New evidence this year corroborates the rise in world hunger observed in this report last year, sending a warning that more action is needed if we aspire to end world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. Updated estimates show the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years, returning to prevailing levels from almost a decade ago. Although progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, over 22 percent of children under five years of age are still affected. Other forms of malnutrition are also growing: adult obesity continues to increase in countries irrespective of their income levels, and many countries are coping with multiple forms of malnutrition at the same time – overweight and obesity, as well as anaemia in women, and child stunting and wasting.

Latin America and the Caribbean deviates from its path toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. The number of undernourished people increased for the third consecutive year reaching 39.3 million, 6.1% of the population. The social and economic inequalities that characterize the region aggravate the problem of malnutrition. Vulnerable groups, such as the population living in poverty, children, women, indigenous peoples and rural inhabitants, tend to experience more severe problems of hunger and malnutrition. Inequality of malnutrition is also seen in gender. The problems of malnutrition in the region are the result of the profound changes that have affected its food systems, which determine the quantity, quality and diversity of food available for consumption, a transformation that has been driven by growing urbanization, changes in diets and new ways of producing and processing food. The solution to the problems of hunger and malnutrition in the region requires changes to its food systems.

Updates for many countries have made it possible to estimate hunger in the world with greater accuracy this year. In particular, newly accessible data enabled the revision of the entire series of undernourishment estimates for China back to 2000, resulting in a substantial downward shift of the series of the number of undernourished in the world. Nevertheless, the revision confirms the trend reported in past editions: the number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014. The report also shows that the burden of malnutrition in all its forms continues to be a challenge. There has been some progress for child stunting, low birthweight and exclusive breastfeeding, but at a pace that is still too slow. Childhood overweight is not improving and adult obesity is on the rise in all regions. The report complements the usual assessment of food security and nutrition with projections of what the world may look like in 2030, if trends of the last decade continue. Projections show that the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and, despite some progress, most indicators are also not on track to meet global nutrition targets. The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report puts a spotlight on diet quality as a critical link between food security and nutrition. Meeting SDG 2 targets will only be possible if people have enough food to eat and if what they are eating is nutritious and affordable. The report also introduces new analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts. It presents valuations of the health and climate-change costs associated with current food consumption patterns, as well as the potential cost savings if food consumption patterns were to shift towards healthy diets that include sustainability considerations. The report then concludes with a discussion of the policies and strategies to transform food systems to ensure affordable healthy diets, as part of the required efforts to end both hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

In recent years, various factors have diverted the world off the path to eradicating hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this trend. Latin America and the Caribbean is no exception. This edition of the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2021: Statistics and Trends reveals a bleak scenario for the future. In 2020, 59.7 million people in the region suffered from hunger, and between 2019 and 2020 the prevalence of hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 2 percentage points. Much of this can be explained by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced the incomes of millions of people in the region. But it is not behind all the setbacks, as the region's hunger figures have been growing for six consecutive years.

Latin America and the Caribbean managed to reduce the number of undernourished by 20 million compared to the year 2000. However, 2018 marks the fourth consecutive year in which hunger shows a continuous increases. Moderate or severe food insecurity in Latin America increased considerably. This increase caused more than 32 million people to join the almost 155 million who lived in food insecurity in the Region in 2014-2016. The Region has shown significant progress in reducing child malnutrition and it is significantly distant and below the global prevalence of malnutrition in girls and boys. However, malnutrition due to excessive weight in the Region is one of the highest in the world and it continues to increase. This year, the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean focuses on food environments and describes some of the main policies that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are developing to face the different forms of malnutrition.

Regional Overview present the regional food security and nutrition situation, including trends of undernourishment, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition, together with other indicators that could help the understanding of the causes of hunger and malnutrition. This edition offers a regional overview of the socioeconomic state of the region; national and regional data and trends regarding the costs and affordability of healthy diets; the possible drivers behind the high cost of healthy diets and their unaffordability; and introduces policies and investments around the region that aim to reduce the cost of nutritious foods and improve the affordability of healthy diets.

The goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that are related to food security and nutrition will not be achieved as long as, in some territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, populations continue to live with malnutrition rates. Economic opportunities in these areas are often limited, public services are scant, and exposure to severe climate events is high. The public policies promoted in the region have had less impact in these historically lagging territories, and there is a pressing need to produce a new agenda of public instruments that address the characteristics of the communities that inhabit them. The full and sustainable development of the territories that are falling behind is not only an obligation in terms of the realization of the rights of their inhabitants; it would also allow these territories to activate their social, economic, environmental and cultural potential, to the benefit of all societies.It is hoped that the 2020 Regional Overview will help to highlight the challenges experienced by the territories with the worst indicators in terms of food and nutrition, and that it will serve to mobilize political commitment and public attention towards those areas that are most highly laggingThe year 2020 will be remembered for many decades as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The indicators of the 2030 Agenda that are used in this publication do not yet show the different impacts of COVID-19. However, there are references to the possible implications of the pandemic for the future.

The Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition provides new evidence for monitoring trends in food security and nutrition within the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The in-depth analysis of progress made against Sustainable Development Goal 2 Target 2.1 (to end hunger and ensure access to food by all) and Target 2.2 (to end all forms of malnutrition), as well as the state of micronutrient deficiencies, is complemented by a review on rural transformation policies aimed at addressing food insecurity and nutrition issues. Updated estimates shows that the food security situation on the region continues to worsen since 2011 -2013. For, the Near East and North Africa, 11% of the region’s population – 50.2 million people – are undernourished. The findings of the report showed that the failure to reduce hunger in the area is closely associated with the increase in conflict and violence in several parts of the region, as also highlighted in last year’s edition. While the prevalence of undernourishment has risen from 23 to 26 percent in conflict countries since 2011-13, it has remained stable at about 5 percent in non-conflict countries. This year’s report goes further to explore the relationship between food insecurity, economic growth and rural transformation. It demonstrates that economic growth in the Near East and North Africa region has been slow compared to other regions, and suggests that rural transformation can improve growth rates and generate decent employment through strengthening rural-urban linkages, improving agricultural productivity, and expanding the rural non-farm economy.

This book examines the global campaign to end hunger and malnutrition. Focus is placed on the work of the United Nations which has led international efforts to improve food security in the world’s poorest countries. The book first reviews the long-term project to establish access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food as a universally recognized human right. This is followed by separate chapters that examine the nature and central causes of food insecurity in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. These chapters also review the contemporary work of three United Nations agencies – the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development – in providing both food aid and food assistance to each region of the developing world. This includes the provision of emergency food aid in response to natural disaster and civil conflict, as well as longer-term food assistance to promote agricultural productivity, advance rural development, and preserve natural environments. The concluding chapter considers ways to strengthen food aid and assistance in the years to come, with many of the recommendations advanced reflecting lessons learned from the actual experience of food aid and assistance described in this book.

Asia-Pacific is home to well over half of all people worldwide who do not obtain sufficient dietary energy to maintain normal, active, healthy lives. To achieve SDG 2 in the region, more than 3 million people must escape hunger each month from now until December 2030. In most countries in the region, the diets of more than half of all very young children (aged 6–23 months) fail to meet minimum standards of diversity, leading to micronutrient deficiencies that affect child development and therefore the potential of future generations. The high prevalence of stunting and wasting among children under five years of age is a result of these deficiencies. Only four countries in the region are on track to meet the global target of a 40 percent reduction in the number of stunted children between 2012 and 2025.At the same time, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is rising steadily among children and adults, negatively affecting health and well-being. Addressing the resultant burden of diet-related non-communicable diseases places great strain on national healthcare budgets and also causes productivity losses. Social protection is an important way of reducing inequality and mitigating the impacts of disasters, and it is expanding in the region. A special section of this report discusses how to develop social protection programmes that accelerate progress in eradicating hunger and malnutrition.