In this report, Dr. Tola Oladimeji asks: Will the SDG target of hunger eradication by 2030 be met?
In the 2018 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition report, the possibility seems more remote if present trends continue.
According to this report, there are more undernourished people in the world in 2017 than there were in the previous year, increasing from 804 million people to 821 million in 2017. This increase sounds a clear warning that, if efforts are not enhanced, the SDG target of hunger eradication will not be achieved by 2030.
The report also revealed that Africa remains the continent with the most undernourished people with 2 out of every 10 persons affected by undernutrition and about 1 out of 5 persons in the region having suffered from chronic food deprivation in 2017. It is worthy of note that only Eastern Africa has not experienced an increase in the prevalence of undernourishment.
Undernourishment figures from Nigeria have also worsened – proportion of undernourished people in the population have almost doubled from 6.5% in 2004-2006 to 11.5% now. 1 out of every 5 under-five children have lost weight due to underfeeding and more than 4 out of 10 under-fives have chronically stunted growth from underfeeding.
Insecurity and conflicts in various regions of the world have adversely affected food production and availability, resulting in the worsening undernutrition. Also, climate changes and variability compromise all dimensions of food security.
Resolving conflicts and achieving peace are unlikely but indispensable weapon to combating undernutrition in our world today, as well as helping farming systems and communities to become more resilient to climate change. It becomes apparent then that multi-sectoral collaboration in every intervention is key.
“Eradicating hunger in the world by 2030 is still possible but we must redouble our efforts.”