A recent report from five UN agencies has found that one in three people globally cannot afford to eat a healthy diet, prompting calls for urgent action on food affordability. The report, titled The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026, warns that it will take immense amounts of work to achieve the global target of zero hunger by 2030. There are 2.69 billion people unable to afford a diverse diet that meets their energy and nutrient needs.
Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, with 7.8% of people affected, down from 8.1% in 2024. However, the proportion of people who cannot afford a healthy diet remains extremely high, according to Maximo Torero, chief economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization. The report calculated the cost of a healthy diet to be 4.28 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars a day, significantly higher than the extreme poverty line of $3PPP per person.
Government policies have typically focused on subsidising cereals and starchy staples, rather than meat, dairy, fruit, and vegetables. This approach provides calories but not a diverse diet, which has a significant impact on rates of obesity and diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Adult obesity rose from 12.1% in 2012 to 16.2% in 2024, according to figures from the World Health Organization.
The report calls for investment in infrastructure, research, and development to address the issue. Modelling suggests that more efficient supply chains could bring down the costs of meat, dairy, fruit, and vegetables. New policies to encourage greater consumption of fruit and vegetables could also pay dividends, reducing the economic impact of health issues linked to poor diets.
In Africa, 66.6% of the population was unable to afford a healthy diet in 2025, more than double the levels observed in Asia or Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa is now home to the highest number of hungry people for the first time, with about 309 million, surpassing Asia’s 292 million. The rise is largely driven by higher population growth on the continent, although the proportion of the population going hungry is actually starting to decrease for the first time in years.
The report is authored by the FAO, WHO, Unicef, the UN World Food Programme, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
