About one in 11 people or 733 million people globally faced hunger in 2023, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published on Wednesday by the UN agencies.

The report showed that this will lead to about 582 million people being chronically undernourished in 2030, a sign that the world is falling significantly short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger.

The annual report also shows that the world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009.

Despite some progress in specific areas such as stunting and exclusive breastfeeding, an alarming number of people continue to face food insecurity and malnutrition as global hunger levels have plateaued for three consecutive years, with between 713 and 757 million people undernourished in 2023 — approximately 152 million more than in 2019 when considering the mid-range (733 million).

Further, the report showed that the percentage of the population facing hunger continues to rise in Africa (20.4 per cent).

While it remains stable in Asia (8.1 per cent) the region still represents a significant challenge as it is home to more than half of those facing hunger worldwide.

Notably, the report showed progress in Latin America (6.2 per cent).

“We are off track on all indicators. That’s clear. If we project the numbers of today, we will have up to 582 million people chronically undernourished or hungry by 2030. This is half a billion more than the target, which is ‘Zero Hunger’,” said Maximo Torero, Chief Economist, at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

“We need to accelerate the process and change if we want to get as close as possible to our target, which was very ambitious from the beginning. We only have six years left. Now, if I observe all the different regions and I see what has happened in South America, I see that this is possible,” he added.

Meanwhile, the report also highlighted that access to adequate food remains elusive for billions.

In 2023, around 2.33 billion people globally faced moderate or severe food insecurity, a number that has not changed significantly since the sharp upturn in 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among those, over 864 million people experienced severe food insecurity, going without food for an entire day or more at times, the report said.

The report also underscored the complex challenges of malnutrition in all its forms – low breastfeeding rates, low birth-weight, wasting and anaemia.

There is “an urgent need for targeted interventions as the world is not on track to reach any of the seven global nutrition targets by 2030”, the UN said.