30 pct East Africans undernourished, UN puts solutions for govts

There has been a severe increase in the number of people going hungry in East Africa. According to a latest report from the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the UN Children's Fund and the World Food Program and the World Health Organization noted that reaching the target of zero hunger by 2030 is "an immense challenge."

Achieving the target set by the United Nations General Assembly 2015 on Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), which is "end hunger and achieve food security" globally by 2030, seems to be quite tough as over 820 million people worldwide are deprived of adequate food with the situation most alarming in Africa. The report further stated that Africa has the highest rates of hunger in the world and the rates and constantly rising in some of the continent's sub-regions.

"It is estimated that over two billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food, including 8 percent of the population of North America and Europe," the report noted. The United Nations recently announced that the number of people going hungry has increased for the third year running. In East Africa, according to the report, over three in 10 of the population are undernourished. "Since 2011, almost half the countries where rising hunger occurred due to economic slowdowns or stagnation were in Africa," the report added.

"It seems incredible that in 2019 Homo sapiens is still struggling with the fight against hunger, and even more incredible to see that we are losing! Slow Food has been involved in this fight for many years now, and the picture that emerges today from the new edition of the UN report calls for further commitment, with strength and urgency. For the fourth year running, the report shows a worsening situation, which means that we are seeing a trend," Carlo Petrini, international president of Slow Food and ambassador of the Fame Zero programme for FAO said.

According to the report and what Petrini shared is that the problem is not entirely on the quantity of food available globally, but the availability of food for those people in disadvantaged economic and social conditions is a tough task. Thus, it is a matter of denied rights and nothing to do with augmenting production. "We therefore need bolder policies from governments all over the world to combat poverty, inequality and marginalization, policies that adopt and promote an agro-ecological, inclusive and socially equitable model of food production," Petrini added.

This indicator is based on data obtained directly from people in surveys about their access to food in the last one year, using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES).

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