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Near East and North Africa - Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023

Statstics and trends














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    FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO & UNESCWA. 2023. Near East and North Africa – Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, 2023: Statistics and trends. Cairo.




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      This year’s report presents evidence that Arab States face significant challenges in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 targets related to hunger, food security, and nutrition, as undernourishment, moderate or severe food insecurity, and malnourishment are increasing. Child wasting and overweight are higher, and adult obesity is double the global average. LDCs and conflict-affected countries suffer from even more severe hunger and malnutrition, including child stunting, wasting, and women’s anaemia. The report also provides the first assessment of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shows a growing trend in the price of nutritious diets in recent years and that more than half the Arab population cannot afford a healthy diet. The Ukraine crisis, which has triggered food shortages and increased food price inflation, further adds to the burden on the region. This year, the report focuses on how trade can enable regional food security and nutrition. Arab countries rely significantly on imports for the essential food items necessary for diverse and healthy diets that they cannot locally produce in sufficient quantities due to limited natural resource endowments. It discusses the role of trade and trade facilitation as essential enablers of all four dimensions of food security and nutrition. It also underlines how tariffs and non-tariff measures influence the economic access to food in the area. On the other hand, countries that depend on trade may become more exposed to outside shocks, as the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis have highlighted. The report assesses Arab countries’ vulnerabilities, such as import dependency and lack of supplier diversification. To reduce the exposure to such external shocks, international trade must be carefully managed, sources of imports should be diversified, and international trade relations must be expanded to include new partners and markets. The report concludes with further policy recommendations that aim for the better integration of trade into food security and nutrition policies in the region.
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      Africa - Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023
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      Africa is facing a food crisis of unprecedented proportions. Millions are expected to be at risk of worsening hunger in the near future due to the rippling effects of the war in Ukraine, which are compounding the devastating impacts that conflicts, climate variability and extremes, economic slowdowns and downturns, and the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic are having on the most vulnerable. In this context, social and gender inequalities are also on the rise, with women and girls being among the most affected by these shocks.Despite efforts made in several countries, the African continent is not on track to meet the food security and nutrition targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 2 on Zero Hunger for 2030, and certainly the Malabo targets of ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2025. The most recent estimates show that nearly 282 million people in Africa (about 20 percent of the population) were undernourished in 2022, an increase of 57 million people since the COVID-19 pandemic began. About 868 million people were moderately or severely food-insecure and more than one-third of them – 342 million people – were severely food-insecure.The present edition of the report presents the latest analysis of the prevalence and trends in undernourishment, food insecurity, and malnutrition. In addition, it includes, for the first time, estimates of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet, which are useful indicators of people’s economic access to nutritious foods and healthy diets.The deterioration of the food security situation and the lack of progress towards the WHO global nutrition targets make it imperative for countries to step up their efforts ifthey are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition by 2030. The call for greater action remains true in view of the projected lower rate of economic growth, high general andfood price inflation, and raising borrowing costs on domestic and international markets since 2022.
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      The 2025 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition reveals a stark deterioration in food security across the Arab States in 2024, where hunger reached its highest level in more than two decades, affecting nearly 77.5 million people – 15.8 percent of the population. While global hunger has slightly improved, the region continues to diverge, with undernourishment rising particularly in low-income and conflict-affected countries. Food insecurity has also deepened, with four in ten people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to one in three in 2015. The report underscores how the convergence of protracted conflict, economic decline, widening inequalities, climate-related shocks, and disruptions in global supply chains are driving alarming increases in hunger and malnutrition, threatening development gains and heightening risks for millions across the region.

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      Hunger in the Arab region worsened amid deepening crises in 2023. The Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition warns that the Arab region remains off-track to meet the food security and nutrition targets of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.In 2023, 66.1 million people, approximately 14 percent of the population in the Arab region, faced hunger. The report highlights that access to adequate food remains elusive for millions. Around 186.5 million people – 39.4 percent of the population – faced moderate or severe food insecurity, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. Alarmingly, 72.7 million people experienced severe food insecurity.