FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHOThe State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020. Transforming food systems for affordable healthy dietsFAO, 2020, 320 p.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is an annual flagship report jointly prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO to summarize progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition. The headline number for 2019 indicates that almost 690 million people, or 8.9 percent of the global population, were undernourished. This number is substantially below the 2018 estimate, suggesting important improvement. Unfortunately, this is not the case, because a revision of the entire series of undernourishment estimates for China back to 2000 resulted in a substantial downward shift of the global series. In fact, the 2019 data confirm a major turning point in the global situation around 2014. After years of decline before 2014, the numbers of undernourished starting increasing in recent years. Moreover, preliminary estimates for 2020 suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may add between 83 and 132 million people to the ranks of the undernourished. Projections to 2030 indicate that the world will likely fall well short of reaching SDG target 2.1 (ensuring access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for all people all year round) and target 2.2 (eradicating all forms of malnutrition). There are several causes for this shortfall, including conflict, economic slowdowns, climate change, environmental constraints, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as unprecedented Desert Locust outbreaks in Eastern Africa. The second half of the report examines the cost and affordability of healthy diets. Poor people often eat a low-quality diet consisting mostly of starchy staples because healthy diets cost on average about five times more and are therefore unaffordable. In 2019, at least 3 billion people could not afford a healthy diet. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the food supply system and, as a result, the FAO food price index rose substantially in 2020, making food still more unaffordable. The report identifies the main drivers of the high cost of nutritious foods and provides policy options for countries to transform their food systems to make healthy diets more affordable while maintaining environmental sustainability. The highly accessible text contains many figures and extensive annexes provide statistical tables and methodological notes.