Food, Water & Climate Change
Food, Water & Climate Change: Stats and Facts
Food insecurity, malnutrition and undernutrition are major threats to the world’s poor.
- The distribution of food-insecure people in the world shows that, from a total of 2 billion suffering from food insecurity, 1.04 billion (52 percent) are in Asia; 676 million (34 percent) are in Africa; and 188 million (9 percent) are in Latin America.
Reference: UNICEF (2019). The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2019 - 34 countries in the world hold 90% of the global burden of malnutrition. In 2018, Africa and Asia accounted for more than nine out of ten of all stunted children globally, representing 39.5 percent and 54.9 percent of the global total, respectively.
Reference: FAO (2015). State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI);UNICEF (2019). The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2019 - Malnutrition kills more than HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB combined.
Reference: FAO (2015). State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI). - In 2018, conflict and civil insecurity were the major driver of food crises in 21 countries – 14 of them experienced deep economic recessions between 2014 and 2017.
Reference: UNICEF (2019). The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2019 - Indigenous peoples are disproportionately represented among food-insecure and hungry populations. They often live in extreme poverty and damaged environments and have lost their land and access to traditional food sources.
Reference: UNICEF (2019). The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2019.
Globalized industrial agriculture, poverty, climate change and gender
The intersection of commodification of lands, industrialized agriculture, climate change and gender inequality threaten food and nutrition insecurity worldwide.
Norms, food security and gender
Social norms and gender inequality have important impacts on women’s food and nutrition security within households.
- WFP reports a close correlation between food insecurity and gender-based violence (GBV). When it comes to the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance, the gender and generational differences of food security, such as the cultural and social context of access to and distribution of resources, distinct nutrition needs – particularly for pregnant and lactating mothers, and livelihood activities and roles – are pivotal to ensure equal access and avoid negative consequences.
Reference: Pattugalan, G. (2014). Linking food security, food assistance and protection from gender-based violence: WFP's experience.
Gender roles and nutrition
Evidence points to the important role of women – particularly as mothers – for child nutrition outcomes.
Gender equality and food security
Education is key. One study showed that women's education contributed 43% of the reduction in child malnutrition over time, while food availability accounted for 26%. Surveys in a wide range of countries have shown that 85–90% of the time spent on household food preparation is women’s time. Given all of this, levers for realizing food and nutrition security have important gendered implications – both for supporting women’s rights and enabling their leadership.