• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2020 report was released on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development which tracks the progress of nations towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

About:

• It is produced jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

• Its first edition was brought out in 2017.

Key highlights of the report:

• The world is not on track to meet the goal of zero hunger by 2030 i.e. SDG2.

• Between 8.3 crore and 13 crore people globally are likely to go hungry this year due to the economic recession triggered by COVID-19.

• Hunger continues to be on the rise since 2014 and the global prevalence of undernourishment, or overall percentage of hungry people, is 8.9%. Almost 69 crore people went hungry in 2019 — up by 1 crore in 2018

• Asia remains home to the greatest number of undernourished (38 crore). Africa is second (25 crore), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (4.8 crore).

• In 2019, 21.3% (14.4.crore) of children under 5 years were stunted, 6.9% (4.7 crore) wasted and 5.6% (3.8 million) overweight.

• A healthy diet costs more than ₹143 (or $1.90/ day), which is the international poverty threshold. The number of people globally who can’t afford a healthy diet is at 300 crore people, or more than the combined population of China and India.