Climate & Health

Asia-Pacific rocked by growing hunger, nutrition and health crisis

The new U.N. report on Tuesday blamed the “5F” crisis – a combined lack of feed, fertilizer, financing, food and fuel – for the growing hunger, lack of nutrition and associated medical issues in the region due to conflicts, climate and other factors.

, and John Heilprin

January 24, 2023 . 9:20 PM

2 min read

A Turkish market stall in Istanbul, at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, with a selection of lokum (AN/Maria Teneva/Unsplash)

Almost 1.9 billion people in Asia and the Pacific – about one-quarter of the world's population – can't afford a healthy diet and urgent action is needed to combat related health problems, four United Nations agencies warned.

The new U.N. report on Tuesday blamed a “5F” crisis – lack of food, feed, fuel, fertilizer and finance – for the growing hunger, lack of nutrition and associated medical issues in the region due to conflicts, climate and other factors.

It shows that 396 million people in the region were undernourished and an estimated 1.05 billion people suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021.