Africa overtakes Asia as continent with highest hunger burden — UN
Agency Report
Africa has overtaken Asia as the continent with the highest number of people facing hunger for the first time, according to a new United Nations report released on Tuesday.
The report, jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and four other UN agencies, found that 309 million people in Africa suffered from hunger in 2025, representing 20 per cent of the continent’s population.
By comparison, 292 million people in Asia, or about six per cent of its population, were affected by hunger during the same period.
The UN said the findings reflect a shift in the global hunger landscape despite gradual progress in reducing hunger worldwide.
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“The centre of gravity of hunger has shifted from Asia to Africa,” Director of the Agrifood Economics Division at the FAO, David Laborde, said.
He attributed Asia’s progress to sustained efforts by countries such as China and India.
“Twenty-five years ago China still had a problem with hunger, but they solved it; India also has a problem, but they are putting lots of effort into actively resolving it,” Laborde told AFP.
Globally, the proportion of people facing hunger declined from 8.6 per cent in 2022 to 7.8 per cent in 2025, reducing the number of undernourished people by about 43 million to 645 million.
However, the report noted that the figure remains higher than pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
The UN agencies also observed that while undernourishment in Africa has been increasing since 2017, preliminary estimates for 2025 indicate signs of improvement.
The report further revealed that Africa has the highest proportion of people unable to afford a healthy diet.
According to the findings, about 66.6 per cent of Africans cannot afford a healthy diet, more than twice the proportion recorded in Asia.
The agencies urged African governments to prioritise reforms in the animal-source food sector, describing it as the region’s most expensive food group.
The report also blamed worsening food insecurity on climate-related shocks and conflicts across the continent.
“Conflicts like the one in Sudan… in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also weigh heavily on people who cannot access their land or no longer have any income,” Laborde said.
The UN had earlier warned that about 20 million people in Sudan face acute food insecurity due to the ongoing conflict, while the prolonged crisis in the Middle East could push millions more into hunger.
Laborde noted that although higher energy and fertiliser costs linked to the conflict have had a limited impact so far, the crisis is far from over.
AFP
