প্রকাশ: 07/07/2022
World hunger levels rose again last year after soaring in
2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Ukraine war and climate change
threatening starvation and mass migration on an "unprecedented scale"
this year, according to UN agencies.
Up to 828 million people, or nearly 10 per cent of the
world's population, were affected by hunger last year, 46 million more than in
2020 and 150 million more than in 2019, agencies including the Food and
Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and World Health Organisation
said in the 2022 edition of the UN food security and nutrition report.
World hunger levels remained relatively unchanged between
2015 and 2019.
"There is a real danger these numbers will climb even
higher in the months ahead," said WFP executive director David Beasley,
adding price spikes in food, fuel and fertilisers stemming from the
Russia-Ukraine war threaten to push countries into famine.
"The result will be global destabilisation, starvation,
and mass migration on an unprecedented scale. We have to act today to avert
this looming catastrophe," he added.
Russia and Ukraine are the world's third and fourth largest
grains exporters, respectively, while Russia is also a key fuel and fertiliser
exporter.
The war has disrupted their exports, pushed world food
prices to record levels and triggered protests in developing countries already
contending with elevated food prices due to Covid-19 related supply chain
disruptions.
The UN report released on Wednesday warned of
"potentially sobering" implications for food security and nutrition
as conflict, climate extremes, economic shocks and inequalities keep
intensifying.
It estimated that globally in 2020, 22 per cent of children
under 5 were stunted while 6.7 per cent or 45 million suffered from wasting, a
deadly form of malnutrition that increases the risk of death by up to 12 times.
Calling for an overhaul of agricultural policies, the report
said the global food and agriculture sector received almost $630 billion a year
in support that often distorted market prices, did not reach small-scale
farmers, hurt the environment and did not promote nutritious food production.
This support includes subsidies that mostly target calorie
rich staple foods like cereals, sugar, meat and dairy at the expense of
healthier, nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, pulses and seeds.
"Every year, 11 million people die due to unhealthy
diets. Rising food prices mean this will only get worse," said WHO
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"WHO supports countries’ efforts to improve food
systems through taxing unhealthy foods, subsidising healthy options, protecting
children from harmful marketing, and ensuring clear nutrition labels," he
added.
- Reuters
প্রধান সম্পাদকঃ সৈয়দ বোরহান কবীর
ক্রিয়েটিভ মিডিয়া লিমিটেডের অঙ্গ প্রতিষ্ঠান
বার্তা এবং বাণিজ্যিক কার্যালয়ঃ ২/৩ , ব্লক - ডি , লালমাটিয়া , ঢাকা -১২০৭
নিবন্ধিত ঠিকানাঃ বাড়ি# ৪৩ (লেভেল-৫) , রোড#১৬ নতুন (পুরাতন ২৭) , ধানমন্ডি , ঢাকা- ১২০৯
ফোনঃ +৮৮-০২৯১২৩৬৭৭