Cheers, every 4 seconds a human being dies
While artificial intelligence has made great strides, in the world every 4.25 seconds, according to 238 humanitarian organizations in 2022, a human being dies of hunger. Since the 21st century, humanity has made a formidable race in terms of technology: the world is now connected by social networks, robots speak, walk and reason, new planets and chemical compositions of other worlds have been discovered but no one has yet managed to avoid , to millions of men, women and children, to die of hunger. The FAO’s impressive numbers confirm this in an embarrassing way. About 840 million people were unable to feed themselves minimally last year (almost 11 million more than in 2021). But the UN agency’s data is still limited to the impact of the devastating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. But the numbers will be worse as soon as the results linked to droughts and floods, export restrictions, the debts of poor countries, the reflections of the increase in interest rates and energy costs in continuous growth are aggregated.
Health, the situation is getting worse on the hunger front
Fai’s summary is merciless “The situation is getting worse and we are moving further and further away from the goal of a planet where everyone can feed themselves”. Covid contributed to the deterioration. In the pandemic, the number of the “hungry” has grown to over 800 million. One in four people in 2021 lived in the uncertainty of being able to eat every day (about 2.3 billion). According to Citi Global Insights, in 2022 the trend will increase because environmental, political, social and economic problems have become wider and more complex and this will only cause food prices to skyrocket, especially basic ones. But The biggest impact on current food prices is caused by the war in Ukraine. Immediately after the Russian invasion, average food prices reached 159.7 points, an all-time high, according to the FAO. The two products grown the most: corn and wheat. Interest rates, continuously rising to contain inflation, have further weakened the poor economies forced to submit to the strength of the US dollar. 4 out of 10 products that move in the world economy are paid for n dollars.
Health, poor countries buy less and pay more for basic foods
Over 60 countries, according to the FAO, have increased the costs of their exports by about 25.4 billion dollars in 2022. They pay more and buy less. For example, sub-Saharan Africa is spending $4.8 billion more on food imports, with purchase volumes down $700 million. High-income countries can afford to buy all commodities, poor countries struggle to buy the basics like wheat, rice and corn. Not to mention the skyrocketing cost of fertilizers and fuel. The FAO data are pitiless: 40% of global caloric intake comes from just three crops (wheat, corn and rice), which are produced in a few countries and which dominate every stage of the value chain. Among them: Canada, India, Indonesia, United States, China, Brazil, Argentina and Russia. Ukraine is in the top 10 in foreign sales of these foods. The summary of the United Nations agency it is so alarming “We have lost a decade in the fight against poverty and if the war continues, in 2023, the risk of food prices rising again. The hunger crisis we are facing has never been seen before”.
Subscribe to the newsletter