Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN food agency says
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says that hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia
BANGKOK — Hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia, with 55 million more people undernourished in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says in its latest assessment of food security in the region.
Most of those living without enough to eat are in South Asia, and women tend to be less food secure than men, the report says.
The FAO’s study focuses on food supply, consumption and dietary energy needs and is designed to capture a state of chronic energy deprivation that stunts growth and saps productivity and quality of life.
The share of people in the region suffering from such undernourishment fell to 8.4% in 2022 from 8.8% the year before. But that’s higher than the 7.3% of people who were undernourished before the pandemic began, sending some economies into a tailspin and depriving millions of people of their livelihoods.
Natural disasters and disruptions to food supplies, often linked to climate change, have added to those pressures.
The FAO data show the share of people in the region facing moderate food insecurity, uncertain of their ability to obtain food and having to sometimes eat less or poorer food due to a lack of money, or those experiencing hunger that puts their well-being at serious risk, still hovers near 30% for the world and above 25% for Asia and the Pacific.
The problem is worst for women: more than one in five women in Asia, excluding East Asia, face moderate or severe food insecurity. The rates are slightly lower for men in most regions, but in Southern Asia the gap grows to more than 42% for women and more than 37% for men.
Higher food, fuel, fertilizer and
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