Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 12th Dec. Food and Agricultural agency on Monday in a new report revealed that over 370 million people in Asia and the Pacific about half the world total are unable to afford healthy diets, with women faring far worse than men.
Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023, launched on Monday noted that the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are compounded by the rising cost of a healthy diet.
FAO said that the figures of undernourishment varied across countries, southern Asia witnessed the highest prevalence of undernourishment at 15.6 per cent (313.6 million), with over 809 million either moderately or severely food insecure.
In southern Asia accounted for highest number undernourished people by population size, the south-west Pacific islands fared worst per-capita, with about 20.9 per cent of their population, or one in five inhabitants undernourished, it stated.
FAO noted that except for east Asia, women tended to fare worse than men regarding under nutrition, with one-in-ten dealing with severe hunger, while nearly one-in-four women facing at least moderate levels of hunger.
Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific Jong-Jin Kim said that “This report is by no means exhaustive. However, the facts presented serve as food for thought. At the same time, they will not put meals on the table of the many food-insecure and nutritionally vulnerable people living in this part of the world”.
“Clearly, there is an urgent call for whole-of-government, well-coordinated and integrated actions and investments towards agrifood systems transformation if we are to turn the tide and put the countries back on track to meeting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.
Comments are closed.