The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 report presents a mixed picture of progress. Global hunger has declined to an estimated 8.2% in 2024, compared to 2022 levels. However, the decline is uneven, with Africa and Western Asia still experiencing increasing hunger.
ЁЯФ╕ Food insecurity (moderate or severe) has been declining gradually since 2021.
ЁЯФ╕ However, food prices rose in 2023 and 2024, increasing the cost of a healthy diet globally.
тАГтАГтоЪ Contributing factors: Pandemic and Ukraine war causing global food price inflation.
ЁЯФ╕ Despite rising costs, the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet fell from 2.76 billion (2019) to 2.60 billion (2024).
The report also flags concerning trends in nutritional health:
ЁЯФ╣ Anaemia in women (15тАУ49 years) and adult obesity (increased from 12.1% in 2012 to 15.8% in 2022) are both on the rise globally.
ЁЯЗоЁЯЗ│ India-Specific Findings:
India bucks the trend seen in other lower-middle-income countries; the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet is not increasing here.
KeralaтАЩs success story: Mobile phone adoption by fishermen and wholesalers has helped in reducing price dispersion and food waste.
тЬЕ Key Recommendations:
Time-bound fiscal measures (e.g., temporary tax relief, social protection programs).
Align fiscal and monetary policy for market stability.
Robust agricultural market information systems to manage price volatility and speculation.
ЁЯз╛ About SOFI 2025:
A joint initiative of FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO.
Serves as the annual monitoring report for SDG Targets 2.1 and 2.2, aiming to end hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition.
UPSC Prelims-style Question:
Q. With reference to the SOFI 2025 report, consider the following statements:
Global hunger has declined to below 9% in 2024.
India witnessed an increase in people unable to afford a healthy diet.
KeralaтАЩs mobile phone usage among fishermen helped reduce food waste.
The report is jointly released by FAO, WHO, and IMF.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 and 3 only
b) 2 and 4 only
c) 1, 2 and 3 only
d) 1, 3 and 4 only
ЁЯУЭ (Answer: a)
