Ongoing food crises in the world in statistics DevelopmentAid

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, food crises were on the rise, worsened by the impacts of catastrophic climate events, conflicts, and various disruptions in developing economies.

But in just two years, the coronavirus pandemic has become one of the major causes of food shortages.

Today, the war in Ukraine could further reduce global supplies of basic crops including wheat, corn, and sunflower oil around the globe, intensifying food crises and pushing another 44 million into starvation in 2022.

With hunger being a direct result of food insufficiency, its eradication is the second goal in the list of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. However, according to the 2021 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report meeting, this objective has, to say the least, become more difficult to achieve.

What is a food crisis?

A food crisis results in widespread food shortages in a society. It occurs when hunger and malnutrition levels grow dramatically on a local or global scale due to insufficient food.

Here are some food crises and hunger statistics:

In 2020, the food crisis was the cause of 21% of African people facing hunger (twice the level of any other area on Earth).
28 million East African people will face extreme hunger in 2022 if there is not enough rain.
In West Africa, the number of people suffering from hunger has hit 27 million with the region experiencing its most extreme food crisis of the last 10 years. This figure could hit 38 million by the end of June.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of people facing food crisis grew by 13.8 million in 2020, reaching 59.7 million people, its peak point over the last two decades.
Hunger also has a serious effect on children’s development. In 2020, about 22% of children in the world aged five or less (around 149 million) were underdeveloped and nearly 75% of these were from Central and Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Fig.1. By September 2021, around 111 million people were in сrisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) in nine out of the 10 largest food crises of 2020

Source: Global Report on Food Crises 2021

Fig.2. IPC Acute Food Insecurity Phase descriptions

Interactive content by Flourish

Source: WFP

War in Ukraine to have serious effect on food availability

Based on predictions from the World Food Programme (WFP) 2022 will be a year of severe hunger. Its data shows that 44 million people from 38 states are expected to suffer from starvation.

The conflict that is currently taking place in Ukraine has thrown the world’s commodity markets into disarray but even before the war started, food prices had registered a skyrocketing increase.

Over the last decade, besides being one of the main exporters of wheat, Ukraine has turned into the WFP’s largest provider of sunflower oil.
Because the Russian Federation is a large player in the energy sector, unavoidable price spikes stemming from sanctions will worsen the situation for some of the highly vulnerable nations.
Around 16.2 million people in Yemen – the nation that has experienced an extreme food crisis due to prolonged civil war – are currently facing food insecurity with WFP being forced to cut its supplies to the country.

The WFP report shows that due to the conflict and the sanctions on Russia, 13.5 million tons of wheat and 16 million tons of maize are blocked in Ukraine

WFP supplies that are stuck in the port of Odesa on the Black Sea may have a huge effect in West Africa where the cargo was due to arrive in May.
China previously reported that in 2022 it was expecting its worst wheat harvest in history. The country is expected to import more grains in 2022 simply to meet demand.
Wheat, maize, edible oils, and fertilizers are currently the most impacted commodities due to the closure of the major ports in Ukraine that have led to low grain supply, increased energy costs, and higher fertilizer prices.
After the price of natural gas surged in 2021, many European manufacturers cut back on nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing. Nations from the EU, South America, and Africa rely heavily on fertilizer imports coming from the Black Sea area. Without fertilizers, farmers expect lower productivity and, as a consequence, fewer crops which will lead to higher prices and shortages.

Food crisis in Africa

Africa is home to 1.4 billion people. Drought, wars, and uncertainty in some of its regions have contributed to extreme food scarcity on the continent. The effects of the COVID-19 crisis have pushed millions of African children and adults into poverty with income capacity and purchasing power dwindling, livelihoods being lost, and essential food and services becoming increasingly scarce.

Seemingly the war in Ukraine, located thousands of kilometers away, should not have a significant impact on the continent. However, it may lead to the worst hunger on there.

First of all, note that Ukraine plays a vital role in the global food chain. Together with Russia, the two countries generate 12% of all food calories around the world. Secondly, a significant part of the crops produced in Ukraine and Russia are exported to the Middle East and Africa.

Egypt is the number one nation in terms of wheat imports, purchasing around 13 million tons each year. Currently, the nation is highly dependent on wheat from Russia and Ukraine with 57% to 60% of its wheat being imported from these countries.

West Africa

The West African region is experiencing its greatest food crisis since the 2010s with 27 million people in the region being hit by hunger (in 2015 this figure was 7 million). This summer, the figure could exceed 38 million.
Among the 16 nations in the region, hunger is expected to hit the worst in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.

Food crisis in Nigeria

Based on data presented by the Cadre harmonisé (CH), over 38 million people are expected to face a food crisis this summer, with Nigeria being the most affected where 19.5 million people will experience malnourishment.

East Africa

13 million suffer from extreme hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that this year food crisis will affect around 15-20 million people in these three nations.
UNICEF warns that over 5 million children in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia could experience physical and cognitive development issues due to malnourishment.
Since East Africa imports around 90% of its wheat, most of which comes from Ukraine, the war will significantly worsen the whole situation for the region.

Food crisis in India

Due to the corona pandemic and growing unemployment, India’s hunger situation has worsened.

21% of people live in poverty
The National Family Health Survey’s First Phase revealed that 16 states showed a surge in underweight and severely wasted children under the age of five.
While the country has managed to make significant gains in grain outputs and malnutrition rates over the last few decades, it continues to face significant food and nutrition scarcity, ranking 101st out of 116 nations on the 2021 Global Hunger Index.

According to The Hindu Business Line:

Due to the conflict in Ukraine, fertilizer and cooking oil prices in India are expected to rise dramatically. Note that at least 35% of the country’s fertilizers are imported.
Because the nation imports 80% of its crude oil, fuel prices are also expected to increase. This will raise prices in general, causing rampant inflation.
Sunflower oil supplies from Ukraine are another source of concern for the Indian authorities. With exports on hold, the lack of this product may lead to a local food crisis and shortage.

Final word

Millions of people throughout the world struggle because of food crises and the resulting malnourishment. This is because they are simply unable to buy food . Ongoing conflicts are one of the main reasons that food crises occur, having a detrimental impact on almost every part of the food system, be it production, harvesting, or transportation, as well as input supply and marketing.