Under its G20 presidency, Brazil proposed the establishment of a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty to reduce food insecurity in the world.
So far, more than 100 countries are projected to join the Alliance and Brazil’s efforts to counter increased hunger worldwide, Reuters reported citing a Brazilian minister.
Global Alliance Against Hunger
The idea of the global alliance was floated by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who initially proposed it during the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, last year. The Alliance is open to all countries, not only G20 members.
The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty seeks to coordinate actions, in addition to technical and financial partnerships, to support the implementation of the national programs of the countries joining the initiative.
Furthermore, the Alliance will raise resources and knowledge to implement public policies and social technologies that are effective in reducing hunger and poverty in other countries.
Global Support
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Brazil’s Minister of Social Development Wellington Dias said he is heading to the United Nations (UN) next week to promote the Alliance, which is a key initiative in President Lula’s combat against poverty and hunger in Brazil and across the world.
Brazil will preside over the next G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November. The official launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty will take place at the summit. The Latin American country expects the initiative to gain huge support at the G20 summit.
According to Dias, all issues related to the agreement texts have been worked out, clearing the way for many countries to endorse the initiative as early as July at a G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian Efforts
President Lula took office last year, in a third non-consecutive term. Since then, Brazil has made major strides in reducing food insecurity and poverty, said Dias. The Latin America’s largest economy has been removed from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) hunger map in 2014.
Brazil achieved this goal by keeping undernourishment rate below 2.5% for three years. However, the country was back on the map in 2021, when the undernourishment rate surged to 4.1%, and then to 4.7% in 2022.
Reducing Hunger
Brazil has been mobilizing countries behind the initiative. “We are working signed commitments, and I think it is possible to reach over a hundred countries by November,” Dias said.
The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty aims to set mechanisms to efficiently allocate knowledge and financial resources. The Alliance’s target is to remove all countries from the FAO hunger map by 2030. The FAO will publish its annual report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) later in July. The report is expected to show a surge in hunger worldwide in 2023.
The Brazilian Minister expected the report to show an improvement in the country’s index as Brazil’s statistics data reflected a decrease in the number of people facing severe food insecurity, from 33.1 million in 2022 to 8.7 million.
Dias highlighted Brazil’s achievement. “Brazil will likely be one of the countries with the greatest, if not the greatest, reduction in food insecurity relative to its population, as well as in extreme poverty and poverty,” he said.
He added that this will reinforce his country’s credentials in leading the Global Alliance. Dias also said that Brazil’s target is to leave the FAO hunger map again in 2026, by the end of Lula’s term.
Food Insecurity
According to FAO, food insecurity refers to the lack of regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life. This may happen due to unavailability of food and/or lack of resources to obtain food. FAO measures food insecurity in three levels of severity: mild, moderate and severe. People who face severe food insecurity have most likely experienced hunger.
The Food Security Information Network (FSIN)’s 2024 Global Report on Food Crises found that about 282 million people in 59 countries and territories experienced high levels of acute hunger in 2023, up 24 million from the previous year. Children and women have been the most affected, with over 36 million acutely malnourished children under age 5 across 32 countries in 2023. Conflict and disaster-related displacement had been a major factor.
Food Insecurity Drivers
The report outlined a number of factors contributing to acute food insecurity. These include: conflict/insecurity; weather extremes; and economic shocks. Conflict/insecurity, especially in Palestine (Gaza Strip), the Sudan and Haiti, will continue to be one of the main drivers throughout 2024. Food crises have exacerbated in conflict hotspots in 2023, notably Palestine (Gaza Strip) and the Sudan.
Similarly, FAO and World Food Program (WFP) have jointly warned that between June and October 2024, acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 18 hunger hotspots, with Haiti, Mali, Palestine, South Sudan and Sudan being the hotspots of highest concern.
Saudi Food Aid
Saudi Arabia has been offering generous contributions to alleviate the suffering of people in many countries worldwide. Through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), the Kingdom has provided food aid to the needy people in Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, and other countries.
Moreover, KSrelief signed a number of joint cooperation agreements with the WFP to provide food aid and support malnutrition treatment in Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Tanzania, Ukraine and others.
KSrelief is part of Saudi Arabia’s persistent efforts to alleviate the suffering of crisis-afflicted communities and people in need in many countries around the world through providing various forms of relief and humanitarian assistance.
Since its establishment in 2015, KSrelief has reached 98 countries, implementing 2,829 humanitarian and relief projects worth more than $6 billion, in cooperation with 175 local, regional and international partners.
These projects focus on vital sectors such as food, education, health, nutrition, water, environmental sanitation, and shelter, benefiting millions of people in need in target countries without discrimination.
According to KSrelief’s statistics, the greatest part of its support has gone to Yemen ($4.3 billion), Syria ($391 million), Palestine ($370 million), and Somalia ($227 million), with food security and health accounting for the majority of its projects.
