UN: 2.3 billion people severely or moderately hungry in 2021

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A new UN report says world hunger rose in 2021, with around 2.3 billion people facing moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat. And that was before the Ukraine war which has sparked increases in the cost of grain, fertilizer and energy.  “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” was published by five U.N. agencies on Wednesday and it paints a grim picture, based on 2021 data. It says the statistics “should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms.”