This article relates to Goal 2: Zero hunger, one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Goal icon by the United Nations. Emberoot is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the UN.
Hunger is falling in some regions and rising in others, and the gap between them is widening. This look at hunger progress around the world draws on the latest UN figures to show where SDG 2 is moving, with examples from Brazil, India and the UAE of what governments are doing about it.
The global picture for SDG 2
The UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 estimates that about 645 million people were chronically undernourished in 2025, 7.8% of the world, down from 8.6% in 2022. Around 2.1 billion people faced moderate or severe food insecurity. The averages hide sharp regional differences.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025, summarised by WHO, gives the regional split for 2024. Hunger affected more than 20% of people in Africa, about 307 million, and 12.7% in Western Asia, more than 39 million. In Asia it fell to 6.7%, or 323 million people, from 7.9% in 2022. In Latin America and the Caribbean it fell to 5.1%, or 34 million, after peaking at 6.1% in 2020. The same report projected that 512 million people could still be chronically undernourished in 2030, almost 60% of them in Africa.
Latin America: Brazil leaves the Hunger Map again
Brazil is the clearest recent turnaround. In July 2025 the SOFI report confirmed that Brazil had again dropped below the 2.5% undernourishment threshold that FAO uses for its Hunger Map, Nutrition Insight reported. Brazil had left the map once before and later slipped back onto it. The recovery is credited to restored income transfers for vulnerable families, a higher minimum wage and job growth, a universal school feeding programme that buys from family farms, and the Brasil Sem Fome (Brazil without hunger) plan, which brings together more than 30 policies.
South Asia: India’s free grain programme
India runs a food programme on a very large scale. In November 2023 the Union Cabinet extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which provides free food grain to about 81.35 crore (813.5 million) people, for five years from 1 January 2024, at an estimated cost of about ₹11.80 lakh crore, as The Tribune reported. The scheme protects households from price spikes. Grain covers calories, but a healthy diet also needs protein, fruit and vegetables.
Central and Southern Asia still carries a heavy burden of child undernutrition. The UN’s 2025 report found the region accounted for 57.5% of the world’s wasted children in 2024.
The Gulf: the UAE at home and abroad
In the UAE, much of the domestic focus is on food waste. In November 2023 its environment ministry and ne’ma, the National Food Loss and Waste Initiative, published a roadmap to halve food loss and waste by 2030, with major hotel groups signing up, Gulf News reported.
Abroad, the UAE funds large food aid campaigns. In July 2025 Dubai’s ruler announced that the 1 Billion Meals project, launched in Ramadan 2022, had distributed one billion meals in 65 countries, according to the Dubai Media Office. A 1 Billion Meals Endowment set up in 2023 is meant to fund food aid in future years.
Africa and Western Asia
Africa is where the 2030 target is slipping furthest. Conflict and climate shocks such as drought and floods push hunger up, and the 2025 UN report found that in sub-Saharan Africa more than two-thirds of people faced moderate or severe food insecurity. Western Asia, affected by conflict, also saw hunger rise.
What the comparison shows
In the examples here, the countries cutting hunger combined income support, school meals, help for small farmers and a growing economy. Where conflict and debt dominate, those systems are hard to build and aid becomes the main lifeline. The Goal 2 page brings together the targets and data, and the Global Goals hub links all 17 goals. If you are planning food or agri business across India, the Gulf or Africa, our strategy page explains how we help businesses enter new markets.
Frequently asked questions
Which region has the highest hunger rate?
Africa. The 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report found that more than 20% of people in Africa faced hunger in 2024, about 307 million people. Western Asia was next at 12.7%. Hunger fell in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean over the same period.
How did Brazil get off the Hunger Map?
In July 2025 the UN’s SOFI report confirmed Brazil’s undernourishment had fallen below the 2.5% threshold FAO uses for its Hunger Map. The recovery is credited to restored income transfers, minimum wage rises and job growth, universal school meals that buy from family farms, and the Brasil Sem Fome plan, which combines more than 30 policies.
What is India’s PMGKAY scheme?
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana provides free food grain to about 81.35 crore people in India. In November 2023 the Union Cabinet extended it for five years from 1 January 2024, at an estimated cost of about ₹11.80 lakh crore. It protects poor households from food price rises.