Africa Still Battling Hunger as Global Figures Drop for Third Year in a Row
- The UN's SOFI 2026 report found that global hunger fell to 7.8% in 2025, marking the third consecutive year of decline
- Africa overtook Asia as the region with the highest number of hungry people, with approximately 309 million people affected
- More than half of Africa's population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, bucking the global trend of improvement
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The world is slowly winning the fight against hunger, but Africa is being left behind. A new United Nations report released in 2026 shows that while global progress is real, the African continent carries a growing and disproportionate share of the world's food insecurity burden.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 report, produced by five UN agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), estimates that roughly 645 million people went hungry in 2025. That figure is down by nearly 43 million compared with 2022, when 8.6% of the global population was undernourished.
Africa overtakes Asia in hunger numbers
Despite the global decline, Africa now has the highest number of hungry people of any region in the world. Approximately 309 million Africans faced hunger in 2025, surpassing Asia's 292 million. Population growth on the continent has outpaced the modest improvements in hunger rates, which edged down only slightly from 20.3% to 20.0% between 2024 and 2025.
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The picture worsens when food insecurity is considered more broadly. More than half of Africa's population, 56.6%, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, compared with 20.3% in Asia and just 8.7% across North America and Europe.
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Healthy food remains out of reach for most Africans
Affordability is a critical part of the problem. The average cost of a healthy diet reached $4.28 per person per day globally in 2025, up from $2.94 in 2017. While the number of people unable to afford such a diet dropped worldwide, Africa moved in the opposite direction. A staggering 66.6% of Africans could not afford a healthy diet in 2025.
The report warns that between 510 million and 520 million people could still face hunger by 2030, with conflict, rising food and energy prices, weather shocks and shrinking international aid all threatening to reverse recent gains. The UN agencies say closing the gap will require sustained investment in infrastructure, irrigation, cold storage and more efficient food supply chains across the continent.
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Source: Briefly News
