Hunger is rising again after decades of decline. The reasons are not mysterious
Conflict, climate shocks and food prices have pushed the number of undernourished people back up. The fixes are known and underfunded.
The UN's annual food security report estimates that hundreds of millions more people face hunger than before the pandemic, reversing a trend that had held since the 1990s. (‘The State of’, 2024)
The drivers overlap: wars that cut off farmland and ports, droughts and floods that destroy harvests, and prices that put food beyond the reach of the poorest even where it is on the shelf.
Progress elsewhere
Human development indices still show long-run gains in health and education across most of the world, which is what makes the reversal in nutrition stand out. (‘Human Development Report’, 2025)
References
(2025). Human Development Report 2025. United Nations Development Programme. https://hdr.undp.org/
(2024). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.fao.org/publications/home/fao-flagship-publications/the-state-of-food-security-and-nutrition-in-the-world
Cite this story
Dispatch Report (2026) ‘Hunger is rising again after decades of decline. The reasons are not mysterious’, 23 August. Available at: https://thedispatchreport.com/article/hunger-is-rising-again-after-decades-of-decline-the-reasons-are-not-mysterious (Accessed: 5 October 2026).
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