Maximo Torero

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which has been analyzing the affordability of nutritious foods across the world, says food prices have risen by around a quarter in recent years because of factors like the global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and conflict in the Middle East.

I've been speaking to the FAO chief economist, Maximo Torero Cullen, about how many people this is affecting and what the UN's definition of a healthy diet is.

So the major core behind the definition of a healthy diet is diversity.

This includes vegetables, fruits, oils and fats, legumes and nuts, starchy staples, animal source foods.

Of course.

I can always get a super processed food which will be cheaper and will affect my health, and that right now under the current conditions makes more expensive to eat healthier.

Maximo Torero Cullen.

[footsteps crunch] There's a bit of a wind in the background, as you can hear.

Findings indicate that between 713 and 757 million people were undernourished in 2023, which is 152 million more than in 2019.

Here's FAO chief economist, Maximo Torero.

The bottom line is that we are still far off track towards the goal of freeing the world of hunger, putting security and malnutrition by 2030.

Based on the current trajectory, our projections indicate that if we continue under the same conditions as today, we will be having 582 million people which will still face hunger in 2030.