Media release for World Food Day 16/10 and International Poverty Eradication Day 17/10
Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) says the first two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ‘No Poverty’ and ‘Zero Hunger’ – both by 2030 – cannot be achieved while world population continues an inexorable climb.
SPA national president Peter Strachan says 692 million people live in extreme poverty (living on less than $US2.15 a day) and 733 million people go hungry every night.
“While the world grows by well over 200,000 people a day,” says Mr Strachan, “the elimination of hunger and poverty moves further out of reach.”
“According to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published in July 2024, the number of those suffering from remains stubbornly high over the past three years as global crises deepen. One in 11 people worldwide faced hunger in 2023, of which one in five is in Africa.
“The SOFI report says that ‘in the last ten years, the frequency and intensity of conflict, climate extremes and economic downturns has increased, undermining food security and nutrition around the world’.
“In those ten years, global population has grown from 7.3 to 8.2 billion.”
“Africa’s population is still exploding. Its current population growth rate of 2.34 per cent, would result in a doubling every 30 years. The percentage of the population facing hunger continues to rise and is now 20.4 per cent.
“Instead of South Asia having half the world’s hungry as is the case now, by 2030 Africa will have that dubious honour.”
