Global hunger is near a ten-year high. Almost 821 million people—one out of every nine persons—are chronically hungry and roughly one-third of women of childbearing age suffer from anemia, a form of malnutrition that heightens risks of maternal and infant mortality and saps energy. In Asia, 515 million are hungry, in Africa, 256.5 million.
This upswing in hunger and malnutrition after years of decline points to the growing impact of extreme weather and of conflict. It also highlights the critical need to support the livelihoods of our most important producers—women smallholder farmers.