In 2021, around 768 million people were suffering from hunger worldwide. Most of the people affected in 2021 were in Asia (425 million), followed by Africa (278 million) and South America and the Caribbean (more than 56.6 million). The number of people threatened by hunger has risen by 150 million since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The SOFI report shows that, in 2021, 9,8% of the global population was suffering from malnutrition.

Integrated approach

Food security is generally associated with the fight against hunger and calorie malnutrition. But there is more at stake - the focus is also on malnutrition and unhealthy diets: overall, 2.3 billion people (29.3% of the global population) did not have secure, reliable access to adequate and sufficient food in 2021. 11.7 % of the global population (923.7 million people) were affected by severe food insecurity in 2021. Women were affected more severely than men (31.9% of women, 27.6 % of men).  The main causes of hunger and malnutrition comprise poverty, conflicts and wars. The effects of the climate crisis, of the loss of biodiversity and of the COVID-19 pandemic are additional contributory factors.

At the same time, however, malnutrition is increasing worldwide. The number of adults suffering from overweight and obesity has almost doubled since 2000 to 675.8 million (13.1%) in 2021. All in all, around half of the world population is not adequately nourished.

In attempting to improve global food security, we cannot, therefore, think purely in quantitative terms. Adequate nutrition is viewed as a multi-layered phenomenon in a social, economic, environmental and health-related context.

In order to ensure people eat a balanced diet, we therefore need an integrated approach that focuses on a variety of foods.

The food and agricultural sectors must make a decisive contribution in this regard by:

• providing a variety of affordable, nutritious foods (e.g. locally-grown fruit and vegetables);
• focusing on local foods that are culturally acceptable, adapted to local conditions and have a high nutrient density;
• providing income protection that enables people, in particular in developing countries, to afford  to feed themselves sufficiently and properly;
• Ensuring sustainable agriculture that avoids negative health, environmental and societal impacts along the whole value chain; and

taking account of gender-specific issues and the impacts of projects and programmes on women's health and their caring capacities.

Impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security

One of the main drivers of the increase in the number of people suffering from hunger worldwide is currently the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. It is reinforcing the negative effects of other crises, such as the coronavirus pandemic or the climate crisis, and is threatening to cause the greatest global food crisis since the Second World War. Exports of grain via the Black Sea, which have at least been partly resumed, and the expansion of alternative export routes by water, road and rail has reduced some of the tension regarding exports of Ukrainian grain.  However, the number of people suffering from hunger globally is continuing to rise.

The percentage of global wheat exports accounted for by Russia and Ukraine before the Russian war of aggression amounted to approximately 30%, the percentage of global maize exports to approximately 20% and the percentage of global exports of sunflower oil even to over 60%. This shows the significance of the two countries for the international agricultural markets and underlines what consequences a collapse of production or exports would have on global supply, on the prices and consequently on global food security.

Food supplies for the population in Germany and the EU are generally not at risk.  Germany has a high degree of self-sufficiency in many areas and far-reaching substitution possibilities. The multiple crises may, however, lead to price hikes and to temporary shortages in the supply of specific products.

Greater supply shortages are, however, to be expected in other countries, particularly in some countries outside the EU - above all in countries which already have food shortages, for instance due to extreme weather events, wars or conflicts. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates (as of June 2022) that in 2022, in the 82 countries in which the WFP is active and for which it has data, 345 million people will be acutely affected or at great risk of food insecurity, of which the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine accounts for 47 million people.  Moreover, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), up to 13 million people are also threatened by additional chronic malnutrition due to the war.

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The BMEL is monitoring the effects in Ukraine, the EU and across the globe very closely and is providing support with targeted and pragmatic measures. As part of the Federal Government’s humanitarian aid, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) has initiated a German Food Bridge to coordinate food donations to Ukraine from trade and the food sector. The BMEL is also supporting the Ukrainian agricultural sector by coordinating the supply of inputs and procuring veterinary medicines with funds totalling 5 million €, which are being contributed via the FAO’s Rapid Response Plan.  The BMEL is supporting the strengthening of alternative export routes, for example by upgrading a laboratory in Izmail in Ukraine on the Romanian border, which will enable goods controls to be accelerated.

Right to food

The right to adequate food is a human right and the basis of resilient food systems. The right is realised when all people at all times have access to resources that allow them to produce, earn or purchase food. In order to achieve this goal, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) adopted the “Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food”. These give the states and other actors recommendations on how to realise this human right. The Federal Government has, through the BMEL, provided crucial political and financial support for the development of these guidelines and takes action to promote their implementation.

Climate crisis

Global food security is increasingly under threat from the climate crisis. Farmers are particularly affected by it since they work in and with nature. Extreme weather events such as storms, floods and droughts are making their work increasingly difficult. At the same time, however, agriculture also contributes to the climate crisis and to biodiversity loss. Desertification, water shortages, the loss of sensitive biotopes, the loss of genetic resources and the increase in extreme weather events are causing considerable harvest losses and threatening the livelihoods of millions of people - especially smallholder farmers in developing countries.

International cooperation

The instruments of international cooperation in the field of food security range from high-level working groups, technical talks at working level and bilateral cooperation projects to participation in international organisations.

In its work in the FAO, and also in many other international institutions and political processes such as the G7, G20 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the BMEL supports the formulation of cross-sectoral policies for a healthy and balanced diet. The BMEL is using local projects in the countries to establish agricultural and food sectors that are nutrition-conscious.

For a summary of the BMEL’s international action, please click here:

1. Cooperation with the FAO and CFS
2. International research cooperation on global food security: BLE project executing agencies
3. Bilateral Trust Fund
4. Bilateral cooperation programme
5. Africa concept
6. Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA)
7. G7 and G20

Released 13. Oct 2022 as article