World Hunger and Food Prices on the Rise

Alan Hua
Jul 20, 2022
2 min read

World Hunger and Food Prices on the Rise According to the 2022 Report - The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World

With the release of the 2022 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, it is clear that many countries are still suffering greatly from the COVID-19 Pandemic as the global number of people affected by hunger continues to rise. Due to “an unequal pattern of economic recovery” and unrecovered income losses by those most affected by the Pandemic, global hunger rates have risen greatly in 2021. However, there may be another catalyst for growing rates of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition: the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to the U.N. report by agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization, 828 million people (10% of the world population) were affected by hunger in 2021. This number is 46 million more than reported in 2020 and 149 million more people than in 2019. With the current Russia-Ukraine war, prices of food, fuel, and fertilizers have soared to record heights, creating the threat of famine for many countries. With Russia and Ukraine being the 3rd and 4th largest grain exporters, and Russia a key fuel and fertilizer exporter, disruptions to these exports as a result of the war have pushed world food prices higher than ever. Combined with already elevated food costs as a result of supply shortages, unrecovered incomes and economies due to COVID-19, and protests in developing countries, the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war have only added more fuel to an already burning fire.

As detailed by the U.N. report, part of the problem lies within agricultural policies which are ineffective and making the issue worse. The report explains that the global food and agriculture sector receives about $630 billion per year in support, yet these subsidies often distort market prices, do not reach small-scale farmers, and fail to promote the production of nutritious food. Subsidies provided to the food and agricultural sector focus on calorie-rich staple foods such as grains, cereals, meat, and dairy while more nutritious options such as fruits and vegetables are left out of the picture.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus states, “Every Year, 11 million people die due to unhealthy diets. Rising food prices mean this will only get worse.” Some ways to deal with the issue of rising food prices include “taxing unhealthy foods, subsidizing healthy options, protecting children from harmful marketing, and ensuring clear nutrition labels,” he adds.