world hunger

1. Every day, men and women across the world struggle to feed their children a nutritious meal. 
2. Worldwide, we produce enough food to feed everyone, and yet up to 811 million people go to bed on an empty stomach each night. 
3. Acute food insecurity affected 135 million people in 55 countries in 2019.  
4. One in three people suffer from some form of malnutrition.  This number has increased dramatically since the Pandemic began in 2020.  (WFP reference)
5. The majority of people experiencing hunger live in developing countries, where 12.9 percent of the population is reported to be undernourished.
6. A major cause of infant mortality is poor nutrition which contributes to nearly half of the deaths in children under the age of five - that is 3.1 million children each year.
7. One out of six children -- roughly 100 million -- in developing countries is underweight.
8. Southern Africa is the region with the highest rate of hunger with one person in four being undernourished.
9. 66 million primary-school-age children attend school hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone 
10.  If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million. 

United Nations World Food Program

• In 2020, 38% of food insecure residents of NSW are reported to be accessing food relief at least once a week compared to 16% in 2019.
• 3.6 million Australians (15%) have experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months. Three in five of these individuals experience food insecurity at least once a month.
• Food insecurity impacts a wide range of groups in the community, and is not restricted to the unemployed or homeless. In fact, almost half of food insecure Australians (48%) are employed.
• Our youngest members of the community are also impacted, as dependent children live in 40% of food insecure households.

Fighting hunger in Australia, Food Bank, 2020

South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world. Despite many developments and changes in poverty reduction post-apartheid poverty levels still continue to be very high.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has exacerbated hunger in South Africa with over 23% of households reported to be experiencing hunger in 2020 and unemployment at a record high of 32%.

The recent looting and rioting in South Africa has created even more unemployment, impoverishment and food insecurity.