The 2023 United Nations' State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report has disclosed that approximately 783 million individuals across the globe are grappling with hunger.

While this figure remains relatively unchanged from 2022, various factors like conflict, poverty, climate issues, economic shocks, and the impact of Covid-19 have made it improbable to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goal of eradicating hunger without significant transformations in both global and local food systems.

Released on July 12, 2023, the report also explicitly points out that food insecurity disproportionately affects women compared to men in all regions of the world.

However, the gender disparity in food insecurity, which had widened at a global level in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, narrowed from 3.8 percentage points in 2021 to 2.4 percentage points in 2022. This suggests that the unequal impacts of the pandemic on women's food security have lessened both on a global scale and in some specific regions.

The gender gap notably decreased in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, but expanded in Africa, Northern America, and Europe.

“Hunger has been on the rise in Africa since 2010, with a sharp increase in all sub-regions in 2020 followed by a gentler rise in 2021. In 2022, the prevalence of undernutrition in Africa continued to rise from 19.4 per cent in 2021 to 19.7 per cent – the equivalent of 11 million more people in one year and nearly 57 million more since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, hunger increased throughout all Sub-regions of Africa in 2022,” the report partly read.

“It’s time for all stakeholders to ask themselves if the systems created to feed the planet are working. It is very clear they are not. We need to shift our mindsets around ending hunger—it’s time to invest in people and in communities to transform these global systems that only benefit some,” said Rowlands Kaotcha, Vice President of Programs, Africa and Mexico with the Hunger Project.

Comparing East African countries based on the latest data from the live WFP hunger map as of August 11, 2023, reveals notable differences in their hunger and malnutrition statistics.

In Uganda, out of a population of 42.7 million, a significant 9.5 million individuals experience insufficient food intake. Among children under five years old, 3.5 percent are grappling with acute malnutrition, while a concerning 28.9 percent in the same age group are afflicted by chronic malnutrition.

Shifting to Kenya, which has a population of 51.4 million, approximately 12.1 million people are facing inadequate food consumption. Among children under five, 4.2 percent are currently dealing with acute malnutrition, and 26.2 percent of this age category are experiencing chronic malnutrition.

Turning to Ethiopia, with a population of 109.2 million, a substantial 23.2 million people are dealing with insufficient food intake. Among children under five, 7.2 percent are facing acute malnutrition, while a significant 36.8 percent are suffering from chronic malnutrition.

In South Sudan, which has a population of 11.0 million, around 3.5 million individuals are struggling with inadequate food consumption. Among children under five, a high 22.7 percent are experiencing acute malnutrition, and an equally concerning 31.3 percent in the same age group are contending with chronic malnutrition.