In 31 Countries, Women Face Significantly Higher Rates of Severe Food Insecurity – Structural Inequality Is the Root Cause
In 31 countries, women face severe food insecurity at significantly higher rates than men, with Pakistan recording the starkest gap: women at 15.1% versus men at just 5.1%, a 10 percentage-point divide driven by patriarchal systems that restrict women’s income and mobility.
From Afghanistan to Haiti to Kenya, the pattern is consistent: gender inequality is a food insecurity multiplier.
Only 8 Countries Are in Food Crisis – But Together They Hold Hundreds of Millions Trapped at the Edge of Survival
Of 126 countries assessed, just 8 (only 6%) are classified in the Critical or Severe tier, yet their populations number in the hundreds of millions and their food insecurity rates range from 30% to 63%, representing the most acute humanitarian food emergency on earth today.
1 in 10 People Worldwide Cannot Access Enough Food; and in South Sudan, 63% are Severely Food Insecure
The global mean rate of severe food insecurity has climbed from 7.8% in 2016 to 10.0% in 2024, with 41 countries now above 10%, a crisis driven by conflict, climate shocks, and a COVID-19 reversal that wiped out years of progress in a single year.
