World Food Day: UAE minister calls for urgent response as another year of record global hunger looms

World Food Day: UAE minister calls for urgent response as another year of record global hunger looms

Several crises push number of hungry people around the globe to 345 million

Published: Sat 15 Oct 2022, 1:45 PM

The world is at risk of yet another year of record hunger as the global food crisis continues to drive yet more people into worsening levels of acute food insecurity, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in call for urgent action to address the root causes of today’s crisis ahead of World Food Day, on October 16.

The global food crisis is a confluence of competing crises – caused by climate shocks, conflict, and economic pressures – that has pushed the number of hungry people around the world from 282 million to 345 million in just the first months of 2022. WFP scaled up food assistance targets to reach a record 153 million people in 2022, and by mid-year, had already delivered assistance to 111.2 million people.

“We are facing an unprecedented global food crisis and all signs suggest we have not yet seen the worst. For the last three years hunger numbers have repeatedly hit new peaks. Let me be clear: things can and will get worse unless there is a large-scale and coordinated effort to address the root causes of