FAO Director-General QU Dongyu addresses the launch of the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report

The world must act with greater urgency and inclusiveness to address the uneven progress in the fight against global hunger and malnutrition, said QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), at the launch of the 2025 The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report.

This year's launch event was held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, marking the first time the SOFI report was presented on the African continent – an appropriate and symbolic choice, as Africa remains at the forefront of the global hunger crisis.

The 2025 SOFI report reveals a modest improvement in global hunger levels, with the share of people facing hunger declining from 8.5 percent in 2023 to 8.2 percent in 2024. However, this global figure masks stark regional disparities. While Asia and Latin America have seen encouraging progress, hunger continues to worsen in Africa, where 307 million people - equivalent to 20 percent of the population - are food insecure. Projections indicate that by 2030, almost 60 percent of those at risk of chronic hunger will be in Africa.

Moreover, while global hunger levels have declined from their 2022 peak, they have not yet recovered from the compounded crises of recent years.

"Recovery must be inclusive - we cannot accept a future where entire regions are left behind," Qu said at the launch event.

The event was attended by by high-level dignitaries including United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed; Ethiopia's President, Taye Atske-Selassie; and Italy's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Edmondo Cirielli.

"Knowledge is power. Today's launch of the SOFI report delivers sobering insights and the power to act," the UN's Deputy Secretary-General said. Overlapping crises, such as conflict, climate shocks, inflation and displacement are exposing the deep fragility of our food systems, meaning the message is clear: "cooperation must replace conflict," she said.

The President of Ethiopia described the "sobering" SOFI report as a "compelling call for action." At the same time, the report helps "inform policies to bring forward quick gains and long-term solutions," he said.

Cirielli recalled how food security represents a strategic priority for Italy. For Italy, food security is not just about "what we eat, but also about the future of our societies, the well-being of our economic systems and global health," Cirielli said.

Mixed progress in combating hunger and malnutrition

Jointly produced by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations agency for children (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), the SOFI 2025 report presents a sobering picture.

Today, 90 million more people are facing hunger than in 2020 - and 100 million more than in 2015, when the Sustainable Development Goals were launched. Meanwhile, around 2.3 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2024.

Looking beyond hunger, the malnutrition picture remains mixed. Child stunting has declined modestly over the past decade, but wasting has stagnated. Worse still, anemia among women aged 15-49 has increased from 27.6 percent to 30.7 percent, with most regions showing stagnation or deterioration.

And while millions go hungry, many others consume more than is healthy. Adult obesity rose from 12.1 percent in 2012 to 15.8 percent in 2022 - a sharp reminder of the double burden of malnutrition.

Improving the quality of diets is essential. In this regard, this year's SOFI report for the first time includes new indicators of dietary diversity for both children and women – a critical step towards monitoring SDG Target 2.2 more effectively.

The findings are concerning: only one-third of children aged 6 to 23 months and two-thirds of women aged 15 to 49 meet the minimum criteria for dietary diversity.

"Much more must be done to expand access to nutritious, diverse diets for all - especially women and children," Qu said.

Healthy diets should also become more affordable given that, as of 2024, 2.6 billion people still could not afford a healthy diet. In this context, SOFI 2025 includes a special focus on food inflation, analyzing its causes, consequences, and policy responses.

Since 2020, food price inflation has consistently outpaced overall inflation, exposing the unique vulnerabilities of agrifood systems and underscoring the urgent need to prioritize food policy in macroeconomic planning.

"In the face of global disruptions, protectionist or inward-looking policies are counterproductive. What we need is coordinated global action—based on shared responsibility, solidarity, and sound evidence," the FAO Director-General said.

The path forward demands "urgency, inclusiveness, and action," Qu said.

"We must reach all communities - rural and urban, women and men, children and elders - with solutions that are timely, fair, and effective. Let us act now - not just with ambition, but with determination - to achieve Zero Hunger, leaving no one behind," he said.