Global Hunger

Nobel Prize-winning UN World Food Program head to step down

The executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, which won the Nobel Peace Prize two years ago, says he will step down at the end of a six-year term heading the world's largest humanitarian organization. David Beasley, a Republican, served one term as South Carolina's governor from 1995 to 1999. In a statement Saturday, Beasley said he will exit his role at the conclusion of his term in April 2023. Serving in this capacity has been the greatest joy and deepest heartache of my life, Beasley said. Thanks to the generosity of governments and individuals, we have fed so many millions of people. But the reality is we have not been able to feed them all and the tragedy of extreme hunger in a wealthy world persists. Beasley was appointed to the U.N. post in 2017 by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, and was recommended for the job by Nikki Haley, another former South Carolina governor. Haley also served as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Trump administration. ...

Global food concerns rise as Russia halts UN-brokered Ukraine grain deal

US President Joe Biden has warned that global hunger could increase because of Russia's suspension of a UN-brokered deal to allow safe passage for ships carrying Ukrainian grain. It's really outrageous, said Biden speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday. There's no merit to what they're doing. The UN negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it. Biden spoke hours after Russia announced it would immediately halt participation in the agreement, alleging that Ukraine staged a drone attack Saturday against Russia's Black Sea Fleet ships off the coast of occupied Crimea. Ukraine has denied the attack, saying that Russia mishandled its own weapons. The grain initiative has allowed more than 9 million tons of grain in 397 ships to safely leave Ukrainian ports since it was signed in July, and the UN chief on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the deal when it expires in late November. The grain agreement has succeeded in bringing down global food prices, which have fal

Govt says Global Hunger Index exaggerates measure of hunger: Report

The Global Hunger Index exaggerates the measure of hunger, lacks statistical vigour and has problems on multiple counts, Union Health Ministry sources said Tuesday after India stood 107th out of 121 in this year's rankings. It does not really measure hunger, they said while asserting that the report "deliberately ignores the tremendous efforts made by the government to ensure food security for the population, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic". Three out of the four indicators used are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population, sources said. They said that according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) the indicators of undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality do not measure hunger per se as these are not the manifestations of hunger alone. Many of the measures that are used to evolve an index that measures hunger are probably contextual, the ministry sources said. Claiming that the Global Hunger Index

Global Hunger Index: Writing on the wall, or "misleading measurements"?

The Indian government has maintained the stance that the Global Hunger Index is an "erroneous measurement of hunger" and part of a "consistent effort" to "taint India's image"

Soaring dollar leaves food piled up in ports as world hunger grows

Dwindling foreign-currency reserves in many cases has reduced access to dollars, and banks are slow in releasing payments

Unresolved Ukraine crisis can derail global effort to end hunger: India

Reiterating its call for dialogue and diplomacy, India said that if the conflict in Ukraine is not solved through talks immediately, there will be severe repercussions in the global economy

Russia-Ukraine war could push 11-19 mn into hunger worldwide: UN agency

Russia's war in Ukraine has a significant impact on the global food markets and could leave an additional 11 to 19 million people with hunger, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization warned

Russian President Putin ties grain exports to demand that sanctions go

Putin didn't specify if he was referring to Russian exports or those from Ukraine that have been stopped by Moscow's blockage of ports since its invasion began in late February

40 million more pushed into acute hunger last year: United Nations

The United Nations defines "acute food insecurity" as when a person's inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger

UN responds to Musk on how his wealth could address world hunger

The head of UN's food-assistance branch WFP David Beasley has laid out the plan as to how this amount could prevent 42 million people across 43 countries from starving

Global Hunger Index 2021 reflects India's reality post Covid: Oxfam

India's Global Hunger Index 2021 ranking at 101st position "unfortunately" reflects the reality of the country, Oxfam India said

Dip in India's rank in Global Hunger Index 2021 'shocking', says govt

The Centre on Friday said it was shocking that India's rank was lowered on the Global Hunger Index, terming the methodology used for rankings "unscientific". India slipped to 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th. It is now behind its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Reacting sharply to the report, the Women and Child Development Ministry said it is "shocking" to find that the Global Hunger Report 2021 has lowered the rank of India on the basis of FAO estimate on proportion of undernourished population which is found to be "devoid of ground reality and facts and suffers from serious methodological issues". "The publishing agencies of the Global Hunger Report, Concern Worldwide and Welt Hungerhilfe, have not done their due diligence before releasing the report," the ministry said in a statement. The methodology used by FAO is "unscientific", the ministry claimed.

Global hunger to rise in 2021 due to income losses from Covid-19 pandemic

291 million people won't have enough to eat in 2021, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

World hunger was dramatically worse in the pandemic year, UN laments

The United Nations on Monday lamented what it called a dramatic worsening" of world hunger last year, saying much of that is likely connected to the pandemic. A report issued jointly by five UN agencies said hunger outpaced population growth in 2020, with nearly 10% of all people estimated to be undernourished. It said the sharpest rise in hunger came in Africa, where 21% of the people are estimated to be undernourished. Children paid a high price, with 149 million of those younger than five estimated be have stunted growth since they are too short for their age. More than 45 million children are too thin for their height. "A full 3 billion adults and children remain locked out of healthy diets, largely due to excessive costs,'' the UN agencies said. In many parts of the world, the pandemic has triggered brutal recessions and jeopardised access to food," the United Nations said in a summary of its findings. "Yet even before the pandemic, hunger was spreading; progress on malnutri

Nobel Peace Prize 2020 awarded to World Food Programme for fighting hunger

Long forgotten during the 1990s and early 2000s as famine and hunger largely disappeared from news headlines, the WFP jumped into the spotlight again in 2007-08 as the world faced a food crisis

Covid-19 pandemic could push 130 mn more people into chronic hunger: UN

The UN agencies said a staggering 3 billion people or more can't afford to acquire the food needed for a healthy diet

India is 102 in Hunger Index of 117 nations, undoing decade of improvement

In India, just 9.6 percent of all children between 6 and 23 months of age are fed a minimum acceptable diet, a global report said

Global hunger affecting 815 mn people of the world: UN report

The report stated that the global hunger is driven by conflict and climate change