Skip to main content

What is hunger?

Hunger is discomfort or pain caused by a lack of food. It is different from food insecurity, which means lack of regular access to safe and nutritious food for proper development and an active and healthy life.

Across the globe in 2024, as many as 309 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity in the 71 countries with WFP operations and where data is available. The World Food Programme (WFP) works to reach zero hunger by 2030, a target agreed by governments under the Sustainable Development Agenda and specifically Sustainable Development Goal 2.

Hunger stats

  • 37.2 million people in 'emergency' or worse levels of hunger
  • 47 countries where these people live
  • 139 million people WFP aims to reach in 2024

What are the causes of hunger?

Conflict is the primary cause of today's hunger crisis, driving people away from their land and livelihoods, disrupting markets, increasing food prices and destroying critical developmental gains. Its devastating impact can be seen across hunger hotspots including Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine.  

Climate emergencies such as floods, droughts and heatwaves also significantly contribute by destroying lives, livelihoods and crops, while degrading soils and damaging infrastructure and agricultural assets. 

Economic inequalities exacerbate hunger. When food prices rise due to struggling economies and external factors – for example the war in Ukraine – the poorest people struggle even more to put nutritious food on the table. Additionally, around 30 per cent of global food production is lost or wasted every year, with lack of access to technology and markets causing significant losses for many farmers.

What are the effects of hunger?

Diets poor in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients affect the health and life prospects of millions of people. The worst affected are children, with long-term consequences for their physical and mental development. Malnourished children are up to 12 times more likely to die than a healthy child. Malnutrition slows economic growth,  perpetuates poverty, impacts children's education and adults workforce skills with dire consequences for countries' human capital and future development.  

As part of a vicious cycle, hunger can also fuel conflict as well as vice-versa. People forced from their land may be vying with others for scarce resources, especially in areas where poverty and inequality are already present. 

When does hunger become famine?

Famine is the most severe form of food insecurity. It can be declared when malnutrition is widespread, and people have started dying of starvation through lack of access to sufficient, nutritious food. Among the most vulnerable groups are internally displaced people and refugees caught between the frontlines of hunger, many of whom are totally dependent on food assistance for their survival.

Definition of famine

  • 2 people per 10,000 die from starvation, or disease + malnutrition
  • 20% of households face extreme food shortages
  • 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition

How WFP tackles hunger: cause by cause

Conflict

WFP brings life-saving food and nutrition assistance to people affected by conflict, reaching even the most remote areas using as all-terrain vehicles and airdrops. This assistance, recognized by the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, not only saves lives but also supports peace efforts by enhancing access to contested natural resources, boosting social connections and addressing grievances in conflict-affected regions, while enhancing trust between people and governments working on state accountability and service delivery.

Climate change

WFP employs anticipatory action programs, leveraging early-warning systems to preemptively respond to extreme weather events and safeguard communities. Additionally, WFP promotes climate-smart energy solutions, facilitating access to modern cooking appliances and sustainable energy equipment to empower smallholder farmers enhancing food production, processing, and preservation.

Disasters

WFP takes the lead in coordinating humanitarian logistics through the Logistics Cluster, ensuring efficient response to large-scale disasters. Additionally, WFP heads the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, providing life-saving connectivity during emergencies. Through targeted geospatial analyses, WFP enables swift and tailored responses to natural disasters by mapping their immediate impact.

Inequality

WFP's program Food Assistance for Assets, engages communities in projects like land restoration, providing cash or food in exchange. Through initiatives like the Farm to Market Alliance, smallholders are linked to markets for crop diversification and to increase their business potential. WFP also offers cash transfers, empowering people to make choices that improve their food security, while injecting cash into local economies. Additionally, WFP collaborates with governments to strengthen social safety nets like the School Meals program for example.

Food loss

WFP teaches smallholder farmers how to use improved post-harvest handling methods, combined with simple but effective hermetic storage equipment to protect crops against insects, rodents, mould and moisture.