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HOW GENDER JUSTICE CAN ADVANCE CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND ZERO HUNGER

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PROGRESS AGAINST HUNGER IS FALLING SHORT

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with moderate, serious, or alarming 2024 GHI scores, hunger has increased since 2016.
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with moderate, serious, or alarming 2024 GHI scores, progress has largely stalled—their 2024 GHI scores have declined by less than 5 percent from their 2016 GHI scores or have not changed at all.
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with moderate, serious, or alarming 2024 GHI scores— Fiji, Jordan, Libya, Syria, and Venezuela— their 2024 GHI scores are even worse than their 2000 GHI scores.

The Outlook is Grim As Progress Against Hunger Stagnates

Low

51 countries

Moderate

37 countries

Serious

36 countries

Alarming

6 countries

Extremely alarming

0 countries

Little progress has been made on reducing hunger since 2016, and the prospects for achieving Zero Hunger by the target date of 2030 are grim, with 42 countries still experiencing alarming or serious hunger.

Explore the 2024 GHI Ranking

The 2024 Global Hunger Index score for the world is 18.3, considered moderate, down only slightly from the 2016 score of 18.8.

See World GHI Scores in Recent Decades

The 2024 GHI results reflect a barrage of successive and overlapping challenges that have hit the world’s poorest countries and people hardest, amplifying structural inequalities.

These challenges include large-scale armed conflicts, increasingly severe climate change impacts, high domestic food prices, market disruptions, high debt burdens among low- and middle-income countries, income inequality, and economic downturns.

Read this year’s guest Essay

Conflicts have raised the specter of famine.

The wars in Gaza and Sudan have led to exceptional food crises. Conflict and civil strife are also generating food crises elsewhere, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali, and Syria.

The right to food is largely unrealized and unenforced.

Despite the international community’s repeated emphasis on the importance of the right to adequate food, there remains a troubling disparity between the standards established and the reality that in many parts of the world the right to food is being blatantly disregarded.

Zero Hunger

At the current pace, at least

64 countries

will not reach low hunger—much less Zero Hunger—by 2030.

If progress remains at the pace observed since 2016, low hunger at global level may not be reached until 2160.

Figure 1.1

WORLD GHI SCORES AND PREVALENCE OF UNDERNOURISHMENT IN RECENT DECADES

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Note: GHI scores for the year 2000 include data from 1998–2002; 2008 GHI scores include data from 2006–2010; 2016 GHI scores include data from 2014–2018; and 2024 GHI scores include data from 2019–2023. Data on undernourishment are from FAO (2024a). The undernourishment values are for the world as a whole, including countries both included in and excluded from the GHI. For a complete list of data sources for the calculation of GHI scores, see Methodology. Colors correspond to the GHI Severity of Hunger Scale.

Six countries have levels of hunger considered alarming, indicating widespread human misery, undernourishment, and malnutrition.

Somalia, Yemen, Chad, and Madagascar are the countries with the highest 2024 GHI scores; Burundi and South Sudan are also provisionally designated as alarming.


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Examples of progress and hope exist amid crises and worrying trends.

Progress has been notable for example in Bangladesh, Mozambique, Nepal, Somalia, and Togo, although challenges remain.

Drivers Affect All Regions, but Converge Differently across Contexts

Africa South of the Sahara is the world region with the highest and most concerning hunger levels. In South Asia, hunger remains serious, reflecting rising undernourishment and persistently high child undernutrition, driven by poor diet quality, economic challenges, and the increasing impacts of natural disasters. The GHI score of West Asia and North Africa, categorized as moderate, has stagnated, reflecting the overlapping effects of conflict, climate change, and trade shocks. Although hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean is categorized as low, this is the only region where hunger has worsened since 2016, driven by rising food inflation and fertilizer prices, soaring debt, and worsening credit conditions, which amplify structural inequalities and extreme poverty. East and Southeast Asia exhibit an overall low level of hunger, although progress has stagnated and there are massive disparities between countries. Despite recent challenges, the region of Europe and Central Asia is mostly on track to achieve low hunger by 2030.

Figure 1.2

REGIONAL 2000, 2008, 2016, AND 2024 GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX SCORES


Source: Authors. Note: See Methodology for data sources. The regional and global GHI scores are calculated using regional and global aggregates for each indicator and the formula described in the Methodology. The regional and global aggregates for each indicator are calculated as population-weighted averages, using the indicator values reported in Appendix B. For countries lacking undernourishment data, provisional estimates provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) were used to calculate aggregates only but are not reported in Appendix B. Appendix D shows which countries are included in each region.

Figure 1.4

WHERE THE INDICATORS OF HUNGER ARE HIGHEST







Source: Authors. Note: See Methodology for data sources.

Africa South of the Sahara

Africa South of the Sahara is the world region with the highest and most concerning hunger levels. While the region’s GHI scores have significantly improved over the past two decades, hunger remains serious and progress has virtually stalled since 2016. The high GHI score is driven by the highest undernourishment and child mortality rates of any region by far.

Climate Change

Climate change is wreaking havoc across much of Africa South of the Sahara.

Since 1961 climate change has reduced agricultural productivity growth in Africa by 34 percent.

Hunger Hotspots

Somalia is facing a protracted hunger crisis driven by ongoing conflict, economic challenges, and climate shocks, all in the context of a state that has limited capacity to carry out basic government functions. Over half the population, 51.3 percent, lacks sufficient calories—the second-highest value of all countries.

Sudan is facing a hunger crisis on a scale not experienced since the Darfur crisis of the early 2000s. Even before fighting broke out in 2023, Sudan faced very high child undernutrition and high levels of acute food insecurity.

Read more

South Asia

In South Asia, hunger remains serious, reflecting rising undernourishment and persistently high child undernutrition, driven by poor diet quality, economic challenges, and the increasing impacts of natural disasters.

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With 281 million undernourished people, South Asia accounts for nearly 40 percent of the global total.

Hunger Hotspots

Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan all face serious hunger levels, with Afghanistan's worsening due to conflict, economic instability, and rising undernourishment, leading to the sharpest increase in child stunting. While India's GHI score has improved since 2000, child wasting and stunting remain high, and Pakistan continues to struggle with food shortages exacerbated by inflation, fiscal deficits, and natural disasters, including severe flooding in 2022.

Yet, examples of progress and hope exist amid crises and worrying trends... Over the past two decades, Nepal has achieved one of the world’s fastest reductions in the prevalence of child stunting, though stunting remains a major public health concern.

Read more

West Asia and North Africa

The GHI score of West Asia and North Africa, categorized as moderate, has stagnated, reflecting the overlapping effects of conflict, climate change, and trade shocks.

Hunger Hotspots

Yemen’s hunger levels have stagnated for two decades, and Syria has seen the starkest increase in GHI scores since 2000, reflecting the devastating impact of conflict.

Gaza is experiencing the most severe food crisis recorded in the past 20 years, as almost the entire population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity, and famine might already be occurring.

Read more

Latin America and the Caribbean

Although hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean is categorized as low, this is the only region where hunger has worsened since 2016, driven by rising food inflation and fertilizer prices, soaring debt, and worsening credit conditions, which amplify structural inequalities and extreme poverty.

Hunger Hotspots

Haiti’s hunger levels are climbing dramatically as the country experiences a series of compounding shocks, including erratic rainfall, rampant inflation, and political turmoil that has fueled gang violence and internal displacement. Haiti is among the countries with the highest increases in their GHI scores since 2016, driven mainly by spiraling undernourishment.

Read more

East and Southeast Asia

East and Southeast Asia exhibit an overall low level of hunger, although progress has stagnated and there are massive disparities between countries.

Hunger Hotspots

DPR Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste face serious levels of hunger.

In Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste, GHI scores fell significantly until 2016, but since then progress has nearly halted.

Read more

Europe and Central Asia

Despite recent challenges, the region of Europe and Central Asia is mostly on track to achieve low hunger by 2030. Reductions are linked to improvements in agricultural production and productivity, driven by economic and income growth, and an overall increase in food availability, stability, and access.

Hunger Hotspots

Turkmenistan and Tajikistan have the highest GHI scores, although Tajikistan has made remarkable progress thanks to rapid economic growth driven by remittances and agriculture.

Ukraine and Albania have seen slight increases in their GHI scores. The prevalence of undernourishment has been on the rise in Ukraine, while Albania’s score is influenced by an apparent deterioration in child nutrition.

Read more

Focus: Understanding the Links Between Gender Inequality, Climate Change, and Hunger

gender

Discriminatory norms and gender-based violence often place women and sexual and gender minorities at heightened risk of food and nutrition insecurity and climate change impacts while hampering their ability to cope with these challenges.

A country’s food sector vulnerability and readiness to respond to climate change is correlated with hunger and gender inequality.

Figure 1.5

GENDER INEQUALITY GOES HAND IN HAND WITH HUNGER AND RISKS TO FOOD SYSTEMS FROM CLIMATE CHANGE IN MANY COUNTRIES


Source: Authors, based on the Gender Inequality Index (UNDP 2024) and data on climate change vulnerability and readiness from ND-GAIN (2023). Note: The Gender Inequality Index (GII) of the United Nations Development Programme is a composite measure using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment, and the labor market. GII values range from 0 (low inequality) to 1 (high inequality). The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) evaluates countries based on their vulnerability to and readiness for climate change. Food systems’ risk from climate change consists of their vulnerability adjusted by their readiness. Risk values range from 0 (low risk) to 1 (high risk). The red lines represent the median along each axis.

Issue in Focus

Countries with serious or alarming GHI scores, like Yemen and Chad, face both high climate risk and high levels of gender inequality, while countries with low GHI values, like Estonia and Latvia, exhibit low values of gender inequality and climate risk.

Explore the connections between gender, climate, and nutrition in this year’s feature essay, “Gender Justice, Climate Resilience, and Food and Nutrition Security” by Nitya Rao, Siera Vercillo, and Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey.

Accelerated Action Is Needed to Progress toward Zero Hunger

climate change

Climate, nutrition, and food systems policies should be guided by human rights obligations and international law, emphasizing the principles of equity and justice. There is a need for greater urgency and coherence across policies to address hunger.

Policy Recommendations

Discover our recommendations for achieving Zero Hunger, upholding the Right to Food, and advancing Gender and Climate Justice.

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2024 Downloads

Global Hunger Index 2024: How Gender Justice Can Advance Climate Resilience and Zero Hunger

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Synopsis: Global Hunger Index 2024

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2024 GHI Data

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