Around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published today by five United Nations specialized agencies.

The annual report, launched this year in the context of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, warns that the world is falling significantly short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030.  The report shows that the world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009.

Despite some progress in specific areas such as stunting and exclusive breastfeeding, an alarming number of people continue to face food insecurity and malnutrition as global hunger levels have plateaued for three consecutive years, with between 713 and 757 million people undernourished in 2023—approximately 152 million more than in 2019 when considering the mid-range (733 million).

Regional trends vary significantly: the percentage of the population facing hunger continues to rise in Africa (20.4 percent), remains stable in Asia (8.1 percent)—though still representing a significant challenge as the region is home to more than half of those facing hunger worldwide —and shows progress in Latin America (6.2 percent). From 2022 to 2023, hunger increased in Western Asia, the Caribbean, and most African subregions.

If current trends continue, about 582 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, half of them in Africa, warn the Food and Agriculture Organization 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 Organization (WHO). This projection closely resembles the levels seen in 2015 when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, marking a concerning stagnation in progress.

Key findings beyond hunger

The report highlights that access to adequate food remains elusive for billions. In 2023, around 2.33 billion people globally faced moderate or severe food insecurity, a number that has not changed significantly since the sharp upturn in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those, over 864 million people experienced severe food insecurity, going without food for an entire day or more at times. This number has remained stubbornly high since 2020 and while Latin America shows improvement, broader challenges persist, especially in Africa where 58 percent of the population is moderately or severely food insecure.

The lack of economic access to healthy diets also remains a critical issue, affecting over one-third of the global population. With new food price data and methodological improvements, the publication reveals that over 2.8 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022. This disparity is most pronounced in low-income countries, where 71.5 percent of the population cannot afford a healthy diet, compared to 6.3 percent in high-income countries. Notably, the number dropped below pre-pandemic levels in Asia and in Northern America and Europe, while it increased substantially in Africa.

While progress has been made in increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates among infants to 48%, achieving global nutrition targets will be a challenge. Low birthweight prevalence has stagnated around 15%, and stunting among children under five, while declining to 22.3%, still falls short of achieving targets. Additionally, the prevalence of wasting among children has not seen significant improvement while anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years has increased.

Similarly, new estimates of adult obesity show a steady increase over the last decade, from 12.1 percent (2012) to 15.8 percent (2022). Projections indicate that by 2030, the world will have more than 1.2 billion obese adults. The double burden of malnutrition – the co-existence of undernutrition together with overweight and obesity – has also surged globally across all age groups. Thinness and underweight have declined in the last two decades, while obesity has risen sharply.

These trends underscore the complex challenges of malnutrition in all its forms and the urgent need for targeted interventions as the world is not on track to reach any of the seven global nutrition targets by 2030, the five agencies indicate.

Food insecurity and malnutrition are worsening due to a combination of factors, including persisting food price inflation that continues to erode economic gains for many people in many countries. Major drivers like conflict, climate change, and economic downturns are becoming more frequent and severe. These issues, along with underlying factors such as unaffordable healthy diets, unhealthy food environments and persistent inequality, are now coinciding simultaneously, amplifying their individual effects.

Financing to end hunger

This year’s report’s theme “Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition’’, emphasizes that achieving SDG 2 Zero Hunger requires a multi-faceted approach, including transforming and strengthening agrifood systems, addressing inequalities, and ensuring affordable and accessible healthy diets for all. It calls for increased and more cost-effective financing, with a clear and standardized definition of financing for food security and nutrition.

The heads of the five UN agencies, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu; IFAD President Alvaro Lario; UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell; WFP’s Executive Director Cindy McCain; and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus write in the report’s Foreword: “Estimating the gap in financing for food security and nutrition and mobilizing innovative ways of financing to bridge it must be among our top priorities. Policies, legislation and interventions to end hunger and ensure all people have access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food (SDG Target 2.1), and to end all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2) need significant resource mobilization. They are not only an investment in the future, but our obligation. We strive to guarantee the right to adequate food and nutrition of current and future generations”.

As highlighted during a recent event in the High-Level Political Forum at UN headquarters in New York, the report underscores that the looming financing gap necessitates innovative, equitable solutions, particularly for countries facing high levels of hunger and malnutrition exacerbated by climate impacts.

Countries most in need of increased financing face significant challenges in access. Among the 119 low- and middle-income countries analyzed, approximately 63 percent have limited or moderate access to financing. Additionally, the majority of these countries (74 percent) are impacted by one or more major factors contributing to food insecurity and malnutrition. Coordinated efforts to harmonize data, increase risk tolerance, and enhance transparency are vital to bridge this gap and strengthen global food security and nutrition frameworks.

What they said

FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu: “Transforming agrifood systems is more critical than ever as we face the urgency of achieving the SDGs within six short years. FAO remains committed to supporting countries in their efforts to eradicate hunger and ensure food security for all. We will work together with all partners and with all approaches, including the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, to accelerate the needed change. Together, we must innovate and collaborate to build more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems that can better withstand future challenges for a better world.”

IFAD President, Alvaro Lario: “The fastest route out of hunger and poverty is proven to be through investments in agriculture in rural areas. But the global and financial landscape has become far more complex since the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015. Ending hunger and malnutrition demands that we invest more – and more smartly.  We must bring new money into the system from the private sector and recapture the pandemic-era appetite for ambitious global financial reform that gets cheaper financing to the countries who need it most.’’

UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell: “Malnutrition affects a child’s survival, physical growth, and brain development. Global child stunting rates have dropped by one third, or 55 million, in the last two decades, showing that investments in maternal and child nutrition pay off. Yet globally, one in four children under the age of five suffers from undernutrition, which can lead to long-term damage. We must urgently step-up financing to end child malnutrition. The world can and must do it. It is not only a moral imperative but also a sound investment in the future.”

WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain: “A future free from hunger is possible if we can rally the resources and the political will needed to invest in proven long-term solutions. I call on G20 leaders to follow Brazil’s example and prioritize ambitious global action on hunger and poverty. “We have the technologies and know-how to end food insecurity – but we urgently need the funds to invest in them at scale. WFP is ready to step up our collaboration with governments and partners to tackle the root causes of hunger, strengthen social safety nets and support sustainable development so every family can live in dignity.”

WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus:  “The progress we have made on reducing stunting and improving exclusive breastfeeding shows that the challenges we face are not insurmountable. We must use those gains as motivation to alleviate the suffering that millions of people around the world endure every day from hunger, food insecurity, unhealthy diets and malnutrition. The substantial investment required in healthy, safe and sustainably produced food is far less than the costs to economies and societies if we do nothing.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP).

Angola – one of the biggest oil and gas producers in Africa – relies on innovative drilling solutions to sustain production above one million barrels per day. Well integrity is crucial to minimize losses and optimize output as the country incentivizes exploration across its onshore and offshore acreage.

During the Angola Oil&Gas (AOG) pre-conference technical program – taking place ahead of the main event on October 1 – oilfield services company KAESO Energy Services will lead a workshop titled Maintaining Well Integrity to Minimize Financial Losses: A Mechanical Solution-Based Approach. The company’s General Manager Jorge de Morais and Technical&HSE Advisor Landry Pouna will conduct the session, exploring the significance of well integrity and mechanical solutions to mitigate risks and prevent financial setbacks.

AOG is the largest oil and gas event in Angola. Taking place with the full support of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas; national oil company Sonangol; the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency; the African Energy Chamber; and the Petroleum Derivatives Regulatory Institute, the event is a platform to sign deals and advance Angola’s oil and gas industry. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.

Angola currently has over 40 concessions in operation, including 16 under production, 27 under exploration and four under development. The country has also opened 29 block opportunities for investment while negotiating terms for companies that qualified under the 2023 bid round – a 12-block tender which concluded in January 2024. This year, Angola anticipates 43 wells to be spud as part of ongoing upstream campaigns. To compliment new campaigns, the government is instituting an incremental production initiative which aims to incentivize near-field exploration in Angola. The first well of this initiative – the Likembe-01 well in the ExxonMobil-operated Block 15 – uncovered hydrocarbons in May 2024.

https://apo-opa.co/3y1Qk2e

https://apo-opa.co/3YinlBQ.

Going forward, drill campaigns kicking off in both proven plays such as the offshore Lower Congo and Kwanza basins, as well as frontier basins such the onshore and shallow water Namibe and Benguela basins will require technological innovation to maximize production while reducing costs and environmental impact.

In alignment with the AOG 2024 theme – Driving Exploration and Development Towards Increased Production in Angola – the KAESO Energy Services workshop will provide essential knowledge for professionals aiming to enhance well integrity and operational efficiency. The session supports the industry’s goal of maximizing resource recovery and ensuring sustainable production practices and will be of benefit for drilling managers, completion managers, reservoir managers, well architecture teams and more.

Participants will expand their knowledge of mechanical solutions for maintaining well integrity, focusing on risk reduction and financial loss prevention. Key topics include gas-tight sealing capabilities, mechanical integrity and operational optimization to avoid costly remedial cementing operations. Additionally, the workshop will present an overview of proposed solutions, comparing and contrasting different approaches with supporting examples. Attendees will gain insights into the mechanics, implementation steps, challenges and limitations associated with these solutions.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain strategic insights from industry experts de Morais and Pouna. To register for the workshop and the AOG conference, visit https://apo-opa.co/3WyHvGw or contact us at sales@energycapitalpower.com. Access the pre-conference technical program here (https://apo-opa.co/3WyHx16).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital&Power.

The mid-term review meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Electricity Access Project (REAP), which opened today, Tuesday 23 July 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria, is intended to take stock of the objectives achieved and the challenges encountered, assess the progress made since the project began in 2018, and identify the necessary adjustments to be made in order to achieve the said objectives.

The meeting was attended by experts from the ECOWAS Regional Coordination Unit, the coordinators of the National Project Implementation Units in The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali, and staff from the Commission of the regional organisation.For the World Bank team leader, Ms Elise Massan Akitani, the mid-term review of the PRAE is of the utmost importance.

‘This meeting will enable us, together with ECOWAS and all the countries involved in the project, to review the successes of the PRAE’s implementation, identify areas for improvement, and take decisions to accelerate the project’s implementation in order to achieve results by the end of the project in December 2025’, she said.

Initiated in 2018 with the support of the World Bank, the US$225 million Regional Electricity Access Project covers The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali, and is expected to bring electricity to 578 localities.

On behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Oumar Alieu Touray, and the Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, Sédiko Douka, the Director of Energy and Mines, Bayaornibè Dabiré, expressed his gratitude to the World Bank for its support in implementing this project, which is designed to increase access to electricity for the people of West Africa.

He reiterated ECOWAS’s commitment to working towards the success of the project, as well as the dedication of the national implementation units in The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali, which, he said, were sparing no effort to achieve its objectives in their respective countries. Bayaornibè Dabiré expressed his satisfaction with the implementation of the PRAE, despite a number of difficulties during the preparation phase and delays in implementation for various reasons.

‘Even if these difficulties affect the overall efficiency of the project, we can safely acknowledge that the strategic objective has not been undermined, and the project remains a priority that is perfectly aligned with the sectoral energy objectives of the countries concerned’, he said.

He urged the participants to engage in frank discussions to draw the necessary lessons, in order to better guide future actions.

This mid-term review meeting comes at the right time to assess the overall relevance and performance of the project, and to make key recommendations to speed up its implementation,’ he concluded.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uganda is pleased to announce that H.E. Mourad Amokrane, Ambassador-Designate of the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to Uganda presented copies of his Letters of Credence to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Affairs, Hon John Mulimba. The formal ceremony took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, underscoring the longstanding and cordial relations between the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria and the Republic of Uganda.

Hon John Mulimba extended a warm welcome to Ambassador Mourad Amokrane and expressed Uganda’s commitment to further strengthening the bilateral ties that have been fostered over the years. He highlighted the mutual respect and cooperation that characterize the relationship between the two countries and underscored Uganda’s readiness to explore new avenues of collaboration in areas of mutual interest, specifically in the fields of science, technology transfer and value addition in coffee trade. Hon. Mulimba said that Uganda welcomes investors in value addition in the sector of timber as the country had changed its export strategy from exporting timber to processing and manufacturing of furniture. He highlighted the need to have joint partnership on certification and standardization of goods and services for Uganda to benefit from the vast cooperation frameworks Algeria has signed with European countries and the Arab world.

He extended his appreciation from the Government of Uganda tothe Government of Algeria to have increased their educational scholarship program and called for more science-related courses specifically in the fields of medicine, engineering, oil and gas among others in order to address the job seeking labour force in the country. H.E. Mourad Amokrane conveyed greetings and well-wishes from the President and the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria. He looks forward to cooperation in bilateral and multilateral fields. He emphasized the importance of continued economic and diplomatic cooperation and confirmed that it was no longer a requirement for diplomats and business persons from Algeria to acquire a visas to Uganda. He called for more cooperation in the fields of oil and gas as well as in development of the agricultural value chain in order for the two nations to compete globally.

They acknowledged the potential for increased partnership and pledged to work closely to realize these opportunities for the benefit of both countries. Minister Mulimba assured H.E Mourad Amokrane of the Ministry’s full support during his tenure and expressed optimism that his appointment will usher in a new chapter of robust and dynamic relations between Algeria and Uganda. The presentation of the letter of credence marks a significant step in fortifying the ties between the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria and the Republic of Uganda. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs looks forward to a mutually productive engagement with H.E Mourad Amokrane, Ambassador Designate of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to Uganda. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Republic of Uganda – Ministry of Foreign Affairs.