Nearly 3.1B people cannot afford a healthy diet – FAO

Havana, Mar 1 (Prensa Latina) Nearly 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020, up 112 million from 2019, reflecting the effects of inflation in consumer food prices stemming from the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures put in place to contain it.

A statement from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), based in Rome, also specified such a high figure reflects the increased cost of a healthy diet.

According to FAO, nearly over 3.1 billion people were from Asia, where in 2020 another 78 million individuals did not have access to healthy diet.

Africa reported 25 million more people in 2020, and to a lesser extent Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe.

According to the statement, over 90% of population in 12 African nations cannot afford a healthy diet on a regular basis.

FAO considers a healthy diet as one that offers a diversity of nutrient-rich foods in line with dietary guidelines.

FAO-developed indicators in this study which included key inputs from researchers at Tufts University and the World Bank, revealed that Latin America and the Caribbean have reported the highest cost of healthy diet compared to other regions.

Even though the entire world has made progress in providing enough calories to feed the world’s population, there is still a long way to go to sustainably nourish everyone worldwide, FAO noted.