Food Security

Delegates to the U.N. Food Systems Summit this fall face some sobering realities. Some 928 million people — 12 percent of the world's population — were “severely food insecure” in 2020, about 148 million more than in 2019. Severe food insecurity occurs when someone experiences hunger due to lack of food for a day or more. Another 155 million people faced “acute food insecurity,” which can include malnutrition, starvation or famine. The shortages — which were more pronounced in poor countries than in wealthier ones — were caused by conflicts, climate disruption and economic shocks exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before the pandemic, the world was not on track to eliminate hunger by 2030, a major U.N. goal established in 2015. Debates over solutions remain divisive, with some groups calling for more smallholder farms and local approaches, and others saying agribusiness and global trade in food products will still be needed. With food demand projected to increase by more than 50 percent by 2050 in a more climate-stressed world, experts say collaborative approaches — plus rapid adoption of promising innovations — likely will be needed to feed the world.