More Asians go hungry as prices rise – UN report

BANGKOK: Growing numbers of people in Asia lack enough to eat as food insecurity rises with higher prices and worsening poverty, according to a report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and other United Nations agencies on Tuesday.

Nearly a half-billion people — more than eight in 10 of them in South Asia — were undernourished in 2021 and more than 1 billion faced moderate to severe food insecurity, the report said. For the world, the prevalence of food insecurity rose to more than 29 percent in 2021 from 21 percent in 2014.