The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024

1 Prevalence of undernourishment, 2005–2023

2 Number of undernourished people, 2005–2023

3 Prevalence of food insecurity at severe level only, and at moderate or severe level, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, 2015–2023

4 Number of people experiencing food insecurity at severe level only, and at moderate or severe level, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, 2015–2023

5 The average cost of a healthy diet, 2017–2022

6 Proportion of the population and number of people unable to afford a healthy diet, 2017–2022

7 Regional trends for the seven global nutrition targets

8 Matrix of different financing flows by source

9 Composition of public spending on food security and nutrition in Benin

10 Composition of public spending on food security and nutrition in Uganda

11 Composition of public spending on food security and nutrition in selected low- and middle-income countries

12 Global official development assistance and other official flows for all aid sectors and for food security and nutrition

13 Destination of official development assistance and other official flows for food security and nutrition by recipient income group and region

14 Philanthropic flows to food security and nutrition

15 Growth and distribution of cross-border remittances that support food security and nutrition to low- and middle-income countries

16 Foreign direct investment specific to food security and nutrition flowing to developing economies

17 Overview of studies with cost estimates for ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition

18 Low- and middle-income countries’ degree of ability to access financing, considering food security and nutrition indicators and the major drivers

A1.1 Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and global nutrition targets: prevalence of undernourishment, moderate or severe food insecurity, selected forms of malnutrition, exclusive breastfeeding and low birthweight

A1.2 Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and global nutrition targets: number of people who are affected by undernourishment, moderate or severe food insecurity and selected forms of malnutrition; number of infants exclusively breastfed and number of babies born with low birthweight

A1.3 Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, and severe food insecurity only, by degree of urbanization in 2023

A1.4 Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, and severe food insecurity only, among adult men and women in 2023

A1.5 The cost of a healthy diet by region, subregion, country and country income group, 2017–2022

A1.6 Unaffordability of a healthy diet by region, subregion, country and country income group, 2017–2022

1 Global hunger rose sharply from 2019 to 2021 and persisted at the same level to 2023

2 Progress was made towards reducing hunger in some subregions of Asia and in Latin America, but hunger is still on the rise in Western Asia, the Caribbean and most subregions of Africa

3 Projected numbers of undernourished indicate that the world is far off track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030

4 Food insecurity levels remained virtually unchanged globally from 2022 to 2023, with Latin America and the Caribbean being the only region showing notable reduction

5 The concentration and distribution of food insecurity by severity in 2023 differed greatly across the regions of the world

6 Globally and in most regions, the prevalence of food insecurity is higher in rural areas than in urban areas

7 The gender gap narrowed in most regions for two years in a row, but the prevalence of food insecurity has remained consistently higher among women than among men, globally and in all regions

8 The proportion of the population and number of people unable to afford a healthy diet in the world decreased from 2020 to 2022

9 Three-quarters of the people who are unable to afford a healthy diet live in low- and lower-middle-income countries

10 Global stunting and wasting prevalences have been declining and levels of exclusive breastfeeding rising over the past decade, but the world is not on track to achieve any of the seven global nutrition targets by 2030

11 More countries are off track than on track for most of the seven global nutrition targets

12 Compared to the global estimates, least developed countries have much higher levels of stunting in children under age five and of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, and the same worrying rise in adult obesity

13 Globally, obesity rates have risen sharply and thinness and underweight have declined among school-age children, adolescents, adults and the elderly

14 Total official development assistance grants for low- and middle-income countries associated with different definitions of financing for food security and nutrition, average 2019-2021

15 A conceptual diagram of the new definition of financing for food security and nutrition – for ending hunger and food insecurity (SDG Target 2.1) and all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2)

16 The core definition of financing for food security and nutrition entails addressing the main determinants of food security and nutrition

17 The increasing frequency and intensity of major drivers and income inequality in low- and middle-income countries, 2003–2022

18 Hunger is higher and has increased the most in countries affected by the major drivers, and hunger increases are higher in poor countries affected by more than one major driver

19 The extended definition of financing for food security and nutrition addresses the major drivers through policies and actions along six transformative pathways

20 Application of the core and extended definitions of financing for food security and nutrition

21 General domestic government expenditure on agriculture per rural inhabitant is extremely low and not clearly increasing in low- and lower-middle-income countries where it is mostly needed to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition

22 General domestic government expenditure on agriculture per capita is negatively correlated with food security and undernutrition indicators, average 2017–2019

23 Public spending on food security and nutrition shows almost steady growth in Benin up to 2021

24 Public spending on food security and nutrition shows steady growth in Uganda, but this could not be sustained in 2022

25 Official development assistance (ODA) and other official flows (OOF) for food security and nutrition represent less than a quarter of global ODA and OOF flows and are mostly allocated to food consumption and health

26 The composition of official development assistance and other official flows for food security and nutrition is very stable over time

27 Food availability, health services and environmental health, and conflict and inequality take the majority of the official development assistance and other official flows for, respectively, food consumption, health, and the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition, annual average, 2017–2021

28 Net banking loans to agriculture, forestry and fishing show an almost continuous decline

29 Trillions of USD are estimated to be needed to finance investments for ending hunger and some forms of malnutrition, and to increase the affordability of healthy diets by 2030

30 Summary of the methodology for assessing countries’ ability to access financing

31 Risk gradient for financial stakeholders

32 Which are the most adequate financing tools and mechanisms depending on the country context?

33 Recommended innovative financing instruments for countries, considering their ability to access financing flows

34 Recommendations for addressing the fragmentation of the current food security and nutrition financing architecture for ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition

1 Updates in the series of prevalence of undernourishment estimates

2 Deepening humanitarian crises increase acute food insecurity and threaten the right to adequate food in many places in the world

3 Is food insecurity severity associated with the properties of a healthy diet? Preliminary evidence from 28 countries

4 Ongoing improvements in the method to assess the affordability of a healthy diet

5 Double-duty actions to address the double burden of malnutrition

6 Brief definition of the financial terms used in this report

7 The definition of financing for food security and nutrition

8 Protracted major food crisis countries are severely affected by multiple major drivers and face among the highest levels of chronic food insecurity

9 Six transformation pathways to address the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition

10 Some private investments can have negative impacts on Sustainable Development Goal 2

11 The opportunity cost of not repurposing budget allocations for the agriculture and livestock sectors in six sub-Saharan African countries

12 Debt swaps for climate and food security and nutrition objectives

13 Insurance and guarantees, essential tools for de-risking food security and nutrition investments

14 Closing the gender gap in accessing financing flows and services

15 The Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility

16 Innovative social impact investment fund in Uganda

17 Leveraging tools to track progress in financing for food security and nutrition and agrifood systems