The number of people experiencing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food, nutrition and livelihood assistance increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2022, with over a quarter of a billion facing acute hunger and people in seven countries on the brink of starvation, according to the latest Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC).

The annual report, produced by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), was launched today by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) – an international alliance of the United Nations, the European Union, governmental and non-governmental agencies, working to tackle food crises together.

In 2022, the severity of acute food insecurity increased to 22.7 percent, from 21.3 percent in 2021, but remains unacceptably high and underscores a deteriorating trend in global acute food insecurity.

It is pertinent to note that Acute food insecurity is when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger and the Global Network Against Food Crises brings together the European Union, FAO, UNICEF, the United States of America, WFP and the World Bank in a unique partnership to improve analysis, evidence and consensus on the prevalence and severity of food crises.

Rebecca Richards is the Director of the Global Network Against Food Crises.