BACKGROUND

The world is not on track to meet the goal to end world hunger and malnutrition in all its

forms by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate change made this

endeavour significantly more challenging, increasing the number of people suffering from

hunger, intensifying inequalities and jeopardizing progress achieved in the past decades. At

the same time, farmers – and humanity as a whole – are facing new challenges posed by cli-

mate change, land degradation and water scarcity, biodiversity loss as well as other negative

environmental impacts: an unprecedented, complex and overlapping wave of crises.

In 2021, between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger1. It is estimated that

nearly 670 million people will suffer from hunger in 2030 – around 8 percent of the global

population, the same percentage as in 2015, when the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Develop-

ment was launched2 – a significant setback in progress towards SDG2, with serious implica-

tions for the achievement of all SDGs.

Malnutrition is also a major challenge. Rising consumer food prices mean the number

of people unable to afford a healthy diet grew by 112 million in only one year to almost 3.1 bil-

lion3. Child malnutrition is particularly concerning. An estimated 22 percent (149 million) of

children under 5 are affected by stunting, 6.7 percent (45 million) suffer from wasting and 5.7

percent (39 million) are overweight4. Adult obesity is increasing in all regions from 11.8 percent

in 2012 to 13.1 percent in 2016, the last year for which data is available.

Furthermore, at the global level, the gender gap in the prevalence of moderate or severe

food insecurity grew even larger in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately

affecting women’s economic opportunities and access to healthy food. Globally and in every

region of the world, food insecurity is more prevalent among women than men. Women and

girls are also more likely to suffer from various forms of malnutrition, including undernu-

trition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, obesity and anaemia – in 2019, nearly one in

three women aged 15 to 49 years (571 million) were affected by anaemia5.

Agriculture6 and food systems are deeply intertwined with economies, cultures, societies,

health, climate and the environment; hence, both agriculture and food systems affect prog-

ress towards the majority of SDGs and are uniquely placed to contribute to it.

1 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2022. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022. Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable. Rome, FAO.

2 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2022. 3 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2022. 4 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2022. 5 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2022. 6 In this document, agriculture refers to crop, livestock, fisheries (capture and aquaculture) and forestry..

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