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Financing Challenges for Food Security
Context:
UN report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024” reveals that approximately 63% of low & middle income countries (out of 119 analysed) have limited or moderate access to financing for food security and nutrition.
Key Findings:
- Progress in fighting global hunger has set back 15 years, around 733 mn people going hungry in 2023, equivalent to 1 in 11 people globally.
- This indicates that the global community is significantly falling short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2.
- Despite progress in combating stunting and in promoting breastfeeding, global hunger levels remained static for three consecutive years.
- Regional trends show a stark contrast with hunger continuing to rise in Africa, affecting 20.4% of the population, while remaining stable in Asia at 8.1 per cent.
- In 2023, about 2.33 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure, nearly the same number as during the COVID pandemic.
Structural Limitations and Inadequate Funding for Food Security:
- 74% of these countries were impacted by major factors contributing to food insecurity and malnutrition.
- Undernourishment prevalence is significantly higher in countries with limited access to financing (23.1%) compared to moderate (10.4%) and high (6.9%) access.
- A similar trend is observed in child stunting rates, indicating a direct correlation between financing access and nutritional outcomes.
- Higher rates observed in countries with limited (23.9%) and moderate (20.9%) access to financing.
- The report notes that countries most in need of financial support for food security face structural limitations that hinder their ability to secure necessary funding.
- Despite critical need, less than 25% of total official development assistance is allocated to food security and nutrition.
- In the period between 2017 to 2021, these flows amounted to $76 billion per year, of which only 34% helped address the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition.
New Definition and Standardised Approach:
- The report calls for a universal adoption of a new definition and standardised approach to mapping financing flows for food security and nutrition.
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- Currently, there is no agreed-upon definition of measuring financing flows.
- Multiple definitions lead to differences in estimates, undermining efforts to identify underfinanced areas and track intervention effectiveness.
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- Proposed Definition: Financing for food security and nutrition refers to public and private financial resources, both domestic and foreign, directed towards eradicating hunger, food insecurity, and all forms of malnutrition.
Investment in Agriculture is Essential:
- There is a need to make investments in agriculture in rural areas crucial for overcoming hunger and poverty.
- It indicates that without increased and smarter investments, the global goal of ending hunger by 2030 is unlikely to be met.
Way Forward:
- Financing to End Hunger, Food Insecurity, and All Forms of Malnutrition Report recommends transforming agrifood systems, addressing inequalities, and making healthy diets affordable and accessible.
- The report calls for increased, cost-effective financing and a standardised approach to food security and nutrition.
- Establish a common definition of financing, clarifying what is being funded and its key elements, enhancing donor accountability and providing a clearer picture of financial flows.
Why are there so many hungry people?
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