Simple porridge with tea, a handful of rice or cheap but unhealthy food. This is what breakfast looks like for many families around the world. It is often the only meal of the day. Nutritious foods are rarely on the menu. Fruit? Vegetables? Usually unaffordable for them.
Food poverty means that people do not have the means to eat enough healthy food, for example because they do not have the money, they cannot grow enough themselves or conflicts make food scarce. The lack of nutrient-rich foods such as vegetables, fruit, wholemeal products and legumes often has serious health and economic consequences. Food poverty hinders not only individual but also social development.
The annual study “Poverty Gap in Global Nutrition” shows the extent of food poverty worldwide and which regions and countries are particularly affected.
Every year, the study calculates how much money people around the world lack in order to be able to afford a healthy diet. It also visualises how this poverty gap relates to the global economic output. The results of the study show the extent of food poverty worldwide and where countries are reaching their financial limits in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. This allows conclusions to be drawn about where action needs to be taken to close the poverty gap and reduce inequality.
India, Brazil, Pakistan, Egypt and Nigeria have the largest poverty gaps compared to other countries. Depending on the country, this is due to the high number of people affected or the high amount of money they lack. This is high when food is expensive or the proportion of expenditure on other things, such as housing, is high.
The burden per person is highest in South Sudan. An average person there lacks 86 per cent of the income that would be necessary to be able to eat healthily. Almost the entire population is unable to eat a healthy diet.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world with the largest poverty gap and the highest per capita food poverty. Eight of the ten countries with the highest burden per person are in this region.
Countries with high economic inequality within the population have particularly large poverty gaps. This correlation is particularly clear in middle-income countries: in the countries with the highest economic inequality in this income group, the poverty gap per person is around seven times greater than in the countries with the lowest inequality.
