In its annual index, Welthungerhilfe records setbacks due to conflicts and the consequences of climate change. "The world has strayed off course in the fight against hunger and is moving further and further away from the binding goal of defeating hunger by 2030," announced the organization on Thursday in Berlin for the publication of the 2021 World Hunger Index. Around 811 million people are starving around the world, and another 41 million are living on the verge of famine. The situation is particularly dramatic in Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Madagascar and South Sudan.
The new global hunger index examines the food situation in 128 countries and confirms "the clear setbacks in the fight against hunger". According to this, 47 countries will not even reach a low level of hunger by 2030, 28 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. “Unfortunately, our fears last year have been confirmed. Famine is back and multiple crises are causing the number of starving people to continue to rise, ”said Marlehn Thieme, President of Welthungerhilfe. “The corona pandemic has exacerbated the tense food situation in many countries in the south and millions of families have lost their livelihoods. The biggest hunger drivers, however, remain conflicts and climate change. "
Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) warned of a "vicious circle" in the affected regions. "Where people lose their livelihood and have nothing more to eat, they leave their home and there are distribution conflicts," said Müller of the Augsburger Allgemeine. "We must finally see the fight against hunger and poverty as a forward-looking peace policy - and put it at the top of the global political agenda."
Müller renewed his call for a reform of the food aid programs of the United Nations and for a UN emergency aid and crisis fund of ten billion euros.
"The UN and its aid agencies must not be supplicants on a permanent basis," said Müller.
"You have to be able to act with foresight and be adequately financed for this." In principle, a world without hunger is possible, explained the minister.
"With an additional 40 billion euros per year for sustainable food and agriculture by the industrialized, private and developing countries, hunger can be defeated by 2030."