'Bleak' Global Outlook: UN Report Says 282 Million People Faced Acute Hunger In 2023, Gaza Worst-Hit

About 282 million people suffered from acute hunger due to conflicts in 2023. A recent UN report said that the food security scenario across the world worsened last year.

United Nations agencies and development groups on Wednesday said that around 282 million people suffered from acute hunger due to conflicts, particularly in Gaza and Sudan in the last year, news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported citing the latest global report on food crises from the Food Security Information Network (FSIN). The report said that the food security scenario worsened in 2023 worldwide.

As per the report, extreme weather events, and economic shocks also added to the number facing acute food insecurity. The number grew by 24 million people compared to 2022, according to the report. 

Calling the global outlook “bleak” for this year, the report is produced for an international alliance bringing together UN agencies, the European Union, and governmental and non-governmental bodies. 

Notably, 2023 was the fifth consecutive year of rises in the number of people suffering acute food insecurity. The report defines this situation as when populations face food deprivation that threatens lives or livelihoods, regardless of the causes or length of time. 

Much of last year’s surge in the numbers was attributed to the expanded geographic coverage as well as deteriorating conditions in 12 countries. 

“More geographical areas experienced ‘new or intensified shocks’ while there was a ‘marked deterioration in key food crisis contexts such as Sudan and the Gaza Strip,” Fleur Wouterse, deputy director of the emergencies offices within UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) told APP. 

According to the AFP report, about 7,00,000 people, including 6,00,000 were on the blink of starvation in 2023, a figure that has since climbed to 1.1 million in the war-ridden Palestinian territory.

"Since the first report by the Global Food Crisis Network covering 2016, the number of food-insecure people has risen from 108 million to 282 million," Wouterse said, as reported by AFP. Notably, the share of the population affected within the areas has doubled from 11 percent to 22 percent, she added.

The report said that protracted major food crises are ongoing in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Syria, and Yemen.