There are 734 million people going hungry around the world, 122 million more than in 2019, according to (SOFI). Launched by UN agencies including the FAO and , the report estimates 29.6 percent of the world鈥檚 population, around 2.4 billion people, had restricted access to food last year. This includes around 900 million people facing severe food insecurity amid worsening and intersecting crises. WFP needs US$25.1 billion to reach 171.5 million people around the world this year.
The benchmark index of international food commodity prices declined again in June, led by price decreases for all major cereals and most types of vegetable oils, according to the latest . The index dropped 1.4 percent from May and 23.4 % from its peak in March 2022. Nevertheless, FAO warns that high food prices, economic downturns, conflict, droughts, and the impending risk of weather aggravate food security concerns in 45 countries that are assessed to need external assistance for food. .
In 1969 final plans for travel to the moon were being fine-tuned, including how to keep food safe so the astronauts, orbiting in space, would not get sick from the food prepared for the flight. Foodborne illnesses in the 1960s were not a rarity. So, the team approached food safety the way it tested engineering reliability: by checking the weak points in the system. During this period, another body made these standards international for the sake of everyone on the planet, not just in space. An / endorsed 鈥渇ood code鈥 defined hygiene-related food standards for the next 50 plus years.
More than 1 in 10 people fall sick each year from foodborne illness, and 420,000 die. The young and the vulnerable are disproportionately affected by the 200 different foodborne diseases that result from unsafe food, most of which are preventable. Prevention of such illnesses requires food safety to be observed at each stage of the food production chain, from primary production right up to the consumer. On 7 June, World Food Safety Day, and host a hybrid high-level event to highlight how food safety standards contribute to saving lives 鈥 live streamed on the
For Zulaikha, a 48-year-old, widowed the cost of the everyday items she needs for her family of six seems beyond her means. Like many other smallholder livestock keepers and farmers across Afghanistan, Zulaikha鈥檚 livelihood has been battered by a combination of severe drought, the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of economic prospects in the recent past. Things began to improve after supported her with emergency assistance for her livestock to enhance the health of her animals and increase the family鈥檚 access to nutritious food through improved dairy production.
Bees and other pollinators are the tiny linchpins of diverse food systems 鈥 some bees also make honey. That's why many around the world have taken up beekeeping, with 鈥檚 help.
and partners are helping Maasai men and women become beekeepers which is helping regenerate the forests around their hives.
Heavy fighting continues as the prospect of acute hunger is becoming more likely by the day. In almost one month, hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting, over 150,000 have fled Sudan, and hundreds of thousands have become internally displaced, adding to those already displaced by previous conflicts.
In a world where tonnes of edible food is lost, leaving people hungry and small-scale farmers in poverty, temperature-controlled storage and transport of food is a solution. , the , and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy are working with countries to find solutions to sustainably expand cold chain infrastructure, where viable, using renewable energy to power cooling.
The thermometer is already hovering near 40掳C (104掳F) before noon in a remote village in Niger鈥檚 southwestern Tillaberi region. Despite these high temperatures, -supported community gardening initiative, has transformed the once-barren earth with promising payoffs for the farmers. In regions severely affected by the food crisis, a striking 80 percent of villages benefitting from WFP resilience activities did not require humanitarian assistance last year. These initiatives include land rehabilitation where more than 233,000 hectares have been rehabilitated since the initiative鈥檚 launch in 2014.
Youth around the world are invited to create a paper or digital illustration to portray one of the six main steps of the seeds鈥 journey to the International Space Station (ISS), and what happens when they arrive back on Earth.
Muhammad Kasim, his wife, and eldest son repair fish nets damaged during the recent floods. 鈥淲e come from a family of fishermen. Fishing is in our blood 鈥 it is my badge of honour. It鈥檚 also our only source of income,鈥 said Kasim. His lifelong profession and source of income for his large family is now in jeopardy until waters recede and ecological balance is restored. Income from fishing heavily depends on the season. As the floods struck during peak fishing season, local fishermen will have to seek other options to put food on the table. In 2022, the Government of Pakistan launched the 鈥淟iving Indus鈥 initiative to restore the river鈥檚 ecosystem, so the Indus basin can become resilient to climate change.
together with the competent authorities engages many other stakeholders, including researchers who study the food safety issues of cell-based food, private cell-based food developers and producers, and non-governmental organizations to collaborate in this space to advance our collective knowledge.
The World Bank has spent more than $12 billion, out of the $30 billion committed last year, on nutrition security projects and lending 鈥 with almost half for Africa, one of the hardest hit regions by the food crisis.