insists that finance for agricultural adaptation is critical. To eradicate food insecurity, Africa will need to invest one quarter of its adaptation resources, or $13 billion, annually in agriculture.  

‘‘Finance is needed to intensify and modernise agricultural productivity at a scale that withstands the climate shocks and meets the current demands,’’ says the Project Officer at Power Shift Africa.  

‘‘With limited financial resources for agriculture, Africa cannot sufficiently pilot agricultural projects to meet its food and nutritional needs,’’ Otieno adds.  

2030: Year by which the world should end hunger  

In 2015, the world set out to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.  

Under the Second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2), also called the ‘‘Zero Hunger’’ goal, the world aims to end all forms of malnutrition, to double the income of small-scale food producers, and to make food systems more resilient and sustainable by 2030. 

Current projections, however, show that in the next five years, 512 million people around the world will be chronically undernourished. Even more worryingly, 60 percent of these (277 million) will be in Africa. 

While the climate crisis has had the heaviest toll on food production and food security, the high cost of farming inputs, currency fluctuations, trade restrictions, and tariffs also bear on the availability and cost of food for millions globally.