Global Food Security and Nutrition Outlook 2026

Context

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), together with IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO, has released the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2026 report, presenting the latest assessment of global hunger, food security, and nutrition trends.

About the SOFI 2026 Report

What is SOFI?

• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) is the United Nations’ annual flagship publication that measures progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, particularly ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition.
• The 2026 edition focuses on the rising cost of healthy diets, analysing the affordability of Healthy Diet Baskets (HDBs) and monitoring progress in maternal, child, and adult nutrition indicators across countries.

Major Highlights of the Report

Africa Becomes the Most Hunger-Affected Region

• Africa now has the world’s highest number of undernourished people, with 309 million (20%) experiencing hunger.
• Asia follows with 292 million people, although its hunger prevalence is significantly lower at 6%.

Healthy Diets Remain Unaffordable

• Around 2.69 billion people (about 32.7% of the global population) could not afford a healthy diet in 2025.
• In Africa, nearly two-thirds (66.6%) of the population faces this challenge.

Nutritious Foods Continue to Be Expensive

• Foods rich in nutrients—such as milk, eggs, meat, fruits, and vegetables—make up almost 70% of the total cost of a healthy diet.
• Staple cereals contribute nearly half of calorie intake but account for only a small share of overall diet costs.

Limited Dietary Diversity

• Only 30.8% of children aged 6–23 months consumed the minimum recommended dietary diversity.
• Among women aged 15–49 years, the figure stood at 62.7% globally.

Zero Hunger Goal Remains Distant

• Current projections indicate that 510–520 million people could still suffer from chronic hunger by 2030.
• More than half of these people (56%) are expected to live in Africa.

Nutrition Challenges Persist

• Anaemia among women of reproductive age increased to 30.7%.
• Global adult obesity continued rising from 12.1% (2012) to 16.2% (2024).

Rural Areas Face Greater Food Insecurity

• Food insecurity affected 29.7% of rural populations compared with 25.4% in peri-urban areas and 22.3% in urban regions.

India’s Performance in the Report

India Drives Regional Improvement

• India’s progress significantly contributed to Southern Asia’s reduction in undernourishment, which declined from 13.9% (2021) to 9.3% (2025).

Major Influence on Healthy Diet Affordability

• India’s large population substantially influences affordability estimates for lower-middle-income countries.
• Without India’s progress, affordability trends for this income group would have shown deterioration instead of improvement.

Positive Progress in Child Nutrition

• India supports Southern Asia’s progress towards achieving the 2030 global targets on reducing child stunting and preventing childhood overweight.

Maternal Nutrition Needs Greater Attention

• Despite improvements in several indicators, reducing anaemia among women of reproductive age remains a major challenge.

Cost of Nutritious Foods Remains Sensitive

• Rising prices of fruits, vegetables, and other non-staple foods continue to increase the cost of healthy diets across Indian and South Asian markets.

Key Barriers to Global Food Security

Geopolitical and Economic Disruptions

• Ongoing geopolitical tensions and energy market disruptions have increased fertilizer, fuel, and agricultural production costs worldwide.

Expensive Food Supply Chains

• Transport, storage, processing, and distribution after harvest account for nearly 70–75% of consumer food prices, especially for perishable foods.

Imbalanced Farm Support

• Most government agricultural subsidies continue to favour staple crops rather than nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and pulses.

Climate Change and Infrastructure Gaps

• Extreme weather, inadequate cold-storage facilities, and poor rural connectivity contribute to high food losses and seasonal price increases.

Declining Development Assistance

• Reductions in international development and humanitarian funding are weakening food assistance programmes in vulnerable regions.

Suggested Policy Measures

Reform Agricultural Incentives

• Redirect subsidies and procurement policies towards nutritious crops including fruits, vegetables, pulses, and legumes.

Improve Food Supply Infrastructure

• Expand investments in cold-chain systems, rural roads, storage facilities, food processing, and efficient logistics.

Promote Research in Nutritious Crops

• Increase agricultural research aimed at improving productivity and climate resilience of high-value, nutrient-rich crops.

Expand Nutrition Monitoring and Social Protection

• Strengthen national systems for tracking the Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) and widen nutrition-sensitive cash transfer programmes for vulnerable populations.

Conclusion

The SOFI 2026 Report highlights that although global hunger has marginally declined, the world remains far from achieving the Zero Hunger (SDG 2) target by 2030. The high cost of nutritious foods continues to prevent billions from accessing healthy diets, aggravating malnutrition and health inequalities. Sustainable progress will require comprehensive reforms in agrifood systems, stronger investments in infrastructure, better-targeted agricultural support, and expanded social protection to ensure affordable and nutritious food for all.

Source : WHO