Hunger, malnutrition levels in Kenya stubbornly high – UN

The number of hungry and undernourished people has remained stubbornly high despite rising food security around the world, a new report has shown.

The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report published by five UN agencies says In Africa, one in five people faced hunger last year, compared to one in 11 people globally.

In total, about 733 million people grappled with hunger last year.

The share of undernourished Kenyans jumped from 28.2 per cent in 2004 to 34.5 per cent last year.

Food insecurity in Kenya last year was also high at about 28 per cent.

At least 18 per cent of Kenyan children under five years are also stunted, the report indicates.

The annual report, launched this year in the context of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, warns the world is falling short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030.  The report shows that the world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009.

Despite progress in specific areas such as stunting and exclusive breastfeeding, an alarming number continues to face food insecurity and malnutrition.

Global hunger levels also plateaued for three consecutive years, with between 713 and 757 million people undernourished last year.

This is about 152 million more than in 2019 when considering the mid-range (733 million).

Regional trends vary significantly: the percentage of the population facing hunger continues to rise in Africa (20.4 per cent), remains stable in Asia (8.1 per cent)—though still representing a significant challenge as the region is home to more than half of those facing hunger worldwide —and shows progress in Latin America (6.2 per cent).

From 2022 to 2023, hunger increased in Western Asia, the Caribbean and most African subregions.

If current trends continue, about 582 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, half of them in Africa.

This is according to FAO, Unicef, WFP, WHO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

This projection closely resembles the levels seen in 2015 when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, marking a concerning stagnation in progress.

The lack of economic access to healthy diets remains a critical issue, affecting over one-third of the global population.

With new food price data and methodological improvements, the publication reveals that more than 2.8 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022.

This disparity is most pronounced in low-income countries, where 71.5 per cent of the population cannot afford a healthy diet, compared to 6.3 per cent in high-income countries. Notably, the number dropped below pre-pandemic levels in Asia and in Northern America and Europe, while it increased substantially in Africa.

While progress has been made in increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates among infants to 48 per cent, achieving global nutrition targets will be a challenge.

Low birthweight prevalence has stagnated around 15 per cent and stunting among children under five, while declining to 22.3 per cent, still falls short of achieving targets.

Additionally, the prevalence of wasting among children has not seen significant improvement while anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years has increased.

Similarly, new estimates of adult obesity show a steady increase over the last decade, from 12.1 per cent in 2012 to 15.8 per cent in 2022. Projections indicate that by 2030, the world will have more than 1.2 billion obese adults.

 The double burden of malnutrition – the co-existence of undernutrition together with overweight and obesity – has also surged globally across all age groups.

Thinness and underweight have declined in the last two decades, while obesity has risen sharply.