UN: Half of the NENA Population Can’t Afford to Follow a Healthy Diet

Arab World

June 25th, 6:34am

Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat

Lazhar Ghiloufi, a date seller in Kebili, south Tunisia, holds up a box of good quality deglet nour dates, December 2, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/ Layli Foroudi

A UN report showed Thursday that more than half of the population in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region lack the financial capacity to cover the costs of following a healthy diet. The report titled “2020 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region” is the result of collaboration among the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The report examines data available prior to the Covid-19 pandemic that affected the region and the world in 2020. By 2019, the Arab Region was already off track to achieve hunger and nutrition-related Sustainable Development Goals targets by 2030. After good progress during past decades, since 2015-17 the number of undernourished people in the region has been increasing steadily. In 2019, the number of hungry people stood at 51.4 million, or 12.2 percent of the region’s population. If such trends continue, even ignoring the potential impact of Covid-19, the number of undernourished in the region will exceed 75 million people by 2030. The report also highlights that in 2019 nearly one-third of the region’s population, 137 million people, did not have regular access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. Food insecurity, affecting diet quality and quantity, poses significant challenges to achieving global nutrition targets. The above trends in hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition have largely been driven by conflict and violence in the region as well as the lack of capacity for current food systems to support healthy diets.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3046311/un-half-nena-population-can%E2%80%99t-afford-follow-healthy-diet