FAO Food index in real terms

Furthermore, the war continues to affect food security indirectly, particularly in food import-dependent, low-income countries, whose fragile economic resilience was already battered by the COVID 19 pandemic (see Figure 29) Indeed, in 2022, 78 % of the 42 countries/territories identified as experiencing major food crises in the global report on food crises, were net food importers – with many sourcing staple foods from the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Moreover, the report found that the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food, nutrition and livelihood assistance increased last year, with around 258 million people in 58 countries facing acute hunger, and people in 7 countries on the brink of starvation. The numbers from the World Food Programme are even more sobering: it finds that more than 345 million people face high levels of food insecurity in 2023 – more than double the number in 2020.