World hunger applies to people spending entire days with nothing to eat due to various reasons such as lack of money and lack of access to food and other resources. When a person consumes below 1,800 calories per day, it qualifies as food deprivation or undernourishment.
According to the UN World Food Program, as many as 828 million people go to bed hungry every night (about 10% of the population). The number of those facing acute food insecurity has soared – from 135 million to 345 million – since 2019. A total of 50 million people in 45 countries are teetering on the edge of famine.
This hunger crisis has been caused by a deadly combination of four factors:
- Conflict is still the biggest driver of hunger, with 60 percent of the world’s hungry living in areas afflicted by war and violence. Events unfolding in Ukraine are further proof of how conflict feeds hunger, forcing people out of their homes and wiping out their sources of income.
- Climate shocks destroy lives, crops and livelihoods, and undermine people’s ability to feed themselves.
- The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are driving hunger to unprecedented levels.
- Costs are also at an all-time high: WFP’s monthly operating costs are US$73.6 million above their 2019 average – a staggering 44 percent rise. The extra now spent on operating costs would have previously fed 4 million people for one month.
The 2022 General Assembly made the following recommendation:
Recommendation IAC-004 (A&P 2022, p. 144, 45)
That congregations, presbyteries and synods be encouraged to amplify Canadian Foodgrains Bank’s advocacy efforts to promote climate resilient food systems to support small-scale growers, improve food security, address the climate crisis, protect biodiversity and increase gender equality.
| Canadian Foodgrains Bank | Grow Hope Saskatchewan | PWS&D Canadian Foodgrains Projects |