Healthy diets remain unaffordable for over 33% of world’s population

A recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reveals that over a third of the global population, approximately 2.826 billion people, could not afford a healthy diet in 2022, reliefweb reported yesterday.

While the percentage dropped slightly from 36.4% in 2019, recovery has been uneven across regions. Low-income countries faced the highest levels of food insecurity since 2017, with 64.8% of people in Africa unable to afford healthy diets compared to just 4.8% in Northern America and Europe.

The average global cost of a healthy diet rose to 3.96 dollars, with significant regional variations. The report underscores the urgent need to transform agrifood systems to enhance resilience and address inequalities, especially as the deadline for achieving Zero Hunger approaches in 2030. “The uneven progress in the economic access to healthy diets cast a shadow of achieving Zero Hunger in the world, six years away from the 2030 deadline,” the report says.

FAO emphasizes that without innovative investments, many will continue to face food and nutritional insecurity, risking an increase in hunger globally.