Increasing the Resilience of the Food Systems
In Islamic States in Face of Future Food Crises
24
2. Global Overview of Food Systems and Best Practices
Over the past three years, the number of people suffering from hunger has increased, reaching
levels similar to those of a decade ago. According to FAO estimates, the number of people
affected by severe food insecurity increased from 647 million in 2014 to 770 million in 2017.
The increase is primarily due to rises in food insecurity in Latin America and Africa. Climate
variability and extremes were the primary causes of the increase in severe food insecurity in
Latin America. In 2015–2016, El Niño had a severe negative impact on El Salvador, Guatemala,
and Honduras, with 50-90%losses in crop harvest. Southern Africawas alsohit with its severest
drought in 35 years during the same period, causing regional crop failure and leading six
countries to declare national drought emergencies—Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi,
Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Several African countries suffer from both climate extremes and
intricate political conditions, including Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Somalia, Guinea-Bissau,
Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan.63
Table 4: Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity Number (Millions) & Percentage of Total
Population (2014-2017)64
2014 2015 2016 2017
World 647.3
8.9%
618.9
8.4%
665.7
8.9%
769.4
10.2%
Africa 260.1
23.3%
267.0
22.4%
311.2
25.4%
374.9
29.8%
Asia 319.3
7.3%
291.4
6.6%
287.9
6.5%
311.9
6.9%
Latin America 44.4
7.6%
37
6.3%
45.3
7.6%
58.9
9.8%
Europe &North America 16.2
1.5%
16.3
1.5%
13.5
1.2%
36.7
1.4%
Source: FAO
The effect of climate variability and extremes is felt around the globe and has negatively affected
the food value chain. A study conducted by FAO asserts an average loss of 2.6% of national
agriculture value-added growth following each climate disaster; the impact at subnational levels
is more significant. Inmany instances, climate shocks are followed by an upsurge in global food
prices. Export bans, in response to food price crises, cause further price volatility. Price spikes
coupled reduced rural incomes and household production (due to climate shocks) impact
affordability or access to food. According to FAO, 2.5 billion small-scale farmers, herders, fishers
and forest-dependent communities around the world are extremely vulnerable to climate
shocks affecting both their income and food consumption.65
63 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP andWHO. (2018). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in theWorld 2018: Building climate
resilience for food security and nutrition. Retrieved
64 This data is compiled by the FAO using the Food InsecurityExperience Scale (FIES) which is a survey module based on
asking people, directly in a survey, to report on the occurrence of conditions and behaviors that are known to reflect
constraints on access tofood.
65 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP andWHO. (2018). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in theWorld 2018: Building climate
resilience for food security and nutrition. Retrieved