Global hunger levels have risen for the first time in more than a decade, now affecting 11% of the world's population, as conflict, climate change and economic woes bite, UN agencies said today.
Last year, 815 million people were hungry - 38 million more than in 2015 - the five agencies said in the first global assessment since governments set an international target to eliminate hunger and malnutrition by 2030, as one of a set of so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The number of hungry began to rise in 2014, but this is the first time in more than a decade that the proportion of the global population going hungry has risen.
About 489 million of the hungry are living in countries affected by conflict.
"Over the past decade, conflicts have risen dramatically in number and become more complex and intractable in nature," the heads of five UN agencies said in The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017 report.
"This has set off alarm bells we cannot afford to ignore: we will not end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030 unless we address all the factors that undermine food security and nutrition," they said.
Famine struck parts of South Sudan earlier this year, and there is a high risk that it could return there - and develop in other countries affected by conflict: northeast Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, the agencies said.
David Beasley, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) described the latest figures as "an indictment on humanity".
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of hungry, affecting 20% of the population
"With all the successes of technology and wealth we should be absolutely going in the other direction," he said at the report's launch.
"We call upon the leaders of the world to ... apply the pressure that's necessary to end these conflicts so we can achieve zero hunger," he said.
The report was produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), WFP and World Health Organisation (WHO).
The proportion of children stunted by hunger fell to 22.9% in 2016, from 29.5% in 2005. Now, about 155 million children under five years old are affected. Stunting can undermine children's physical and mental development.
Asia has the largest number of hungry people - 520 million - and sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of hungry, affecting 20% of the population.
Wars, droughts linked to last year's El Niño weather phenomenon and a global economic slowdown have affected people's access to food, the agencies said.