Source: World Food Programme
By Maria Cooper
Yesterday (May 28) was World Hunger Day. Established in 2011 by The Hunger Project, the date is observed annually to raise awareness about the global issue of hunger and inspire action toward ending chronic poverty. The day aims to highlight the root causes of hunger, promote sustainable solutions, and encourage global participation in fighting food insecurity. According to the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023: that is 1 in 11 people worldwide, and 1 in 5 in Africa. This is an alarmingly high number, made more concerning by the fact that hunger levels appear to be plateauing rather than continuing to drop. Regionally, the picture becomes more complex, as hunger in places such as Latin America has fallen but continues to rise on the African continent, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa
The World Food Programme (WFP) launched “HungerMap Live” in 2020, an interactive global map which monitors (near) real-time food security. This tool aims to raise awareness of the widespread issue of food insecurity, and help the WFP deliver their goal of ending global hunger by 2030. HungerMap Live gives updates on more than 90 countries and issues predictions for places where data is unavailable or limited using artificial intelligence. Metrics including climate shocks, conflict, populations and weather are all used to help identify areas that are currently food insecure or face imminent risk. The map is interactive and user-friendly: users can zoom to their area of interest (AOI), or search for a country to view. Insights and key trends are supplied in PDF report format next to the search option, giving users access to a wealth of information on statistics in their AOI. The site features additional data including hazards, conflict, and rainfall, and there is an option to overlay certain layers to view how different phenomena interact.
The data gathered for the map’s food insecurity indicator include simple questions such as “Do you know where your next meal will come from?” and “What do you do when you don’t have enough food or don’t have enough money to buy food?” Daily food security information is collected through live phone calls to call centres, making it possible to collect data on a continuous basis. The additional information is sourced from institutions such as the Pacific Disaster Centre (hazards), NASA (vegetation), and World Bank (population), bringing together a breadth of relevant knowledge on some of the key drivers of hunger.
Check out the fantastic work being done by the World Food Programme: https://www.wfp.org/
View HungerMap Live here: https://hungermap.wfp.org/
Sources:
Ong, A. (2020) ‘WFP launches HungerMap Live’. World Food Programme, 20 January. Available at: https://www.wfp.org/stories/wfp-launches-hungermap-live
WFP (2023) ‘Leveraging Big Data and Machine Learning to Monitor Global Food Security in Real-Time’. World Food Programme, December 13. Available at: https://www.wfpusa.org/articles/leveraging-big-data-and-machine-learning-monitor-global-food-security-in-real-time/
WHO (2024) ‘Hunger numbers stubbornly high for three consecutive years as global crises deepen: UN report’. World Health Organisation, Joint News Release, 24 July. Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/24-07-2024-hunger-numbers-stubbornly-high-for-three-consecutive-years-as-global-crises-deepen–un-report