As G7 Development Ministers meet today, Action Against Hunger warns of devastating hunger crises around the world. The organisation is calling on the G7 countries to launch a food and nutrition security alliance and to immediately provide a multi-billion dollar support package to save the most vulnerable people from starvation.
The Ukraine conflict has not only created a dramatic crisis in the country itself, it is also exacerbating the food insecurity situation in other regions and creating a global hunger crisis that is putting the lives of millions at risk. Every 1 per cent increase in global food prices causes an additional 10 million people to fall into extreme poverty
Food prices have already risen by 34 per cent in the last year. In addition, at least 45 million people were on the brink of famine in 2021.
Fighting hunger was already on the agenda at the G7 summit in Elmau in 2015, with the goal of freeing 500 million people from hunger. The results are more than sobering: more than 800 million people are going hungry worldwide today. Achieving the second global development goal by 2030 is a distant prospect. It is therefore all the more important that the G7 countries now reaffirm, expand and implement their goals.
Kate Munro, Head of Advocacy at Action Against Hunger said,
“The UK committed to acting early on famine last year, alongside G7 leaders, yet the number of people living in famine conditions has risen four-fold. We don’t need more statements of ambition, we need action.
Whether we look to East Africa, the Sahel region, Afghanistan or Yemen – the picture is bleak – the reality is, hunger crises are here and they getting worse. We know what comes next – twinned with acute malnutrition, when food prices surge, we see massive political and social unrest, just as we saw in 2011.
Action Against Hunger demands that the G7 countries launch an Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security and implement a multi-billion support package for those most in need of protection quickly and flexibly. In addition to emergency aid, the package should include an agreement on life-saving food production, investments in social protection measures including cash transfers, and concrete steps for the transition to sustainable and equitable food systems.”
“This isn’t a time to act timidly. The G7 needs to commit to an immediate, substantive, multi-billion package to help the world’s most vulnerable people, with nutrition at its heart. Food on its own is not enough – it is a short-term fix with no long term gain. The UK has shown strong leadership here in the past, and now is the time to act.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- Action Against Hunger is the world’s leading charity in the fight against child hunger, treating more young children for life-threatening hunger than any other charity. They work in almost 50 communities across the world, providing access to food, water and sanitation, and life-saving medical treatment
- For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact press@actionagainsthunger.org.uk or call 07776 211518