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Unformatted text preview: 2018 THE STATE OF FOOD SECURITY
AND NUTRITION
IN THE WORLD BUILDING CLIMATE RESILIENCE
FOR FOOD SECURITY
AND NUTRITION This flagship publication is part of THE STATE OF THE WORLD series of the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations. Recommended citation:
FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2018. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018.
Building climate resilience for food security and nutrition. Rome, FAO.
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VIET NAM. A girl working in a rice field in Viet Nam, where rice production and food security are threatened by rising sea levels and temperature
increases linked to climate extremes. 2018 THE STATE OF FOOD SECURITY
AND NUTRITION
IN THE WORLD
BUILDING CLIMATE RESILIENCE
FOR FOOD SECURITY
AND NUTRITION Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, 2018 CONTENTS
FOREWORD METHODOLOGY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS KEY MESSAGES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY viii
xi
xii
xiii Statistical tables and
methodological notes to Part 1 116 Methodological notes 140 ANNEX 2 1 1.1 Recent trends in hunger and food insecurity 2 1.2 Progress towards improving nutrition 13 1.3 Links between food insecurity
and malnutrition 26 Country group definitions and lists in Part 2 148 ANNEX 3
Methodology Part 2 154 ANNEX 4 Glossary 156 NOTES 162
37 2.1 Why focus on the impact of climate variability
and extremes on food security and nutrition? 38
2.2 How do changing climate variability and
extremes affect the immediate and underlying
causes of food insecurity and malnutrition? 60 2.3 What are the impacts of climate on the
vulnerability, resource and control factors
that shape food security and nutrition? 79 2.4 Working towards coherence of policies,
programmes and practices to address climate
variability and extremes 93 2.5 Overall conclusion 115 ANNEX 1 ix PART 1
FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION AROUND THE
WORLD IN 2018 PART 2
THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE ON FOOD SECURITY
AND NUTRITION ANNEXES v 112 | ii | TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES
TABLES
1 Prevalence of undernourishment
in the world, 2005–2017 4 2 Number of undernourished
people in the world, 2005–2017 6 FIGURES 3 Prevalence of severe food insecurity,
measured with the Food Insecurity
Experience Scale, 2014–2017 9
4 Number of people experiencing
severe food insecurity, measured
with the Food Insecurity Experience
Scale, 2014–2017 10
5 Stages of the nutrition transition 27
6 Summary of findings of studies
included in a literature review of the
links between experienced food
insecurity and selected forms of
malnutrition 31
7 Climate shocks were one of the
leading causes of food crisis situations in
2017 59
A1.1 Progress towards the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs): Prevalence
of undernourishment, severe food
insecurity, selected forms of
malnutrition and exclusive breastfeeding 116
A1.2 Progress towards the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs): Number
of people who are affected by
undernourishment, severe food insecurity
and selected forms of malnutrition;
number of infants exclusively breastfed 128
A2.1 List of countries by food
security vulnerability factors A3.1 Countries with PoU change point
corresponding to ASAP severe drought
conditions 155 151 A2.2 Countries with high exposure to
climate extremes during 2011–2016, by
inter-seasonal variability, frequency
and intensity of extremes and
vulnerability to climate and conflict 152 1 The number of undernourished
people in the world has been on the
rise since 2014, reaching an estimated
821 million in 2017 3
2 Severe food insecurity is higher in
2017 than it was in 2014 in every
region except Northern America and
Europe, with notable increases in Africa
and Latin America 8
3 Women are more likely than men
to be affected by severe food insecurity
in Africa, Asia and Latin America 10
4 The prevalence of undernourishment
and the prevalence of severe food
insecurity show a consistent picture for
most countries, but differences exist 11
5 Nutrition: essential to achieve the
Sustainable Development Goals 14
6 There is still a long road ahead to
achieve the 2025 and 2030 targets for
stunting, wasting, overweight, exclusive
breastfeeding, anaemia in women of
reproductive age and adult obesity 16
7 Despite some progress to reduce
the prevalence of stunted children under
five, millions are still affected by
stunting, wasting and overweight 17
8 Rates of child wasting remain
extremely high in some subregions
in 2017, especially in Asia 20 11 Disparities in the prevalence of
child wasting are observed between
the poorest and the richest households,
especially in Eastern Africa 23
12 Large differences exist in prevalence
of child wasting within regions and
countries 24
13 Countries affected by multiple
forms of malnutrition 28 14 Pathways from inadequate
food access to multiple forms of
malnutrition 30 15 Increasing number of
extreme climate-related disasters,
1990–2016 39 16 Recent past temperature anomalies
compared to the 1981–2016 average 43
17 Number of years with frequent
hot days over agriculture cropping
areas (2011–2016 compared
to 1981–2016) 44
18 Recent past precipitation anomalies
compared to the 1981–2016 average 46
19 Decreased growing season length
and year of lowest cumulative annual
vegetation biomass over cropland
and rangeland areas in Africa,
2004–2016 47
20 Precipitation anomalies associated
with drought in agriculture cropping
areas (2011–2016 compared
to 1981–2016) 48 9 Millions of children are at increased
risk of mortality due to wasting in
2017, mainly in Asia and Africa 21 21 Frequency of agricultural drought
conditions during the El Niño of
2015–2017 compared to the
2004–2017 average 50 10 Inequalities in income, education,
gender and place of residence
reflect on child wasting rates 22 22 Frequency of flood- and
storm-related disasters by region,
1990–2016 | iii | 51 TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES 23 PoU change points associated
with the occurrence of severe
agricultural drought 53 34 Food price spikes follow climate
extremes for top global cereal
producers, 1990–2016 71 24 Increased exposure to more
frequent and multiple types of climate
extremes in low- and middle-income
countries 54 35 Health consequences of
extreme climate-related events 25 Higher prevalence and number of
undernourished people in countries with
high exposure to climate extremes 55
26 Undernourishment is higher when
exposure to climate extremes is
compounded by high levels of
vulnerability in agriculture 56
27 Undernourishment is higher for
countries with both high exposure
to climate extremes and high
vulnerability 58
28 Links between food security and
nutrition, and the underlying causes
of food insecurity and malnutrition 61
29 Effect of climate variability and
drought on national cereal production
of low- and middle-income countries,
2001–2017 64
30 Crop and livestock sub-sectors incur
the highest damages and losses in
agriculture due to climate-related
disasters, of which drought is the
most destructive, 2006–2016 66
31 Climate variability and extremes
are correlated with cereal imports
in many low- and middle-income
countries 68
32 Increases in imports and decreases
in exports of agricultural commodities
after climate-related disasters by
region, 2003–2011 69
33 Crop and livestock losses caused
by climate-related disasters by region,
2004–2015 70 75 36 Labour capacity loss due
to extreme heat exposure (change in
2006–2016 relative to 1986–2008) 77
37 Mosquito-borne disease incidence
and sensitivity to climate variability
and extremes 78
38 Health and education facilities
damaged by disaster type,
1994–2013 81
39 The global scale of displacement
caused by disasters, 2008–2014 89
40 Global policy platforms
and processes where climate resilience
is a key element for the achievement of
sustainable development 95 BOXES
1 Revised series of estimates of the
prevalence of undernourishment and
projections for 2017 5
2 How are hunger and food
insecurity measured? 7 3 A combined look at the prevalence
of undernourishment and of severe
food insecurity 11
4 Different food security assessments
for different objectives 12
5 Extending the World Health
Assembly nutrition targets to 2030 15
6 Leveraging the United Nations
Decade of Action on Nutrition
2016–2025 18 7 Thinness among school-age children 25 | iv | 8 The relationship between climate
variability and ENSO 41
9 Food security vulnerability factors
analysed 57
10 Small Island Developing States:
Destruction of natural, physical and
human capital and long-term
implications for non-communicable
disease and malnutrition 83
11 Severe droughts can contribute to
increased social instability and trigger
conflicts 84
12 Commonly used ex post coping
strategies that are detrimental to food
security and nutrition: selected country
examples 86
13 The gender dimensions of
vulnerability to climate shocks 92 14 Enhancing the contribution of
neglected and underutilized species
(NUS) to food security and income 99
15 Climate-smart agricultural practices
and food systems: the case of small
family farm crop diversification
in Malawi 101
16 Participatory plant breeding to
increase crop yields and resilience in
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 102
17 Investing in vulnerability reduction
measures, including climate-proof
infrastructure and nature-based solutions 106
18 Households affected by climate
shocks who are able to restock or
access veterinary services have higher
food consumption in Kyrgyzstan 108
19 Climate resilience in Pacific Small
Island Developing States (SIDS) 111 FOREWORD evidence in this year’s report corroborates the
rise in world hunger, thus demanding an even
greater call to action. Furthermore, while we
must sow the seeds of peace in order to
achieve food securit y, improve nutrition and
“leave no one behind”, we also need to
redouble efforts to build climate resilience for
food securit y and nutrition. In September 2017, we jointly launched The State
of Food Security and Nutrition in the World,
marking the beginning of a new era in monitoring
progress towards achieving a world without
hunger and malnutrition, within the framework
of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This report monitors progress towards the targets
of ending both hunger (SDG Target 2.1) and all
forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2), and
provides an analysis of the underlying causes and
drivers of obser ved trends. While the prevalence of
undernourishment is at the forefront of monitoring
hunger, the prevalence of severe food insecurity –
based on the Food Insecurit y Experience Scale
(FIES) – was introduced last year to provide an
estimate of the proportion of the population
facing serious constraints on their abilit y to
obtain safe, nutritious and sufficient food. In 2017, the number of undernourished people is
estimated to have reached 821 million – around
one person out of ever y nine in the world.
Undernourishment and severe food insecurit y
appear to be increasing in almost all subregions
of Africa, as well as in South America, whereas
the undernourishment situation is stable in most
regions of Asia.
A more encouraging finding last year was that
the rising trend in undernourishment had not
yet been ref lected in rates of child stunting;
this continues to be the case this year.
Nonetheless, we are concerned that in 2017,
nearly 151 million children under five have
stunted growth, while the lives of over
50 million children in the world continue to be
threatened by wasting. Such children are at a
higher risk of mortalit y and poor health,
growth and development. A multisectoral
approach is needed to reduce the burden of
stunting and wasting, and to appropriately
treat wasting to reduce childhood morbidit y
and mortalit y. The report also tracks prog ress on a set of
indicators used to monitor World Health
Assembly global targets for nutrition and
diet-related non-communicable diseases, three
of which are also indicators of SDG2 targets.
The challenges we face are indeed significant.
Of great concern is the finding last year that,
after a prolonged decline, the most recent
estimates showed global hunger had
increased in 2016. Last year we obser ved that
the failure to reduce world hunger is closely
associated with the increase in conf lict and
violence in several parts of the world, and
that efforts to fight hunger must go hand in
hand with those to sustain peace. New In addition to contributing to undernutrition, the
food insecurit y we are witnessing today also
| v | FOREWORD
FOREWORD people’s livelihoods in response to climate
variabilit y and extremes. contributes to overweight and obesit y, which
partly explains the coexistence of these forms of
malnutrition in many countries. In 2017,
childhood overweight affected over 38 million
children under five years of age, with Africa and
Asia representing 25 percent and 46 percent of
the global total, respectively. Anaemia in women
and obesit y in adults are also on the increase at
the global level – one in three women of
reproductive age is anaemic and more than one
in eight adults – or more than 672 million – is
obese. The problem of obesit y is most significant
in North America, but it is worr ying that even
Africa and Asia, which still show the lowest rates
of obesit y, are also experiencing an upward
trend. Furthermore, overweight and obesit y are
increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases
such as t ype 2 diabetes, high blood pressure,
heart attacks and some forms of cancer. Building climate resilience will require climate
change adaptation and disaster risk reduction
and management to be integrated into short-,
medium- and long-term policies, programmes
and practices. National and local governments
can find g uidance in the outcomes and
recommendations of existing global policy
platforms: climate change (governed by the
UNFCCC and the 2015 Paris Agreement); disaster
risk reduction (the Sendai Framework on Disaster
Risk Reduction); humanitarian emergency
response (the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit
and the Grand Bargain); improved nutrition and
healthy diets (the Second International
Conference on Nutrition [ICN2] and the UN
Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016 –2025); and
development as part of the overarching 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development. Currently
many of these global policy platforms are still too
compartmentalized and not well aligned.
Therefore, we must do more to work towards a
better integration of these platforms to ensure
that actions across and within sectors such as
environment, food, agriculture and health,
pursue coherent objectives to address the
negative impacts and threats that changing
climate variabilit y and increased climate
extremes pose to people’s food securit y, access to
healthy diets, safe nutrition and health. In addition to conf lict and v iolence in many
parts of the world, the gains made in ending
hunger and malnutrition are being eroded by
climate variabilit y and exposure to more
complex, frequent and intense climate
extremes, as shown in Part 2 of this report.
Hunger is sig nificantly worse in countries w ith
ag ricultural systems that are highly sensitive to
rainfall and temperature variabilit y and severe
drought, and where the livelihood of a high
proportion of the population depends on
ag riculture. If we are to achieve a world w ithout
hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by
2030, it is imperative that we accelerate and
scale up actions to streng then the resilience
and adaptive capacit y of food systems and The transformative vision of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and the new challenges
we face in ending hunger and malnutrition call
| vi | The alarming signs of increasing food insecurit y
and high levels of different forms of
malnutrition are a clear warning that there is
considerable work to be done to make sure we
“leave no one behind” on the road towards
achieving the SDG goals on food securit y and
improved nutrition. on us to renew and strengthen our five
organizations’ strategic partnerships.
We reiterate our determination and commitment
to step up concerted action to fulfil the ambitions
of the 2030 Agenda and achieve a world free from
hunger and all forms of malnutrition. José Graziano da Silva Gilbert F. Houngbo Henrietta H. Fore FAO Director-General IFAD President UNICEF Executive Director David Beasley Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WFP Executive Director WHO Director-General | vii | METHODOLOGY
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