SDG number two: Zero Hunger. GRAPHIC/UN

By PATRICK MAYOYO

The SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”

The SDGs were set in 2015 by the  United Nations General Assembly  and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. They are included in a UN Resolution called the 2030 Agenda or what is also known as Agenda 2030.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.  Agenda 2030.

In our continuing focus on the SDGs, today we look at goal number two zero hunger. Sustainable Development Goal 2 is about creating a world free of hunger by 2030.  In 2020, between 720 million and 811 million persons worldwide were suffering from hunger, roughly 161 million more than in 2019.

Also in 2020, a staggering 2.4 billion people, or above 30 per cent of the world’s population, were moderately or severely food-insecure, lacking regular access to adequate food. The figure increased by nearly 320 million people in just one year. Globally, 149.2 million children under 5 years of age, or 22.0 per cent, were suffering from stunting (low height for their age) in 2020, a decrease from 24.4 per cent in 2015.

The number of people going hungry and suffering from food insecurity had been gradually rising between 2014 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has pushed those rising rates even higher and has also exacerbated all forms of malnutrition, particularly in children. The war in Ukraine is further disrupting global food supply chains and creating the biggest global food crisis since the Second World War.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• In 2020, between 720 million and 811 million persons worldwide were suffering from hunger, roughly 161 million more than in 2019.
• Also in 2020, a staggering 2.4 billion people, or above 30 per cent of the world’s population, were moderately or severely food-insecure, lacking regular access to adequate food.
• Globally, 149.2 million children under 5 years of age, or 22.0 per cent, were suffering from stunting (low height for their age) in 2020, down from 24.4 per cent in 2015.
• To achieve the target of a 5 per cent reduction in the number of stunted children by 2025, the current rate of yearly decline – 2.1 per cent – must double to 3.9 per cent.
• In 2020, wasting (low weight for height) affected 45.4 million or 6.7 per cent of children under 5 years of age.
• The share of countries burdened by high food prices, which had been relatively stable since 2016, rose sharply from 16 per cent in 2019 to 47 per cent in 2020.

Source: SDG report 2022