Summary
The report focuses on global levels of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition, and progress towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Targets 2.1 and 2.2 – to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030. The report was prepared by the FAO Agrifood Economics and Policy Division in collaboration with the Statistics Division of the Economic and Social Development stream and a team of technical experts from the FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. Background technical papers were prepared to support the research and data analysis was undertaken by the members of the writing team. The report indicates a continuation of past trends, with uneven and insufficient progress towards Targets 2.1 and 2.2 of the SDGs. Food insecurity and malnutrition continue to increase in many countries around the world, which will leave millions of people undernourished by 2030. While a number of policies and investments needed to transform agrifood systems were identified in previous reports, it is suggested that a gap of financing for food security and nutrition presents a key obstacle to attain the scale of actions needed. Accordingly, the report advances a definition of financing for food security and nutrition and provides a number of detailed recommendations and guidance to implement it.