Hunger continues to worsen in the Arab region, says FAO

Foodstuff distributed among jobless people at the Khulna Zila School ground in early 2021.

Geneva, 21 Dec (Kanaga Raja) –  Hunger has continued to rise in the Arab region, with a 91.1 percent increase over the past two decades, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In its latest report highlighting the situation of food security and nutrition in the Near East and North Africa, FAO said that the number of undernourished people in the Arab region reached 69 million in 2020, or 15.8 percent of the population.

The FAO report attributed the rise in hunger in the region in 2020 to protracted crises, social unrest and exposure to multiple shocks and stresses such as conflicts, poverty, inequality, climate change, scarce natural resources and the economic repercussions associated with the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report, the Arab States in the region include Algeria; Bahrain; the Comoros; Djibouti; Egypt; Iraq; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Libya; Mauritania; Morocco; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Somalia; the Sudan; the Syrian Arab Republic; Tunisia; the United Arab Emirates; Yemen as well as Palestine.

Hunger surged across all income levels, in conflict-affected countries as well as in non-conflict countries, with Somalia and Yemen, two conflict-affected, low-income countries having the highest levels of undernourishment in the region in 2020, said the report.

The recent trends in hunger and food insecurity suggest that it will be enormously difficult for the region to achieve by 2030, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, on “zero hunger”, said FAO.

“Conflicts continue to be one of the leading causes of hunger in the region, with approximately 53.4 million people facing hunger in countries and areas affected by conflict, which is more than six times higher than in non-conflict countries,” said Abdul Hakim El Waer, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa.

“There may be no visible improvement in the situation this year since hunger’s primary drivers will continue to drag the situation further down the road,” he added.

RISE IN HUNGER & WORSENING FOOD SECURITY

According to the FAO report, hunger has been on the rise in the Arab States since 2014, but years of progress have been erased since 2000.

The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) was 15.8 percent in 2020, close to the peak of 2011, which are the years when the region experienced two major shocks in a decade – the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and popular uprisings in 2011, it said.

“The number of undernourished increased by close to 30 percent between 2014 and 2020, to 69 million. This is also 4.8 million more than in 2019.”

FAO said that when the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020 it brought major disruptions to the region’s economy and people’s livelihoods.

Hunger in conflict-affected countries has always been much higher than in non-conflict countries, in the order of 17 to 30 percentage points, it noted.

“Hunger has also been consistently high in the least developed countries (LDCs) of the region,” said the report.

Somalia and Yemen, two conflict-affected, low-income countries, displayed the highest levels of undernourishment in the region in both periods (2013-2015 and 2018-2020), with varying trends. The PoU has declined in Somalia to 59.5 percent, while in Yemen it has increased, reaching 45.4 percent.

In 2018-2020, the lowest levels of PoU, below 4 percent, were recorded in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

FAO said the number of undernourished in the Arab region reached 69 million in 2020, up from 32.9 million, or 91.1 percent, compared with 2000. The region accounted for 9 percent of the global total of 768 million in 2020.

Low-income economies had 35.6 million undernourished people, upper-middle-income economies had 20 million, lower-middle-income economies had 10.4 million and high-income economies had 3 million.

There were 54.3 million undernourished people in conflict-affected countries, which is more than three times as high as the 15.5 million in non-conflict countries.

“The number of undernourished people increased by 4.8 million compared to 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the FAO report.

FAO also reported that the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the Arab region was 32.3 percent in 2020, up from 30.8 percent in 2014, and it is higher than the global average of 30.4 percent.

FAO explained that people face moderate food insecurity when they are uncertain of their ability to obtain food and have been forced to reduce, at times over the year, the quality and/or quantity of food they consume due to lack of money or other resources.

“Severe food insecurity means that individuals have likely run out of food, experienced hunger and, at the most extreme, have gone for days without eating, putting their health and well-being at serious risk,” it said.

In 2020, 45 percent of the people in low-income economies were severely or moderately food insecure, compared to 43.1 percent in upper-middle-income economies, 26.1 percent in lower-middle-income economies and 19.3 percent in high-income economies.

The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity increased in conflict-affected countries up to 45 percent but has declined slightly in non-conflict countries (down to 25.4 percent) between 2014 and 2020.

In contrast, severe food insecurity affected 11.3 percent of the people in the Arab region in 2020, down from 11.5 percent in 2014: 17.5 percent in low-income economies, 16.8 percent in upper-middle-income economies, 8 percent in high-income economies and 7.4 percent in lower-middle-income economies.

However, the levels of severe food insecurity in the region are higher compared to the previous year (10.9 percent).

According to the report, the highest prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in 2018-2020 was recorded in two of the least developed, conflict-affected countries of the region: Somalia, 79.1 percent, and the Sudan, 49.4 percent.

In contrast, FAO said that the lowest levels of moderate or severe food insecurity, 12.2 percent, were recorded in Kuwait representing a high-income country in the region.

An estimated 141 million people in the Arab region experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020, an increase of 21.3 million, or 17.8 percent compared with 2014.

Lower-middle-income economies had 53.8 million moderately or severely food insecure people, compared with 48.1 million in low-income economies, 27.6 million in upper-middle-income economies and 11.3 million in high-income economies.

The number of moderately or severely food insecure people rose both in conflict-affected (14.9 million) as well as non-conflict countries (6.4 million) in 2020 compared to 2014, said FAO.

“From 2019, the number of people affected by moderate or severe food insecurity in the region increased by more than 10 million, likely due in large part to the economic and social disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that has exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities and negatively impacted peoples’ lives and livelihoods.”

FAO said that high-income countries showed the least increase compared to the other country income groups. The number of moderately or severely food insecure people has increased from 2019 in both conflict-affected as well as non-conflict countries of the region.

FAO said an estimated 49.4 million people in the region experienced severe food insecurity in 2020, an increase of 4.9 million, or 11 percent compared with 2014.

It said that low-income economies had 18.7 million severely food insecure people, compared with 15.3 million in lower-middle-income economies, 10.8 million in upper-middle-income economies and 4.7 million in high-income economies.

“Severe food insecurity also showed an upward trend from 2019, with 2.9 million more people not having regular access to sufficient and nutritious food.”

FAO said both conflict-affected as well as non-conflict countries in the region showed increased levels of severe food insecurity in 2020 compared to 2019.

MULTIPLE FORMS OF MALNUTRITION

According to the FAO report, the Arab region continued to suffer from multiple forms of malnutrition. Rates of stunting (20.5 percent) and overweight (10.7 percent) among children under five years of age were high in 2020.

The prevalence of wasting was equivalent to 7.8 percent, indicating a medium public health issue, yet it was higher than the global average of 6.7 percent, said FAO.

“The least developed countries of the region suffered from high to very high levels of wasting. In contrast, most LDCs displayed low levels of childhood overweight.”

The prevalence of stunting among children under five years in the Arab region was 20.5 percent in 2020, down from 28.7 percent in 2000.

Despite the improvement in the past two decades, the current prevalence of stunting in the region is still considered as high based on the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of malnutrition severity as a public health problem, said the FAO report.

Stunting has declined steadily since 2000 across all income levels, conflict-affected and non-conflict countries in the region. The current estimate for the Arab region is lower than the global average of 22 percent, said FAO.

By level of income, low-income economies are the most affected with 32.9 percent, indicating very high prevalence.

This is followed by lower-middle-income economies with 17.3 percent (medium public health problem), upper- middle-income economies with 13.5 percent (medium) and high-income economies with 5.1 percent (low).

Conflict-affected countries have a high prevalence of stunting among children under five years (27.8 percent), while the prevalence is a medium public health problem in non-conflict countries (15.2 percent).

The prevalence of stunting declined in the vast majority of Arab States between 2000 and 2020. The exceptions are Djibouti, Kuwait, Libya and the Syrian Arab Republic where the stunting rates have increased, said FAO.

The most significant increase occurred in Libya where the prevalence of stunting has more than doubled from 20.5 percent in 2000 to 43.5 percent in 2020, it added.

FAO said this is the only country in the region where the public health significance of the prevalence of stunting has changed for the worse in the past two decades from high to very high.

In the rest of the Arab countries the public health significance of stunting has remained the same or it has improved.

The most significant progress has been achieved in Algeria where the prevalence of stunting as a public health issue has improved from high in 2000 to low in 2020.

In 2020, four Arab countries, including Djibouti, Libya, the Sudan and Yemen exhibited a very high prevalence of stunting.

Five other countries, the Comoros, Egypt, Mauritania, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic, have high levels of stunting among children under five years of age, said FAO.

Stunting was a low public health issue in eight countries of the region, including Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

The share of children under five years affected by wasting in the Arab region was 7.8 percent in 2020, higher than the global average of 6.7 percent, said FAO.

Low-income countries of the region displayed a very high prevalence of wasting among children under five years (16.3 percent) in 2020.

In conflict-affected Arab countries, wasting was a high public health problem with a prevalence of 10.2 percent. In non-conflict countries 6.6 percent of children under five years were wasted, which is a medium public health issue.

The most recent country-level data shows a very high prevalence of wasting in Djibouti (21.5 percent), the Sudan (16.3 percent) and Yemen (16.4 percent), all three representing the least developed countries of the region.

The other three LDCs, the Comoros, Mauritania and Somalia, had high levels of wasting. A very low prevalence of wasting was found in Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia.

FAO also said in the Arab region, 10.7 percent of children under five years were overweight in 2020, up from 9.4 percent in 2000.

“Childhood overweight is a high public health problem in the region, exceeding the global average of 5.7 percent (medium).”

FAO said that lower-middle-income economies are the most affected, with 15 percent (very high public health problem), followed by upper-middle-income economies (10.9 percent, high), high-income economies (7.4 percent, medium) and low-income economies (4.7 percent, low).

Overweight has mainly been on the rise in lower-middle income, high income and upper-middle income countries of the region.

In contrast, the low-income countries displayed a declining trend in childhood overweight in the past two decades.

FAO said the prevalence of overweight is a very high public health problem in five countries of the region: Egypt (17.8 percent), Lebanon (19.7 percent), Libya (25.4 percent), the Syrian Arab Republic (18.2 percent) and Tunisia (16.5 percent).

It said the levels are high in three other countries: Algeria (12.9 percent), Morocco (11.3 percent) and Qatar (13.9 percent).

The report said only five countries in the region displayed a low prevalence of childhood overweight, including four LDCs, Mauritania, the Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, as well as one high-income country, Oman.

FAO said that in the past two decades, overweight in children under five years has declined in eight countries: the Comoros, Djibouti, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, the Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

“All other countries in the region showed increases during this period. The most significant increase (12 percent) over this period is in Tunisia.”

The prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age in the Arab region was estimated at 33.2 percent in 2019, 4.9 percentage points lower than in 2000. This is higher than the global average of 29.9 percent, said FAO.

ADULT OBESITY

According to the report, prevalence of obesity among adults (18 years and above) has been increasing steadily in the Arab region since 2000.

The latest year estimate for the Arab region shows that 28.8 percent of the adult population was obese, i.e. more than double the global average of 13.1 percent.

High-income countries had the highest prevalence of adult obesity with 34 percent, followed by upper-middle- income economies (31.7 percent), lower-middle income economies (29 percent) and low-income economies (18.8 percent).

Prevalence of adult obesity is higher in non-conflict countries (30.4 percent) compared to conflict-affected countries (24.1 percent) of the region, said FAO.

The prevalence of obesity increased at different rates in all countries of the region since 2000. The highest increase of 10 percent is in Algeria and Jordan, it added.

The prevalence of adult obesity is highest in Kuwait, 37.4 percent, while it is lowest in the Comoros, 7.5 percent.

Nine countries in the region had a prevalence of over 30 percent, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, said FAO.

- Third World Network