The humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger (ACH) recently released a report titled “2024 Hunger Funding Gap” that revealed a financing deficit for populations with urgent needs due to conflict, climate change, and chronic inequality. Despite the fact that the world produces enough food for everyone, hundreds of thousands of malnourished children die preventably each year. This has led to an increase in the number of people suffering from hunger, which is now at 783 million worldwide – 122 million more people than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report identified 17 countries that experienced high levels of hunger in 2022 and 2023, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Haiti, and others. These nations have the largest financing deficit against hunger. According to ACH, $8.86 billion would be needed to fully fund the hunger-related requirements of these 17 countries. This amount is equivalent to approximately half of what it is estimated that the American public bet on the last edition of the Super Bowl.