A new UN report shows a slight global decrease in hunger: in 2024, an estimated 673 million people, or 8.2% of humanity, were undernourished—down from 8.5% in 2023 and 8.7% in 2022. On the surface, that seems like progress World Health Organization.
Dig deeper, though, and the picture darkens. While hunger eased in regions like southern Asia and Latin America, it worsened in most parts of Africa and Western Asia. In Africa, hunger now affects more than 307 million people, which is over 20% of the population. In Western Asia, around 12.7%, or 39 million people, are now hungry World Health Organization. Alarmingly, almost 60% of the world’s chronically undernourished—over 512 million people—are projected to be in Africa by 2030 World Health Organization.
This rise in hunger in parts of the world that are already vulnerable is not just a humanitarian issue—it’s a glaring failure of current systems to protect the most at-risk communities.
Businesses Must Unlock New Ways to Feed the Future
Aid remains essential, especially in emergencies. But it cannot be the cornerstone of global food security. What we see here is a call to action: businesses must step up and support real, lasting solutions to hunger. That means investing in local agriculture infrastructure, helping build resilient supply chains, and creating financing models that work even when aid fails.
Innovative private-sector solutions—like impact investment, public-private partnerships, and infrastructure development—can deliver the necessary resilience. It’s not easy. It won’t happen overnight. But if businesses can embrace this challenge, hunger need not be an inevitable reality.
This is more than a problem—it’s a moment. When hunger rises in Africa and Western Asia, global progress means very little. Only bold business-led action can shift the trajectory.
Source: WHO, “Global hunger declines, but rises in Africa and western Asia: UN report,” 28 July 2025 World Health Organization
Featured Photo Attribution: Tadekwiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
